posted 01 February 2000 05:02 AM               

> How have you been?

OK! Not great, but OK!

> I wanted to let you know that we had our first surveillance audit last week and
> we had NO non-conformities (not counting the one I spotted that the auditor
> missed)! He looked at Contract Review, Product Design, & Customer Supplied
> Material (beside the usuals). I continue to say "is that it?"

If you know it you know it!

> Anyway, we are getting some rumblings from our customers about ISO14001.

Yes - it's finally gaining steam... Rearing its ugly head, so to speak... Ford and GM (and , I think, Chrysler) are now requiring it....

> We bought a copy of the standard and I have read it but I was wondering if you
> knew of any classes or books for interpereting what the standard asks for. The
> standard almost seems to easy in that we already have most of the systems (doc
> control, corrective action, etc.) in place and we (by law) already monitor
> emissions and discharges and perform environmental audits. Any thoughts?
>
> Regards,
>
> X

As you saw in the news with the WTO situation recently, the environment is becoming an issue. ISO14001 in the US has not been a big issue because the US has such stringent environmental standards that - well, there's the typical ISO requirement for a POLICY to be stated, but that's about it. A bit more documentation, as usual. As with ISO9000, there is a big element of (world wide consideration) liability addressed.

You also have some stuff that is standard ISO such as 4.3.3 Objectives and Targets.

If you think back, we had a matrix with the ISO9000 requirements in rows. I don't know if you kept it or discarded it as your understanding increased - many companies do discard it as 'overhead'. But, you can sync 14001 to 9001. Do remember, your systems manual is to ISO Draft 2 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 is structured like ISO9001:1994.

In so far as books and such, Jack Kanholm's book is a basic 'revelation' book - 1.) Requirement, 2.) Documentation, 3.) Evidence/Records, 4.) Audit structure is simple and sufficient. If you want to get into more detail with some philosophy and such there is Don Sayre's book Inside ISO 14000.

What I would do is get your boss to send you to an ISO14001 Lead Auditor class. Have your interpretation questions ready. That will give you the basics of what they're looking for.