Implementation of ISO 14001

[Kasem]

Hello,
I am not specialist on this standard and appreciate your guidance.
In my company we develop projects for renewable energy ( Wind and Solar parks). This involves a thorough approach to project identification and selection, ongoing project design management and permitting to ensure the technical and commercial viability of the projects. We do no construct the parks ourselves. Once they are built, they are typically sold. We also own some parks and operate them though.
With the Quality and Environmental Department we set as a goal to implement ISO 14001 and afterwards go for certification.
When I asked about the scope (to my understanding covering onsite and offices), the head of the Quality and Environmental Department told me he is considering only onsite and an IMS. I was thinking the standard will also cover water, waste etc from offices, not only onsite? Can you have an EMS only for onsite activity?
Moreover, to my surprise my colleague also told me that his work implementing the standard has nothing to do with KPIs or metrics? He said even for certification he does not need to report on any KPIs. This is confusing as I understand there is Clause 9 on Performance Evaluation and there is the need to monitor performance against targets and goals set. In my opinion this can only be done by defining respective KPIs/metrics. The ultimate goal of an EMS is to reduce your environmental footpring by improving resoure efficiency, reducing waste generation and other impacts. Thanks

 

[Randy]

1st........Tell your colleague to take a hike, you've already failed before you started.

2nd...You're correct about Clause 9

3rd...You're incorrect about and EMS, The reasoning behind an ISO based EMS is clearly defined in Clause "0.2 Aim of an environmental management system"

4th.....You get to define (within applicable rules) what you wish to have certified (This is the Scope). Depending upon the Certification Body (the folks that send the auditors and issues certificates) and the rules they have to abide by (call Accreditation Bodies) your defined Scope may have some limitations (one thing for sure, NOTHING, NOTHING is exempt or excluded in ISO 14001:2015, you've got to do it all, no exceptions).

For a start, unless you've done it, get a copy of ISO 14001:2015 and don't just look at Clauses 4,5,6,7,8,9,10....Wrong! Pay careful attention to Clause 3 Terms and definitions (no interpretation needed, they are what they are) and then really study Annex A Guidance on the use of this International Standard. (very few ever read this and I've introduced it to a lot of professionals with them giving the deer in the headlight look)

 

[Kasem]

1st........Tell your colleague to take a hike, you've already failed before you started.

2nd...You're correct about Clause 9

3rd...You're incorrect about and EMS, The reasoning behind an ISO based EMS is clearly defined in Clause "0.2 Aim of an environmental management system"

4th.....You get to define (within applicable rules) what you wish to have certified (This is the Scope). Depending upon the Certification Body (the folks that send the auditors and issues certificates) and the rules they have to abide by (call Accreditation Bodies) your defined Scope may have some limitations (one thing for sure, NOTHING, NOTHING is exempt or excluded in ISO 14001:2015, you've got to do it all, no exceptions).

For a start, unless you've done it, get a copy of ISO 14001:2015 and don't just look at Clauses 4,5,6,7,8,9,10....Wrong! Pay careful attention to Clause 3 Terms and definitions (no interpretation needed, they are what they are) and then really study Annex A Guidance on the use of this International Standard. (very few ever read this and I've introduced it to a lot of professionals with them giving the deer in the headlight look)

Thanks for your prompt feedback.

I just read the following in an article "KPIs are not required by the ISO standard, but they can be useful for keeping your EMS in check and making it better".
Are you saying that KPIs/metrics to track performance towards goals and targets of and EMS are a requirement of ISO 14001? Examples of KPIs/metrics I mean are energy consumption, GHG emissions, water usage, waste generation.

Concerning 3rd, in an ISO video tutorial is stated the following as ISO 14001 purpose:
* Meet legal obligations,
*Improve resource efficiency
* Reduce waste
* Reduce environmental impact
* Reduce risks and costs

Moreover, it seems certification is also not necessary which surprises me. I also read in an article "There is no requirement in ISO 14001 to have a third party certification body audit your EMS and certify that it is confirming to the requirement of the standard".

 

[Randy]

Are you saying that KPIs/metrics to track performance towards goals and targets of and EMS are a requirement of ISO 14001? Examples of KPIs/metrics I mean are energy consumption, GHG emissions, water usage, waste generation.

You're not here in the US, and much of that tracking, recording & reporting is mandated by different law's and/or regulations across the US itself, 50 different states and hundred's if not thousands of counties, cities or whatever. That's why you need to look at your Indvidual regulatory/legal and other obligations. No 2 organizations are the same.

Concerning 3rd, in an ISO video tutorial is stated the following as ISO 14001 purpose:

I believe, without looking myself, the nominal word/phrase would be "can help"

"There is no requirement in ISO 14001 to have a third party certification body audit your EMS and certify that it is confirming to the requirement of the standard".

On it's face yep, but not entirely true, you can have a customer or potential customer require it, a higher corporate mandate require it, and in a few cases a regulatory agency require it...maybe not certification, but require to implement one as part of a penalty for violation (I've done this myself). The ISO does not require certification.

 

[Kasem]

You're not here in the US, and much of that tracking, recording & reporting is mandated by different law's and/or regulations across the US itself, 50 different states and hundred's if not thousands of counties, cities or whatever. That's why you need to look at your Indvidual regulatory/legal and other obligations. No 2 organizations are the same.


I believe, without looking myself, the nominal word/phrase would be "can help"


On it's face yep, but not entirely true, you can have a customer or potential customer require it, a higher corporate mandate require it, and in a few cases a regulatory agency require it...maybe not certification, but require to implement one as part of a penalty for violation (I've done this myself). The ISO does not require certification.

Thanks.
I am not in the US, but we do have regulations like the CSRD that mandates to keep track of material topics and implement metrics to keep track of environmental and H&S performance. Having said that, we do not have regulations to implement an EMS. ISO 14001 certification is not mandatory but voluntary.
The focus of my question was on the requirements of ISO 14001 in relation to KPIs. What kind of indicators/metrics are required according to ISO 14001 Clasue 9 to follow. Now since ISO 14001 addresses compliance with regulations, it seems to me that the implementation of such metrics to keep track on performance is rather indirect in relation to ISO 14001. By this I mean ISO 14001 does not require the implementation of KPIS but this is necessary if you have regulations that require so - but not ISO 14001 itself.

 

[Randy]

What kind of indicators/metrics are required according to ISO 14001 Clasue 9 to follow.

The answer is in front of you, 14001 does not specifically require any KPI

"The organization shall determine: a) what needs to be monitored and measured"

 

[Claes Gefvenberg]

Thanks.
I am not in the US, but we do have regulations like the CSRD that mandates to keep track of material topics and implement metrics to keep track of environmental and H&S performance.

Hi Kasem,
As you mentioned CSRD, I assume that you are in the EU? We are currently preparing for CSRD, and I cannot help but noticing that it will be quite a chore in spite of us having good data available. Anyway, this would be a good example of what to tuck in under Clause 6.1.3:

6.1.3 Compliance obligations
The organization shall:
a) determine and have access to the compliance obligations related to its environmental aspects;
b) determine how these compliance obligations apply to the organization;
c) take these compliance obligations into account when establishing, implementing, maintaining and
continually improving its environmental management system".

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
Requires EU companies to report on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics and integrate sustainability into their strategies. It introduces European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) for consistent ESG reporting.

In short:
This will mean following and reporting a number of KPI's.