ISO 14004:2016
News
Published on 1 March 2016 ISO 14004 provides support for organisations wishing to implement an environmental management system. It includes support for small and medium size companies
What are the changes?
ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 14004:2016 constitute a consistent pair of standards with ISO 14004 providing generic environmental management system (EMS) guidance beyond that applicable to ISO 14001. The changes in ISO 14004 reflect the scope of the revision specifically related to how an organization may choose to maintain and improve an EMS and implement environmental management requirements into an organization's overall business management system. It also reflect the changes that was agreed in ISO 14001:2015.
Important considerations for the experts in developing the revised ISO 14004 have been:
Context of the organization
Environmental management and risk assessment
Promotion of environmental management through leadership
Integration of environmental management into the organization's strategic planning processes
Broadening the scope by switching from “prevention of pollution” to “protecting the environment”
Increased focus on environmental performance in relation to continual improvement
The role of lifecycle perspective
Emphasis on external and internal communication
Documented information and the differences between procedures and processes.
What was the basis of the revision?
The ISO 14004 revision was agreed by ballot of National Standards Bodies in late 2011. It was initiated six months later than the revision of ISO 14001 to allow ISO 14001 revision to be progressed to a stage where guidance could be developed.
The revision shall:
better reflect the title and scope of ISO 14004 in its contents with particular emphasis on:
users' needs
how an organization may maintain and improve an environmental management system (EMS)
implementation of environmental management requirements into the organization's overall management system
reflect the text of ISO 14001 as it emerges from its revision
contain issues from the“Future Challenges for EMS” Study
