ABOUT THE STANDARD
The environmental management system is an international standard that specifies requirements for effective and efficient management of risks significant from environmental aspects. This standard is a generic standard for management systems, which means that it can be applied to all organizations:
- regardless of their size
- regardless of their activity
- regardless of the sector in which they operate.
Implementation can refer to the whole organization, one part of it or one process depending on the choice of organization.
Application of the standard ISO 14001 reduces the risks of possible penalties for violating the requirements of laws and other regulations, improves the efficiency of organization, which leads to a reduction of its negative impact on the environment and mitigation of potential adverse effects on the organization. By harmonizing operations with the requirements of this standard, the impact that business activities, products and services have on the environment is constantly improving, by implementing appropriate programs for the realization of general and specific goals. The organization is expected to, by applying the requirements of this standard:
- establish an appropriate environmental policy;
- identifies the environmental aspects of the organization’s impact on the environment, arising from the realization of products and services in terms of determining the impact of these aspects on the environment;
- identify legal and other requirements by the wider community and its clients, to which the organization is committed;
- identify priorities and appropriate general and individual goals;
- establish a strategy and programs for implementation of environmental policy through implementation of general and individual objectives;
- ensure conformity of implemented environmental management system with the established environmental policy;
- continuously improves its environmental management system through the processes of planning, management, control, defining preventive and corrective measures and conducting internal and external audits;
- be able to adapt to changes in the environment, incident and accident situations.
Certification of environmental management according to standard ISO 14001 increases the trust of interested parties in organization business and its relationship to the environment and opens new opportunities in markets where ecological production is important.
BENEFITS OF CERTIFICATION
Standard ISO 14001 was primarily developed to help organizations reduce adverse environmental impacts. In addition to improving conformity with environmental standards, organizations can also benefit from economic benefits, including a high degree of compliance with legal requirements .
Improvements that organizations can expect from standard ISO 14001 includes:
- cost reduction (better use of energy and materials, careful selection of raw materials, waste management-controlled waste recycling, selection of adequate equipment);
- legal certainty due to compliance with environmental laws;
- reduction of negative effects on the environment;
- develop and raise environmental awareness of employees;
- quality improvement;
- ability to adequately respond to environmental incidents;
- proactive and preventive action to prevent the occurrence of environmental risks;
- active contribution to protection of health and safety of employees and wider community;
- increasing the corporate image of the organization;
- improving relations with the competent inspection bodies;
- avoiding damage claims for causing environmental incidents;
- creating a framework for continuous process improvement;
- creation of framework for long-term interest connections;
- adequate choice of new technologies;
- raising the image on domestic and foreign markets;
- gaining clients with a developed environmental awareness.
