A look at The International Standard for Environmental Management Systems guidelines, companies, and are certified in the USA & Oregon with focus on,
Seiko Epson Corporation
3840 Kilroy Airport Way Seiko Epson Corporation
Long Beach, CA 90806 3-3-5 Owa, Suwa-shi, Nagano-ken, Japan 392-8502
562-981-3840 Tel: +81-266-52-3131 (main)
Quick Explanation:
ISO 14001 is a new (late 1996) standard for Environmental Management Systems. It was based upon the ISO 9000 family of specifications, so if you are familiar with the terms and structure of ISO9001/9002 you will readily grasp ISO14000. The key aspects of ISO14000 are that it is
• voluntary,
• flexible and non-prescriptive,
• Can use existing environmental programs and systems,
• pushes continual improvement,
• encourages cost saving by integrating environmental requirements into the overall
• company systems (design, manufacturing, etc.)
• can provide a substantial market advantage.
More any anything, it simply requires a system that cohesively integrates and documents environmental impacts, goals, objectives, and actions.
A primary component of the ISO 14001 standard is the "Environmental Policy" which must be defined by an organization's top management. This environmental policies must include a commitment to both compliance with environmental laws & company policies, continual improvement and prevention of pollution. A system is then created (or if already existing, documented) that ensures that the environmental policy is carried out by the organization. This involves planning, implementation and operations, checking and corrective action, and management review.
The ISO Environmental Standards for Environmental Management Systems (EMS) are a series of completely voluntary standards and guideline reference documents which include environmental management systems, eco-labeling, environmental auditing, life cycle