In addition to these national standards two international management systems and standards have been developed. In the European Union it is the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, and worldwide, the 14000 series of standards has been adopted by the International Standards Organisation.
Figure IA1-46: Environmental management system model.
Source: ISO 14000.
BS EN ISO 14001 sets out the general requirements that an organisation needs to have in place for an environmental management system. This covers the following areas:
Policy: Top management are required to define the organisation’s environmental policy.
Planning: The environmental management system must be properly planned. To do so knowledge is needed of environmental aspects and impacts, legal and other requirements, objectives and targets for the company in terms of its environmental performance and an environmental management programme to implement its objectives and targets.
Implementation and operation: This requires that roles, responsibilities and authorities are defined and documented in order to facilitate effective environmental management. Training awareness and competence must also be considered for the positions within the management system. Communication, documentation and documentation control must also be considered. The standard also requires examination of operational control and emergency procedures.
Checking and corrective action: The organisation is required to establish and maintain documented procedures to monitor and measure on a regular basis the key characteristics of its operations and activities.
Non-conformance and corrective action procedures are also required together with records. Periodically, internal audits must be carried out.
Management review: The top management are required to review the performance of the system on a periodic basis to ensure its continuing suitability, adequacy and