Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
EMS Document Control You have to keep all your EMS-related documents controlled and up to date. Here’s what’s required: All EMS documents must be carefully controlled and be easily accessible to persons who need them. They must be periodically reviewed, revised, and approved by management. Obsolete documents must be promptly removed. For example, there is […]
The ISO focus is more on adopting a set of universally accepted procedures than being in compliance with local or national environmental laws. So, you don’t have to be in full compliance with environmental laws at the time you seek certification, but you must have a set of documented procedures in place that are designed […]
Permit coverage must be obtained by either the facility owner or the operator. These are frequently the same. However, if they are different, the responsibility to obtain coverage falls on the one who has day-to-day operational control at the facility. So if the owner does not have operational control, the operator bears the responsibility to […]
Planning The next step is planning—by far the most difficult step. You need to identify all the significant environmental aspects of your operation. ISO 14001 defines an “environmental aspect” as an “element of an organization’s activities, products, or services that can interact with the environment.” So, you need to look at what you do throughout […]
Not Required But Still a Good Idea It is important to keep in mind that ISO 14001 is not a legal requirement. It is a voluntary set of management standards that may improve your environmental performance. EPA encourages industries to adopt these standards but offers no specific incentives (such as reduced frequency of inspections) in […]