A Detailed Look at ISO 14001:2015 Part 4: Support & Operation

SUPPORT

7.1 Resources

Details the requirement for the organisation to determine and provide the resources needed for the establishment, implementation, maintenance and continual improvement of the environmental management system.

7.2 Competence

Details the requirement that the organisation must:

•    Determine the necessary competence of person(s) doing work under its control that affects its environmental performance and its ability to fulfil its compliance objectives;
•    Ensure that these persons are competent on the basis of appropriate education, training or experience;
•    Where applicable, take actions to acquire the necessary competence, and evaluate the effectiveness of the actions taken.

7.3  Awareness

Details the requirement that the organisation must ensure that persons doing work under the organisation’s control are aware of:

•    The environmental policy;
•    The significant aspects and related actual or potential environmental impacts associated with their work;
•    Their contribution to the effectiveness of the environmental managements system, including the benefits of enhanced environmental performance;
•    The implications of not conforming with the environmental management system requirements, including not fulfilling the organisation’s compliance obligations.

7.4 Communication

 

7.4.1  General

Details of the requirements that the organisation must establish, implement and maintain the processes needed for internal and external communications relevant to the environmental management system including:

• On what to communicate?
• With whom to communicate?
• How to communicate?

When establishing its communication process(es) the organisation must:

• Take into account its compliance obligations;
• Ensure that the environmental information communicated is consistent with information generated within the environmental management system, and is reliable.

The organisation must respond to relevant communications on its environmental management system.

The organisation must retain documented information as evidence of its communications, as appropriate.

7.4.2  Internal communication

Details of the requirement that the organisation must:

• Communicate internally on information relevant to the environmental management system among the various levels and functions of the organisation, including changes to the environmental management system, as appropriate;
• Ensure its communication process(es) enable(s) persons doing work under the organisation’s control to contribute to continual improvement.

7.4.3  External communication

Details of the requirement that the organisation must:

• Communicate externally on information relevant to the environmental management system, as established by the organisation’s communication process(es) and as required by its compliance obligations;

7.5   Documented information

 

7.5.1  General

Details the requirement that the organisation’s environmental management system must include:

• Documented information required by ISO 14001:2015;
• Documented information determined by the organisation as being necessary for the effectiveness of the environmental managements system.

7.5.2  Creating and updating

Details the requirement that creating and updated document information must be controlled:

• Identification and description (e.g. title date, author or reference number);
• Format (e.g. language, software version, graphics) and media (e.g. paper, electronic);
• Review and approval for suitability and adequacy.

7.5.3  Control of documented information 

Details the requirements to ensure that documented information required by the environmental management system and ISO 14001:2015 must be controlled to ensure:

• It is available and suitable for use, where and when it is needed;
• It is adequately protected (e.g. from loss of confidentiality, improper use, or loss of integrity);
• Computer back-up and protection of back-up copies.

The organisation must address the following activities, as applicable:

• Distribution, access, retrieval and use;
• Storage and preservation, including preservation of legibility;
• Retention and disposal.

Documented information of external origin determined by the organisation to be necessary for the planning and operation of the environmental management system must be identified, as appropriate, and controlled.

8. OPERATION

 

8.1 Operational planning and control

 

Details the requirement that the organisation must establish, implement, control and maintain the processes needed to meet environmental management systems requirements, and to implement the actions identified in 6.1 and 6.3 by:

• Establishing operating criteria for the processes;
• Implementing control of the process(es).

The organisation must control planned changes and review the consequences of unintended changes, taking action to mitigate any adverse effects, as necessary.

The organisation must ensure that an outsourced process(es) is (are) controlled or influenced.  The type of control or influence to be applied to the process(es) must be defined within the environmental management system.

Consistent with a lifecycle perspective, the organisation must:

• Establish controls],  as appropriate, to ensure that its environmental requirement(s) is (are) addressed in the design and development process for the product or service, considering EACH STAGE OF ITS LIFECYCLE;
• Determine its environmental requirement(s) for the procurement of products and services, as appropriate;
• Communicate its relevant environmental requirement(s) to external; providers, including contractors;
• Consider the need to provide information about potential significant environmental impacts associated with the TRANSPORTATION, OR DELIVERY, USE, END OF LIFE, TREATMENT AND FINAL DISPOSAL OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.

The organisation must retain documented information to the extent necessary to have confidence that the process(es) has(have) been carried out as planned.

8.2  Emergency preparedness and response

Details the requirement that the organisation must establish, implement and maintain the processes needed to prepare for and respond to potential emergency situations identified in 6.11.

The organisation must:

• Prepare to respond by planning actions to prevent or mitigate adverse environmental impacts from emergency situations;
• Respond to actual emergency situations;
• Take actions to prevent or mitigate the consequences of emergency situations, appropriate to the magnitude of the emergency and its potential environmental impact;
• Periodically test the planned response actions, where practicable;
• Periodically review and revise the process(es) and planned response actions, in particular after the occurrence of emergency situations or test(s);
• Provide relevant information and training related to emergency preparedness and response, as appropriate, to relevant interested parties, including persons working under its control.

The organisation must maintain documented information to the extent necessary to have confidence that the process(es) is (are) carried out as planned.