ISO 14000 ISO 14000 is a family of standards related to environmental/ green management that exists to help organizations (a)

Minimize how their operations/processes negatively affect the environment (b) Comply with applicable laws, regulations, and other environmentally oriented requirements (c) Continually improve in the above. ISO 14000 is similar to ISO 9000 quality management in that both pertain to the process of how a product is produced, rather than to the product itself. The certification is performed by third-party organizations rather than being awarded by ISO directly. The ISO 19011 audit standard applies when auditing for both 9000 and 14000 compliance at once. A brief history of environmental management systems The concept of an environmental/ green management system evolved in the early nineties and its origin can be traced back to 1972, when the United Nations organised a Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was launched (Corbett & Kirsch, 2001). These early initiatives led to the establishment of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) and the adoption of the Montreal Protocol and Basel Convention. In 1992, the first Earth Summit was held in Rio-de-Janeiro which served to generate a global commitment to the environment. In the same year, BSI Group published the world's first environmental management systems standard, BS 7750. This served as a foundation for the development of the ISO 14000 series in 1996, by the International Organization for Standardization, which represented committees from all over the world (ISO) .As of 2010, ISO 14001 is now used by at least 223,149 organizations in 159 countries ISO 14001 standard The standard is not an environmental management system as such but serves instead as a framework to assist organizations in developing their own environmental management system. ISO 14001 can be integrated with other management functions and assists companies in meeting their environmental and economic goals. ISO 14001, as with other ISO 14000 standards, is voluntary, mainly aims to assist companies in continually improving their environmental performance, while complying with any applicable legislation. Organizations are responsible for setting their own performance targets and measures, with the standard assisting them in meeting objectives and goals all the while monitoring the development. ISO 14001 is

known as a generic management system standard, meaning that it is applicable to any size and type of organisation, product or service, in any sector of activity and can accommodate diverse socio-cultural and geographic conditions

Steps to Implement Plan Prior to implementing ISO 14001, an initial review of the organisations processes and products is recommended, including assessment of environmental aspects of its processes, to assist in identifying all elements of the current operation and if possible future operations improvements. Do During this stage the organization identifies the resources required and works out those members of the organisation responsible for the EMS implementation and control This includes documentation of all procedures and processes. Communication and participation across all levels of the organisation, especially top management is a vital part of the implementation phase Check During the check stage, performance is monitored and periodically measured to ensure that the organisations environmental targets and objectives are being met . Act After the checking stage, a regular planned management review is conducted to ensure that the objectives of the EMS are being met, the extent to which they are being met, that are communicated appropriately and evaluate to changing circumstances in order to make recommendations for further improvement of the system Benefits Developed primarily to assist companies in reducing their environmental impact, but in addition to an improvement in environmental standards and performance, organizations can reap a number of economic benefits including higher conformance with regulatory requirements by utilizing the ISO standard. Minimize the risk of regulatory and environmental liability fines and improving an organizations efficiency leading to a reduction in waste and consumption of resources, operating costs can be reduced.

As an internationally recognized standard, businesses operating in multiple locations across the globe can register as ISO 14001 compliant, eliminating the need for multiple registrations or certifications. There has been a push in the last decade by consumers, for companies to adopt stricter environmental regulations, making the implementation of ISO 14001 a greater necessity for the long term viability of businesses and providing them with a competitive advantage against companies that do not adopt.

Examples:- Ford, General Motors, IBM, Bristol-Myers Squibb, etc conform to ISO 14000 standard