What is new in the new ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems?

The new version of the ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems (EMS) Standard has just been published, and ISO 9001:2015 is expected to be published shortly. The new features of ISO 14001:2015 adapt, as the rest of the Management Systems Standards to be published in the future, to the so-called "High Level Structure". The main objective of this revision is to facilitate the Integration of the different Management Systems and to make them more accessible to all types of organisations, especially service organisations.

Unlike the previous revisions of the 14001 and 9001 Standards, this new 2015 version represents a real change, with the following main new features:

• Incorporation of Leadership in Environmental Management and Environmental Protection as a necessary part of the business strategy.
• Focus on the Life Cycle.
• More effective internal and external environmental communication.

Organisations should analyse the Context in which they are located, as well as the Needs and Expectations of their stakeholders, taking them into account and incorporating them, where appropriate, in their EMS and in the Management of their Organisation.

In Spain there are 16,000 ISO 14001 certified organisations, which must adapt their Environmental Management System to the new standard before the period established for this purpose. New certifications can already be carried out with the new ISO 14001:2015 version and are mandatory as of March 2017.

Both to adapt to the new version and to implement the standard from scratch, companies must plan and develop the new approach and know how to design an Environmental Management System that supports the Business Strategy of their organisation, for which they can implement different measures:

• Perform a GAP Analysis of ISO 14001:2015. Organisations that already have a certified Environmental Management System should have the specific information necessary to enable them to make strategic decisions in the short and medium term related to the new version.
• Conduct an Adaptation Audit to find out what needs to change in their current activities, processes and services in order to achieve certification to ISO 14001:2015.
• Integrate Environmental Protection into your organisation's Management and Strategy through an ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management System.
• Integrate all your Management Systems, according to models with common structure, High Level Structure, Quality - ISO 9001 & Environment - ISO 14001 & Occupational Health and Safety - ISO 18001 - Social Responsibility - IQNet SR10.

In the coming days we will announce the date of the free webinar "New ISO 14001:2015 Model, are you ready?" that we will develop for all interested parties. Visit our website and follow us on our social networks to find out the latest news.