ISO 14001 Standard: How to Achieve Continual Improvement of the EMS

The need for continuous improvement within the EMS is one of the fundamental principles behind implementing an Environmental Management System (EMS) in following the ISO 14001 standard. However, determining the ideal strategy for working toward continuous improvement and reaping the benefits that bring to the business can be difficult at times.

First and foremost, it is essential to understand the term continual improvement and why organizations want to work toward it in the EMS. The term "continuous improvement" refers to the necessity to systematically improve various processes inside the EMS to provide overall improvements. It is unrealistic to expect continual improvement in every process within the EMS, so continuous improvement is used to plan, monitor, and realize changes in specific processes that have been selected for improvement.

While there are numerous ways to plan for continuous improvement within an EMS, two of the primary procedures outlined in ISO 14001 criteria are the utilization of environmental objectives and risk-based thinking. Organizations can reap significant benefits from continuous EMS improvement by implementing these two procedures correctly.

How do environmental goals contribute to Continual improvement?

Environmental objectives are supposed to be planned improvements to the EMS processes, which are the primary contributors to continuous improvement. Here's an example of how this might operate in an EMS:

An office establishes a goal to limit its use of paper in the workplace, hence reducing the demand for these natural resources and the recycling requirements imposed by paper.

This goal has a target decrease of 35% within 6 months.

To accomplish the purpose, the following initiatives are being implemented:

Make double-sided printing mandatory on all PCs and printers.

Install the program on all computers so that documents can be viewed on the screen rather than printed.

Install software so that incoming faxes are saved as online documents, which are emailed to the recipient rather than printed for review.

Through the application of resources to achieve this environmental goal, EMS improvement is realized through the use of fewer natural resources and the creation of less trash, even if it is designated for recycling.

How does risk-based thinking contribute to continuous improvement?

Risk-based thinking, like environmental objectives, can help to improve EMS operations. The preventive action process is used in ISO 14001 when an organization identifies a problem that could occur in a process before it occurs or when an organization identifies a problem that could occur and corrects the process before the problem can occur, the organization is once again improving the EMS. Preventive action has been removed from ISO 14001. however, the notion of risk-based thinking has been introduced to detect risks before they occur. Here, the ISO 14001 EMS awareness training offers the benefits to understand and implement an effective EMS. Here's an example of how risk-based reasoning may be used:

Before being introduced into the municipal sewage system, a wastewater treatment process is evaluated for chemical composition and treated. It is discovered that there is a possibility that errors will occur during treatment. If the error occurs, it could result in legal noncompliance and contamination of the sewage system.

Research into the danger reveals that the fundamental reason for this possible problem is that errors could be made with this process due to its manual nature, which is dependent on an operator making the accurate measurement to treat the wastewater.

To address this danger, action is taken to install a system that performs an automatic chemical composition test and adds the appropriate amount of treatment to waste before disposal. This eliminates the possibility of error.

The corrective action procedure also shows some continuous progress; nevertheless, the problem has already occurred with corrective action. This is still an improvement, but it comes after an environmental occurrence, which is less desirable than identifying the danger and fixing the problem before it occurs.

It may not be obvious at first, but the most significant benefit that organizations gain from deploying a successful EMS is continuous improvement. Making improvements not only reduces the organization's environmental impact, which is beneficial for both the corporation and the globe, but it can also see a financial return on investment from some of these initiatives.

Organizations that reduce their usage of natural resources, such as the paper-reduction campaign stated above, reduce costs and boost their bottom line. This is a success not only for the environment but also for the company's future growth.

Source: https://ems14001consultant.wordpress.com/2022/11/05/iso-14001-standard-how-to-achieve-continual-improvement-of-the-ems/