by Joe Dufresne
Last month, the final draft of the revised ISO 14001 standard found its way to interested readers, an important port of call en route to its final form, expected by the end of this year. As the critics’ ballots have been tabulated and comments and concerns addressed, now is a good time to step back and reflect on what the 8-year-old standard has accomplished so far. Before the confetti flies next year in the wake of ISO 14001’s second launch, we might also look ahead to the directions the standard’s popular acceptance might take during the eight years to come.
One measure of the success of this environmental management system ( EMS) is the number of certificates issued. By the end of 2003, at least 66,070 ISO 14001 certificates had been awarded in 113 countries--an increase of 16,621 certificates (34%) over the number issued at the close of 2002, according to The ISO Survey of ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 Certificates--2003. The United States had 4,567 registered companies, Canada had 1,258 and Mexico 418 by the end of 2003, states the Environmental Systems Update, a publication that provides North American data for the survey. This represents a 43 percent increase in registrations for the United States and a 35 percent rise in North America overall. Clearly, both in the United States and worldwide, ISO 14001 registrations have increased steadily during the past three years.
Japan still leads the world in ISO 14001 registrations by more than a 2-to-1 ratio, according to the ISO survey. The United Kingdom, China, Spain and Germany follow closely behind, in that order. It’s important to note that much of the 2001-2003 increase in registrations occurred during a worldwide slowdown in the manufacturing sector. As financial outlooks improve, more manufacturing organizations will be better able to afford the initial costs associated with developing and implementing an EMS.
In January 2004 the ISO14000.com Web site posted the following poll question: “As your EMS matures, which do you feel best describes what it has accomplished?” The responses are broken down as follows:
 27 percent stated it altered employees’ environmental perceptions.
25 percent said it improved their companies’ environmental images.
19 percent indicated the standard increased efficiency in using energy and materials.
8 percent felt it streamlined compliance efforts.
21 percent indicated that no valuable changes occurred for their organizations.
Four out of five respondents believed that the standard positively benefited their organizations. If you dissect these data further, the majority of responses (52%) related to perception and image. Although those who promote an EMS often prefer to associate them with tangible improvements such as energy efficiency, the critical impetus for change--in this case, environmental--is driven by a fundamental shift in attitude. Ideally, getting people to think about running their operations in a more eco-efficient manner should occur before, or at least in conjunction with, the actual processes that provide these tangible improvements.
This is no small feat. For many organizations, altering the way their people consider environmental issues is something that evolves over many years. Short-term promotions don’t add up to long-term change. However, success stories coupled with tangible support from top management do help people understand the benefits of an EMS. And for organizations in which a green image is important, this internal perception can also affect the bottom line and even maintain or increase market share.
ISO 14001 experts concur that a substantial growth in EMS-registered organizations can be expected in the future. “The wave of certification hasn’t yet crested and is increasing; we’re seeing more supply chain pressures both domestically and internationally from automakers, technology companies and the medical device manufacturers,” says James Melloni, environmental business manager and lead auditor for TÜV America. However, a successful EMS depends greatly on an organization’s culture. “Some have made great strides, while others are just meeting the minimum requirements,” Melloni adds. “A lot depends on just how committed the organization and its top management is to the management system.”
Barbara McGuiness, a senior consultant with Excel Partnership Inc., has seen increased registrations to EMS standards in a variety of industries. “Sooner or later, ISO will be forced to adopt an occupational safety and health standard,” she predicts. “I suspect it will look a lot like OHSAS 18001, which is growing throughout the world.”
In recent years, chemical and oil manufacturers have capitalized on greening up their images through the employment of an EMS. “Adopting the chemical industry’s responsible care management system (RCMS) technical specification would bring many more organizations into the management system loop,” McGuiness says. “I’ve been spending much of my time developing a training course for RCMS auditors and doing RCMS and RC-14001 audits. I’m also seeing more interest in both the environmental and safety and health standards on the part of the oil industry. If those markets do materialize, I believe the number of registrations will grow significantly during the next five years.”
Most standards pundits believe supply chain pressures will continue to drive the next wave of ISO 14001 registrations. In the United States, Executive Order 13148, Greening of Government Through Leadership in Environmental Management, is also motivating companies to register. This order targets military installations, environmental protection agency offices, research labs and other federal facilities that affect the environment. It requires these government groups to have an EMS in place by the end of 2005. The U.S. Army, the country’s largest military branch, has chosen ISO 14001 as the blueprint for its system. Interestingly, one of the primary reasons for the choice is that the Army believes the standard will place it in a better position to perform its mission of protecting the country.
“The system can make us better in environmental performance, but we’re working to make it an asset for overall performance in such areas as increased training time and lower operating costs,” says Jean E. Sherett, a staff member of the Army’s assistant secretary for environment, safety and occupational health. “These are valuable not only to environmental performance but to the Army’s long-term ability to do its job.”
Because the federal government, including the military, depends on large numbers of contractors that provide vital services for government facilities, we can reasonably assume that some of these suppliers will develop an EMS to place themselves in more competitive positions. This, in turn, will help fuel growth in both the construction and service sectors. Both candidates in next month’s presidential election appear to support such initiatives, so it’s likely federal facilities will continue to develop an EMS, whether it fits the ISO 14001 model or some other standard.
ISO 14001 has demonstrated a steady increase in registrations during the past eight years and has achieved the critical mass needed to sustain it as a primary EMS model for the next decade. Its flexibility allows it to fit a myriad of organizations. The same model used by an electronics components manufacturer can also work for a local municipality, or even the U.S. Army. The proposed revisions to the standard don’t represent a drastic departure from the elements we know today but do serve as the next small step in the evolution of this environmental management system.
Joe Dufresne is a senior environmental scientist with Capaccio Environmental Engineering. He assists clients in developing environmental management systems that lead to ISO 14001 registration and continued compliance. Capaccio is a multiservice environmental consulting firm specializing in EMS development and assisting clients by providing interactive computer-based environmental training software for ISO 14001. Visit Capaccio at www.capaccio.comor at the ISO 14000 Information Center at www.iso14000.com.
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