There are a number of drivers for companies which choose to pursue ISO 14001 certification, including cost reduction; improved efficiency; better waste management; energy conservation.
Could ISO 14001 certification be of benefit to your company?
Saving money and time
Setting rules and environmental processes in your company could help to increase the company’s profitability. Why? Because in order to build processes, you will have to identify all areas where your company uses more energy than necessary, as well produces too much waste - without disposing of it properly.
Identifying these issues will not only save your company money on overheads and perhaps on insurance too, it will also improve the quality of your services and products - making the company much more efficient overall. The company will still be providing the same services, but with less energy output and less waste.
Competition
In the current economic market the majority of companies can’t afford to lose contracts to their competitors.
Big companies generally take environmental issues extremely seriously and nowadays are extremely choosy when it comes to the suppliers that they are associated with. Being ISO 14001 certified will show them that you take the environment and your responsibilities seriously.
Taking such issues seriously also means that your public image is likely to improve, and this type of achievement will give your company something positive to promote.
Legal awareness
The law is one of the few things that doesn’t stay the same for long; in fact certain elements change every day. However, having an ISO 14001 certification means that your company is up to date with the latest environmental legislation. ISO 14001 effectively also means that all of your processes are fully traceable, and annual audits are more organised and much less stressful.
Safety and morale
This type of certification requires strong relationships between employees throughout the company, because strong communication is essential in order to ensure that the project is implemented successfully. The environment is a topic that is high in many people’s priorities nowadays. Making it a central point of focus for your company could boost employee morale.
Having this kind of management system in place also means that your employees can become a lot more responsible; having set procedures will make it a lot easier to identify a problem, as well as make it easier for staff members to come up with environmental procedures of their own.
Management
ISO 14001 certification requires procedures and processes to be implemented, easing certain management aspects, as well as making it clear what should be done (and even clearer when something isn’t being done correctly).
With set procedures to follow, communication between employees and management could be more structured, because everything is kept up to date and roles become much clearer.
Carbon footprint
The carbon footprint of many organisations is likely to be bigger than they believe. UK supermarkets for example are responsible for only 1% of the UK’s total emissions, however energy usage in the transporting of goods, packaging and energy used by suppliers would make emissions higher.
Putting in place processes to deal with, for example, suppliers and energy useage can make a company's use of such resources more efficient.
The British Assessment Bureau was established in 1969.