Day four of ISO 14001 Lead Auditor is going well.  A great group of folks in the class makes my job here in DC enjoyable.  From time to time I wonder if ISO 14001 is destined for jettison to the ash heap of sustainability irrelevance.  I sometimes question if others will continue to believe as I do that an ISO 14001 environmental management systems is a good way to manage the plant part of sustainability’s triple bottom line.

But teaching this class often restores my confidence that ISO 14001 will continue to be relevant for the foreseeable future.  Students continue to appreciate learning the fundamentals of environmental aspects, impacts, significance, auditing including the relationship between audit criteria, evidence, findings and conclusions.   I also believe that the current revision process is tracking well toward delivering an improved model for environmental management systems and I am looking forward to teach this course for the revised standard next year.