ISO 14001:2026 – An Opportunity for Change

Posted on October 29, 2026 by Kevin Lehner

Introduction

ISO 14001 is the most popular environmental management system standard in the world. There are over 1.2 million facilities certified to this globally recognized standard. Many other organizations are using ISO 14001 as a model for their EMS but have not yet sought certification. The revision of ISO 14001 in April of 2026 offers an opportunity for organizations with an older legacy EMS to review and update to better manage risk.

The ISO 14001:2026 update made no material changes to the basic requirements of the standard. The revision did, however, clarify some important requirements, especially in Clause 6 on Planning. The restructuring of this section helps organizations improve processes for environmental risk management. The restructuring also helps certification bodies and other auditors better understand what ISO intends for this clause of the standard.

Clause 6 is important because it determines what the environmental management system is going to manage (environmental aspects). Results of planning help everyone using the EMS understand what environmental risks are important to the organization. Planning also helps users of the EMS understand what actions the organization is taking to control environmental aspects and impacts.

Better Understanding of Environmental Aspect and Risk

Environmental aspects cause risk or environmental impact. Reducing risk of environmental impact is the primary outcome that an ISO 14001 EMS should achieve. Clause 6 on planning has been ambiguous about the relationship between risk(s), opportunities, aspects, and impacts. This leaves it up to the organizations to interpret the requirements when planning the EMS.

This ambiguity has led to a wide variety of approaches to identifying environmental aspects and determining which are significant. Although these approaches technically meet the requirements of ISO 14001 they are marginally effective in controlling risk from aspects. The ISO 14001:2026 revision helps users gain a better understanding of environmental aspects, impacts, risks and opportunities.

ISO 14001 requires that organizations identify significant environmental aspects and to address risk and opportunity associated with these environmental aspects. However, the standard provides little guidance on why organizations need to identify some environmental aspects as significant. The standard is also unclear about what to do differently with significant aspects than with those that are not significant. This approach allows organizations flexibility to meet the requirement of this part of the ISO 14001 standard. However, this flexibility has led to a wide range of approaches to identifying significant environmental aspects, impacts, risks, and opportunities.

Clause 6 From an Auditors Perspective

Some conformant legacy EMS processes identify only a few environmental aspects and only 1 that is significant. Others are complex Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA) type methods. Some with 7 or more factors used to calculate a Risk Priority Number (RPN). Often the FMEA has an arbitrary RPN cutoff value that limits the number of significant aspects.

Although these approaches met the basic requirements of ISO 14001, they often did not help organizations identify what was important. If the planning part of the EMS is weak the rest of the management system suffers. This is because the rest of the EMS relies heavily on the output of clause 6 planning.

ISO 14001:2026 revisions in clause 6 used a three bucket concept. The standard reordered the sequent of clauses to focuses on environmental aspects as a priority (Bucket-1). Bucket 2 are compliance obligations and Bucket 3 are risk and opportunities. See Figure 1.

Figure 1 – Three Bucket Concept

The following example of cheese making illustrates one approach to identify environmental aspects, impacts, determine which are significant. The case study describes how organizations can determine actions needed to address environmental risk and opportunities. It also provides information on how the ISO 14001:2026 EMS planning supports other parts of the EMS including auditing.

Process Flow Diagrams Aid Aspect Identification

Most organizations have systematic processes that add value and help organizations generate revenue. Often these processes have environmental aspects and impacts. Mapping the process flow is the first step in identifying environmental aspects. In manufacturing, businesses use inputs, like raw materials and energy in a sequence of processes that change these raw materials into something with more value that the organization can sell to customers.

Developing a process flow diagram of the manufacturing process is a critical step in aspect identification. Figure 2 is an example of a cheese making process flow diagram. Raw milk is one of the inputs into the process. The cheese making process changes milk into cheese through a sequence of steps. The result of the process in cheese ready for sale to customers.

Figure 2 – Cheese Manufacturing – Whey Environmental Aspect

Waste whey is an output of the curdling and molding processes. If mismanaged it can have a significant water pollution environmental impact. To avoid fines and damage to the company’s brand risk of noncompliance from mismanagement of waste whey should be addressed by the company

The cheese making process has many other environmental aspects that may be significant like the use of cleaning chemicals and potential emissions of pollutants into the air. The first step in the Clause 6 planning process is to create an inventory of environmental aspects.

Use a process flow diagram like the one in figure 1 to identify environmental aspects. Include someone with knowledge of environmental impacts are for the cheese making process. Once you have an inventory you can begin to evaluate them for importance using risk assessment techniques.

Deciding What Is Important

ISO 14001 requires organization’s determine what environmental aspects are important (significant) and thereby need to be addressed.

“The organization shall determine those aspects that have or can have a significant environmental impact (i.e. significant environmental aspects) by using established criteria.”

Risk assessment should be used to determine which environmental aspects are important and need to be controlled or improved. However, risk assessment can be subjective and imprecise. There are many approaches to performing risk assessment. The key is to not make it overly complicated. Keep it simple.

Figure 3 is an example of a simple risk matrix you can use to estimate relative risk based on likelihood and severity.

Figure 3 – 5×5 Risk Analysis Matrix – CorrectTrack.com

Across the top of the matrix are values for the likelihood that an aspect will have an impact on the environment. The likelihood values in the top row increase from left to right, not likely (Value of 1) to Very likely with a (value of 5). The Severity values along the left side of the matrix are similar with Low (1) at the bottom and Very High (5) at the top.

Use the matrix to estimate risk. Start by assuming that there are no existing controls to manage the risk of environmental impact even if you do have exiting controls in place. Pick a value along the Severity axis that you think is reasonable (1-5). Then pick a value along the Likelihood axis that you think is reasonable using the 1-5 scale. Multiply these 2 values together to give the estimated risk value. A group is often better at estimating these values than one individual alone. Also include an environmental professional with some risk assessment experience to guide the risk assessment process.

Significant Environmental Aspects

When making cheese, enzymes are added to the milk to help the milk coagulate into cheeses curds. The enzymes come in returnable containers, and the likelihood is low and severity of an impact from adding enzyme is low. The risk score is calculated by multiplying the likelihood times the severity which gives a risk value of 1 which is low and represented by the color green on the matrix.

The generation of waste whey from the milk curdling process is highly likely (5) on the matrix because it happens every day that cheese is being made. The impact of improper disposal of waste whey is either high (4) or very high also (5). The combined estimated risk is calculated to be either 15 or 25 (high or very high) color red. This uncontrolled risk score helps in prioritizing environmental aspects for risk control Figure 4 is an example of a prioritized aspect list.

Figure 4 – Prioritized Aspect List for Cheese Making

Good Planning Equals Good Audits

Skillful planning helps ensure good audits. Good audits provide critical information to leadership and others about the performance of the EMS and its ability to control risk to the organization. A well-planned EMS links environmental risk to the controls established to address the risk. This linkage is like a breadcrumb auditors can follow to check that the environmental risk is being addressed and the control is effective.

Breadcrumbs for Audits

A good example is Used Oil Management. Some of the equipment in the cheese factory is lubricated with petroleum oil. This oil needs to be changed by the maintenance department from time to time to protect the equipment moving parts from excessive wear. Without adequate controls used oil can be mismanaged and dumped on the ground, in sewers and storm drains causing significant environmental impact.

The likelihood and severity of environmental impact is high if used oil is mismanaged. Used oil is also regulated by government agencies and organizations and its leadership risk fines and even criminal penalties if waste oil is mismanaged.

To ensure that risk from the aspect of used oil is minimized organizations can establish several controls including Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures Plans, secondary containment of used oil drums and tanks, and documented work instructions. By connecting the environmental aspect of used oil to these controls the auditor can quickly confirm what controls need to be in place and if those controls are effective. Audits would check that the SPCC Plan and the used oil work instructions are being followed.

Hierarchy of Control (HOC)

EMS Planning includes consideration of what actions can control environmental risk. Risk controls take several different forms, and not all are equally effective. One method for determining the effectiveness of risk control is the Hierarchy of Controls (HOC). HOC is based on the concept that some types of control are more effective at reducing risk than others. In the HOC “Elimination” is one of the methods to control risk.

If a cheese factory is able to eliminate the process that generates the whey waste the risk of that aspect is also eliminated and the risk score goes from 25 to 0. Figure 5 is a version of the HOC used to calculate the effectiveness of a particular type of operational control Engineering controls reduce risk by 60% and administrative controls by 40% and so on.

Figure 5 – Hierarchy of Risk Control – CorrectTrack

Layers of Protection (LOP)

Another important concept of risk control is Layers of Protection. If we apply several different controls to the aspect of Waste Whey we can reduce risk from this aspect significantly.The calculated uncontrolled risk score for waste whey at 25 (Very High). We can use an engineering control (treat the wastewater before discharge). This will reduce that risk score by 60% down from 20 to 8 (20 x .4=8). This reduced value is the residual or remaining risk before any additional control.

A risk value of 8 for the aspect is still high (orange). Another layer of protection is desirable to reduce the risk further. The organization needs to be maintain the wastewater treatment process. Leadership should confirm that treatment plant operators are competent to ensure the treatment is done properly. Training and competence are a form of administrative operational control in the Hierarchy of Control (See Figure 3).

Appetite for Risk

This additional layer of protection reduces the risidual risk to 4.8. Depending on the organization’s appetites for risk, this value may be low enough. Leadership should review and confirm risk to the organization is managed adequately. Repeating this process for all other environmental aspects ensures that risk is assessed and addressed to an acceptable level.

Tying It Altogether

The ISO 14001:2026 revision emphasized the importance of clause 6 and good planning. The intent is to encourage organizations to review their planning process. Organizations with a legacy EMS will benefit from reviewing the planning parts of their EMS. Important questions to ask during this review are:

Was a process flow diagram or something similar consulted during the aspect identification process?
Are risk assessment processes used based on likelihood and severity of impact?
Were aspects with higher risk values prioritized for action?
Does the risk assessment process consider the hierarchy of controls when deciding if risk had been adequately addressed?
Has linkage between the environmental aspects and the actions taken to control risk been documented?

Answering yes means the planning part meets the requirements of ISO 14001:2026 and is addressing environmental risk. If not maybe now is a good time to make some changes to the planning process.

About the Author:

Kevin Lehner is a senior member of the ANSI US technical Advisory Groups for ISO 14001, 45001 and ANSI Z10. He is leading the international group establishing a new guidance standard in the ISO 14002 series on using ISO 14001 to address environmental topic areas. He is a certified ISO management systems lead auditor performing frequent ISO audits for ECSI audit clients. He also is a frequent instructor for ISO 14001, 9001 and 45001, auditor and lead auditor Exemplar Global certified courses.

Will Green Tier Law be Repealed?

Posted on April 24, 2024 by Kevin Lehner

A proposed Assembly Bill (AB 1059) would repeal the 20 year old Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Green Tier program. Although the bill is a long way from passage, the new law would likely eliminate the Green Tier program. This article explores potential options Green Tier participants might consider if the Green Tier law is repealed.

The table below compares Green Tier with a few other popular alternatives for organizations wishing to communicate their superior environmental performance to others. On the left, are the names of the programs including Green Tier. The top row shows the characteristics of each of the program types. A discussion of both the program types and the characteristics is below the table.

	Program Type Characteristics
Program Type	PDCA	Assurance	Global	Integration	Message Recognition	Cost to Implement
Green Tier	X	Strong		X	Medium	Low
Green Masters		Some			Medium	Low
ISO 14001	X	Strong	X	X	High	Medium
EMAS	X	Strong		X	Medium	High
CSR		None	X		Medium	Low -Medium
CSR Verified		Strong	X		High	High

Table showing comparison of Green Tier with other popular options.

Program Characteristics

PDCA – Plan Do Check Act continual improvement cycle? Most ISO type management systems are based on the PDCA model.

Assurance – Can the information be verified by an independent third party?

Global – Is this type of program globally recognized?

Integration – Does this program type integrate well with other protocols including ISO 9001, 45001 etc.?

Message Recognition – Are interested parties familiar with this type of program and messaging?

Cost – What is the cost to implement and operate this type of program?

Program types

Green Tier – A voluntary program modeled on the requirements of ISO 14001. Green Tier was passed into law in April 16, 2004 to help Wisconsin businesses communicate their superior environmental performance to interested parties. Green Tier is based on the principles of continual improvement that help organizations continually improve performance in many different areas. Green Tier also has an assurance component requiring participants perform periodic audits by an outside auditor of the organizations Environmental Management System (EMS). A Green Tier EMS can be easily integrated with quality and occupational health and safety management systems into the organizations overall business management system. Once accepted into the program, participants can communicate a strong message of superior environmental performance. Participants have up to one year to implement their EMS making this a relatively low-cost investment to implement the management system.

Green Masters – The Green Master’s Program helps businesses focus on sustainability issues important to them while contributing to bottom line and top line growth. The program also provides a framework to develop, integrate, and grow sustainable practices. It also helps record and track progress in the sustainability action areas. Participants in the Green Master program declare that they meet criteria established by the program. Green Master participants are recognized in four status levels.

ISO 14001 – A globally recognized international standard based on the principles of continual improvement. The International Accreditation Forum has established a robust accreditation and certification program that sends a strong message of superior environmental performance to interested parties. ISO 14001 can also be easily integrated with other ISO management systems including ISO 9001 for quality management and ISO 45001 for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems.

Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) – EMAS is very similar to the Green Tier program for organizations in the European Union countries. It is a voluntary environmental management instrument, which was developed in 1993 by the European Commission. It incorporates ISO 14001 as a fundamental component and enables organizations to assess, manage and continuously improve their environmental performance. The scheme is globally applicable and open to all types of private and public organizations. In order to register with EMAS, organizations must meet the requirements of the EU EMAS-Regulation. Currently, more than 4,000 organizations and more than 12,700 sites are EMAS registered

Corporate Sustainability Reporting (CSR) – Sustainability reporting has emerged as a cornerstone of corporate responsibility. Reporting can help businesses demonstrate their commitment to sustainable practices and transparency. The CSR trend is fueled by, government regulations, heightened stakeholder scrutiny, and a growing recognition of the significance of ESG performance for long-term business success. There are several popular CSR reporting standards each having their pros and cons. Here is a list of some most recognized:

CSR reports are not based on a management system standard. Instead, they are categories or areas of sustainability that the organizations report. Organizations are not required to seek independent verification of the sustainability claims being made. This has led to criticism by users of the reports that the information is not reliable and may be considered “greenwashing”.

IASSB and ISO 14019 Sustainability Assurance

Criticism of unverified CSR reporting has lead to development of new standards for verification of sustainability claims in CSR reports. International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) has recently issued ISSA 5000 to help provide assurance to users of CSR information. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is also developing ISO 14019 for sustainability information verification and validation (VV). The ISO standards include a pathway for accreditation of VV bodies under ISO 17029.

Although Green Tier is unlikely to be repealed soon, we hope this information gives Green Tier participants a broader picture of ways to communicate sustainability information to those interested in your performance. For more information check out or Green Tier Services or you can contact us here or email us kalehner@envcompsys.com.

Pro-Tips for Best EHS Audits (Part 2): Conducting an EHS Compliance Audit

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Kevin Lehner

Compliance audits confirm an organization’s compliance status with environmental and occupational health and safety regulations. Audits also help manage risk of violations and fines. Customers, boards of directors and others care about EHS regulatory compliance and use audit results to make important business decisions. EHS audits will become even more important in the future as more organizations seek independent verification of their EHS and ESG performance.

Opening Meeting

An EHS compliance audit can be intimidating for an organization. Conducting an opening meeting helps to:

Explain the purpose, scope, and objective(s) of the audit.
Introduce the audit team, the auditee leadership and audit participants.
Present the audit schedule.
Discuss who has authorized the performance of the audit and why.
Describe how evidence will be collected during the audit.
Review how audit results will be reported.

Participation of leadership at the opening meeting helps communicate support for the audit process and expectations for employee participation in the audit.

Collecting EHS Compliance Audit Evidence

In Part 1 of this series, we discussed how to plan an EHS compliance audit focusing on what matters (materiality). Auditors use the audit plan to develop audit trails that result in positive or negative evidence of compliance. A questions like “tell me about the processes operated in this department” is often a good starting point for developing audit trails. Here is an example follow-up questions an auditor could ask to further develop the compliance audit trails.

Auditor: I see the metal parts grit blast process is operating today. What kind of parts are you blasting now.

Auditee: We are cleaning several hundred parts before they are electroplated.

Auditor: What are some of the important environmental aspects and OHS hazards you need to consider when operating the grit blaster and dust collector when cleaning stainless steel parts?

A well-prepared auditee will have identified the environmental and occupational health and safety regulations before the audit. Figure 1 is an example of a risk analysis tool that helps prepare for an audit and helps auditors identify important areas to audit. For more information about risk analysis watch this Risk Overview brief video. Learn more about CorrectTrack app.

Tools like CorrectTrack provide a listing of environmental aspects and OHS hazards. The list helps quickly identify important aspects and hazards that are good candidates for improvement or for developing audit trails. The highlighted row in Figure 1 is an example of an environmental aspect to check during an audit. Clicking on Risk ID 803 link shows the risk detail page (Figure 2).

Figure 2 – Grit Blast Dust Emission Environmental Risk Detail

This page shows important details about a dust emissions risk and provides links to other information like risk controls, applicable compliance obligations and related files. Clicking on the link under “Files” provides more detailed information (Figure 3). The red box in Figure 3 shows the specific requirements (risks) that need to be addressed or that are (audit criteria) an auditor can check.

Figure 3 – Air Permit Audit Criteria for Dust Collector

Collecting And Evaluating Evidence

An audit checklist can help jog an auditor’s memory of the audit trails they want to follow. Checklists can be as needed. A good checklist points the auditor to what they are trying to prove true. It should be more than a simple check the box yes or no checklist. Check the box checklists discourage looking for and recording evidence of conformity of compliance and should be avoided

The best checklists are prepared by the auditor before or during the onsite portion of the audit. They are specific to the process being audited and the requirement being assessed. The line of questioning can be spontaneous and not always needs to be documented. The questions can be recorded on the spot in the auditors notes along with any evidence observed. Often, audit questions will lead to another question as the auditor follows the audit trail trying to get to the ultimate evidence that a requirement is being met.

Auditor Notes

Auditors need to be able to take good notes during the audit. This helps them recall the details of the audit when preparing the audit report. Notes need to record the evidence the auditor observed during the audit. This can be evidence of conformity or not. Being able to show what the auditor saw or heard during the audit is an important part of the audit process. Good note taking skills are one of the competencies auditors need to possess and continually develop.

Preparing EHS Compliance Audit Findings

Auditor notes are the evidence of conformity, but sometimes the audit shows things are not the way they are supposed to be. Auditors call these nonconformance’s, or potential noncompliance findings. There are many formats for preparing these negative findings. One approach is to write the negative finding in three parts:

1. the requirement,
2. the finding and
3. the evidence that supports the finding

The requirement part of the finding describes the audit criteria the auditor was trying to prove true. It can be a regulatory requirement or a requirement the organization has set for itself. The finding part is a statement of what the problem was, and often refers to the requirements. The evidence part of the audit finding is a summary of what an auditor saw that led them to the conclusion there was a nonconformity.

The following is an example of a negative finding for potential noncompliance with a State issued Title V air emission permit.

Requirement: [s. NR 439.055(2)(a), Wis. Adm. Code, 02-DCF-178] The pressure drop across the dust collector baghouse shall be measured and recorded once every 8 hours of operation or once per day, whichever yields more measurements.
Finding: Auditee not able to produce records of baghouse pressure drop readings
Evidence: No records of metal finishing baghouse pressure drop were able to be produced for 2^nd & 3^rd shift when baghouse was operating in May 2023.

Communicating EHS Compliance Audit Findings

When a negative finding is made auditors should try to get consensus with auditee that the finding is valid. This will help avoid disagreement on the validity of a finding during the closing meeting. This also helps confirm the auditee has a clear understanding of what was wrong so they begin to fix the problem. Well written findings also help auditees identify appropriate corrective actions. A correction is a quick fix to “stop the bleeding”. A corrective action prevents the nonconformity from recurring.

Closing Meeting

A closing meeting should be held for all EHS audits. During the closing meeting the audit team shares the results of the audit with the auditee. The closing meeting should include the following:

Audit findings
Audit conclusions
Audit recommendations (if appropriate)
Circumstances that affected confidence in the audit results
Audit report timing and distribution
Follow-up actions to be taken by the auditors and auditee
Process for appealing an audit finding or conclusion

Conclusion

This is Part 2 of a three-part article about environmental and health and safety (EHS) auditing. Part 1 discussed how to plan an EHS audit. In Part 3 of this series we will explore how to follow-up on an audit including preparing an audit report, approving corrective actions and verifying corrective action effectiveness during subsequent audits.

ECSI provides auditing, consulting and training services to organizations interested in improving their EH&S performance. For more information, contact us.

ISO 14001:2015 – What is a “Life Cycle Perspective”?

Posted on August 18, 2016 by jsmith

The term” life cycle” is not new to most, but the use of the term “Life Cycle Perspective” (LCP) in ISO 14001:2015 (2015) is one of the bigger changes in the most recent revision. Organizations transitioning to the revision must think carefully about how to use a life cycle perspective when planning the transition to the 2015 revision. 2015 requires the use of a life cycle perspective when it states:

Perspective

6.1.2 Environmental aspects
Within the defined scope of the environmental management system, the organization shall determine the environmental aspects of its activities, products and services that it can control and those that it can influence, and their associated environmental impacts, considering a life cycle perspective.

The previous version of 14001 (2004) only mentioned the term life cycle once in the Annex:

The identification of environmental aspects does not require a detailed life-cycle assessment. Information already developed for regulatory or other purposes may be used in this process

In 2015, the term life cycle appears 18 times, 7 of which are associated with the concept of perspective. 2015 does not explicitly define LCP stopping short and providing only a definition of term “life cycle”:

3.3.3
life cycle

consecutive and interlinked stages of a product (or service) system, from raw material acquisition or generation from natural resources to final disposal

Note 1 to entry: The life cycle stages include acquisition of raw materials, design, production, transportation/delivery, use, end-of-life treatment and final disposal.

[SOURCE: ISO 14044:2006, 3.1, modified ? The words “(or service)” have been added to the definition and Note 1 to entry has been added.]

So the major questions are:

How should organizations use a life cycle perspective when planning its EMS?
What sort of evidence will auditors expect to see to confirm a life cycle perspective was used in planning an EMS?

Using a life cycle perspective when planning an EMS.

The introduction of 2015 provides some insight into what the standard means by Life Cycle Perspective when it states:

A systematic approach to environmental management can provide top management with information to build success over the long term and create options for contributing to sustainable development by controlling or influencing the way the organization’s products and services are designed, manufactured, distributed, consumed and disposed by using a life cycle perspective that can prevent environmental impacts from being unintentionally shifted elsewhere within the life cycle.

This statement suggests the purpose of using a life cycle perspective is to prevent the unintentional transfer of environmental impacts. In order to do this, organizations need to expand their view of the impacts derived from their product and services beyond the property fence line. Organizations need to look up their supply chain to understand the environmental impacts caused by their suppliers and those supplying their suppliers. In doing so, the organization may be able to identify environmental impacts of which they had been previously unaware. Armed with this new information the organization can then consider what, if any, control or influence they have over these supply chain environmental impacts.

Similarly, organizations will need to look down supply chains to identify environmental impacts that derive from the use of their products or services by their customers and end users. Also, they need to evaluate their ability to control or influence these impacts..

Once these up chain and down chain impacts have been identified, 2015 expects that organizations endeavor to address the environmental aspects that are causing these impacts where practical. How the organizations choose to address these life cycle aspects depends on several factors including:

the level of risk the aspect presents to the organizations
the level of risk the aspect presents to the environment
the degree of influence or control the organization has over the aspect

The amount of control or influence organizations have over life cycle aspects depends on:

how far up or down the supply chain is the aspect
how a design change will affect the performance or cost of the product
Who controls the design of the product or service

Organizations should also use a life cycle perspective when they are reviewing the potential environmental impacts and aspects from outsourced processes that are performed by other organizations on its behalf.

Evidence of a Life Cycle Perspective During Audits

Proving to an auditor that a life cycle perspective was used to identify the environmental aspects may be more difficult than actually using a life cycle perspective. Based on early experience with 2015 certifications it is apparent that the certification community has not yet reached consensus on what and how much evidence is required to show conformance with the life cycle perspective requirements. At minimum we recommend some discussion of how a Life Cycle Perspective was used perhaps in the high level documentation like an EMS Manual or in the documented procedure how the organizations addressed the requirements of Clause 6 Planning.

A graphic such as the one here describing the various life cycle stages may also be helpful in satisfying auditors need for evidence.

Unfortunately, and in the short term there is likely to be much variation between certification bodies and individual auditors regarding what is acceptable evidence of conformance the LCP requirements. We encourage organizations to have a discussion up front with the auditors before the Stage 1 or transition audit about what the Certification Body (CB) and auditor will be looking for when collecting evidence that a LCP has been used in the EMS.

ISO High Level Structure and EH&S Management Systems

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Kevin Lehner

ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 are undergoing significant change intended to improve these standards. The new ISO High Level Structure will align all ISO standards along a common management systems structure and promote integration. The recent US Technical Advisory Group meeting in Orlando, Florida was a particularly enlightening conference for us where US TAG members were able to share their ideas of the way the HLS applies to EHS management Systems.

ISO HLS & EHSMS

An important part of the revision processes is being able to communicate to current and new users how the standards are changing and how these changes will affect an existing EHSMS. This diagram represents how we at ECSI see the developing changes to ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 and the relationships between some of the important clauses of the revised standards.

We are interested in understanding how users of the EHSMS standards feel about the changes and what information they need to begin to plan for the changes to their EHSMS. ECSI will be conducting a short, one hour webinar Tuesday, April 22, 2014 from 10am-11am Central Standard Time. The purpose of the seminar is to provide the current state of the revision process and to discuss how we see the EHSMS standard revisions progressing. If you are interested in participating in one of these webinars send us an email to webinar@envcompsys.com and we will reply with the logon instructions.

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