ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS)

Environmental management & IS0 14001 certification solutions to meet your needs.

Quality Management Systems is a leading UK business process and ISO 14001 environmental management system (EMS) specialist. We deliver a comprehensive range of environmental management solutions including the development, implementation and certification of ISO 14001 based management frameworks; auditing, training and EMS software solutions to organisations of different sizes and structures, throughout the United Kingdom and internationally.

Our business process and environmental management specialists help clients to develop practical, environmentally sympathetic EMS frameworks that can be deployed rapidly. Our individually tailored environmental frameworks are designed to integrate seamlessly with your core activities and will help you achieve ISO 14001 certification quickly and efficiently.

By focusing on the needs of your organisation our consultants work quickly to develop a crystal clear appreciation of what you do, how you do it, and your environmental objectives. With this knowledge our specialists can then work to ensure existing environmental processes and procedures are clearly identified, evaluated and then further developed to reduce waste, improve regulatory compliance, minimise environmental impact and improve overall environmental performance. Our cost efficient EMS frameworks are simple and easy to use, can be deployed rapidly and are proven to deliver a number of important benefits to organisations whatever the size, structure or market sector.

If you would like to learn more about our ISO14001 based EMS frameworks and how we can help you develop world-class environmental management systems please get in touch today.

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Benefits of ISO 14001 Environmental Management

QMS develop carefully tailored environmental management systems based around the specific needs of individual clients. Our EMS frameworks are based on the world-class management standard ISO 14001 and are proven to deliver several significant benefits to organisations including:

Improved Environmental Performance
A world-class EMS tailored to your individual needs. Our experts will integrate tried and tested environmental processes in to your own operations to deliver practical, measurable environmental performance improvements.
Increase Efficiency & Build Profitability
Increase efficiency, reduce waste, save money and build profitability.
Better Regulatory Compliance
Ensure you meet your legal obligations on all relevant environmental rules and regulations.
Pollution Control
Minimise or eliminate environmental incidents with better pollution prevention and control processes.
Greater Opportunity
Access to new customers and new markets with a certified EMS based on the internationally recognised ISO 14001 standard.
Enhanced Reputation
Enhanced reputation with an internationally recognised environmental management standard. Improve your organisations reputation with staff, customers, suppliers, regulators, investors and other stakeholders
Improved Environmental Awareness
Better staff awareness of environmental issues and their personal environmental responsibilities.

UK & International Capabilities

Our specialist environmental frameworks are delivered by experienced consultants who combine their expertise with practical know-how across their specialist areas to deliver real environmental management improvements to clients.

Our main offices are located in London and Manchester and these are further supported by regional teams of specially trained process management and standards implementation specialists who deliver expert advice and support solutions to meet the highest standards of performance expected by our clients.

Contact Quality Management Systems today to learn how our ISO 14001 based environmental management systems implementation and accreditation solutions can help you achieve a practical, environmentally sympathetic framework that helps to reduce waste, improves regulatory compliance, minimises environmental impact and achieves ISO 14001 certification quickly and efficiently. To speak with one of our experts call us on 0330 223 25 85 or simply use the button below to get our full contact details or submit our contact form.

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What is an Environmental Management System or EMS?

Why should any organisation consider introducing an environmental management system or EMS? Well… one of the main reasons is that the quality and sustainability of our environment is becoming ever more important as we all continually seek to do our best to ensure it is preserved and protected for future generations.

Such environmental awareness is increasingly affecting how we as individuals, organisations and communities interact with the environment. Alongside this, many organisations around the world, both large and small are also taking their social and environmental responsibilities far more seriously. This is especially so as they begin to recognise the impact their activities have on the environment, particularly if proper measures are not taken to keep things in check. This is where an environmental management system or EMS comes in to play.

The idea behind an EMS is to adopt a series of environmentally sympathetic processes and practices that ensure a business or organisation can minimise the impact it has on the environment and increase its operating efficiency by:

Minimising any harmful effects it may have on the environment.
Continually seeking to improve its environmental performance.

The Principles of Environmental Management

There are several key principles involved in any effective environmental management system, and these are typically built around the Plan – Do – Check – Act or PDCA cycle. This iterative approach of review, evaluation and improvement is common to most successful management systems and is designed to help organisations achieve their environmental goals and objectives and also identify and act upon opportunities for future improvement.

Plan – Do – Check – Act

These key principles may be applied to organisations of all sizes and structures, across all industry sectors. There is however ample room for individual organisations to tailor any EMS they adopt to suit their own environmental objectives and their specific operational environment.

The key principles of any good environmental management system include:

Commitment of Senior Management
The senior management team of any organisation needs to commit fully to reducing its environmental impact through improvements to its environmental performance and the creation of its own environmental policy.

The environmental policy should be seen as the foundation of the environmental management system.
Plan Ahead
Consider the environmental goals of the organisation and how to achieve them in the most effective way. This will also include meeting any legal and regulatory standards that must be achieved.

Realistic objectives and targets should be agreed upon and then incorporated in to an action plan. This action plan should identify roles and responsibilities, time scales and those actions required to meet the environmental objectives and targets that have been set.
Follow through with each step of the action plan
Following through with each step of the environmental action plan will help to ensure every part of the plan is delivered and nothing is left out.

This implementation stage will include the development of practical operating procedures, establishing clear lines of communication, staff training and environmental awareness.
Check & Evaluate The Results
Performing regular audits to check and evaluate an organisations environmental performance against its stated aims and objectives is very important.

These vital stages provide accountability to ensure every step in the plan has been covered. It also provides an opportunity to ensure the actions taken have delivered the desired results.
Review & Make Improvements
Once evaluation of an organisations performance is complete, any improvements to the existing environmental management system can be identified and then implemented. This stage is essential to ensure continuous improvement can be achieved.

Why Implement an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System?

If an organisation can reduce its environmental impact, it can also create opportunities to improve productivity, reduce costs, improve profitability, minimise waste and any harmful effects it may have on the environment… a great win-win scenario.

An effective environmental management system can deliver a number of important benefits to an organisation, its employees, wider stakeholders and the environment including:

Improved Environmental Performance
The implementation of an ISO 14001 based EMS can help to improve an organisations environmental performance and its impact on the wider environment with better processes, procedures and a mechanism for continuous improvement.
Increase Efficiency & Build Profitability

A carefully tailored EMS can increase organisational efficiency, reduce waste, save money and build profitability. A great win-win opportunity.
Improved Regulatory Compliance

Improve your regulatory compliance processes to meet your legal obligations on all relevant environmental rules and regulations. A recognised EMS also helps to give local regulators confidence that your management processes are effective.
Better pollution prevention & control

Avoid or eliminate unplanned environmental incidents such as spills, accidental materials discharge etc. Improved environmental process help to improve your pollution prevention and control procedures.
Greater Opportunity

An EMS based on the internationally recognised ISO 14001 can open up greater opportunities giving access to new customers and new markets.
Enhance Your Reputation

Enhance your organisations reputation with ISO14001 certification, the internationally recognised environmental management standard. Improve your image with staff, customers, suppliers, regulators, investors and other stakeholders.
Better Environmental Awareness

Build better environmental awareness throughout your organisation with the implementation of a carefully tailored environmental management framework. Increase staff awareness of environmental issues and their personal environmental responsibilities.

Compliance with all relevant environmental legislation and consideration of how an organisation impacts on its surroundings is vital no matter which industry sector is involved. An EMS can help deliver regulatory compliance more effectively, as all the steps required to achieve compliance will be identified in the system framework.

The commitment by an organisation and its people to do their best for the environment is also a very strong and positive message to send out to clients, customers and other stakeholders. Organisations that take a proactive approach to environmental issues and seek to deliver positive improvements in this area are likely to be rewarded in several ways.

Finally, an environmental management system is also ideal for organisations of all sizes, and structures to take on. They are used extensively by multinational companies, governments and by local businesses looking to improve their environmental performance. The availability of a recognised management framework that any organisation, of any size, in any sector can use makes it easier and more accessible for everyone to get involved.

Environmental Management Systems & ISO 14001 Certification

Any organisation wishing to use a specialist EMS framework to help them focus on their environmental responsibilities and so drive improvements to their environmental performance should consider adopting a recognised management system already used by other organisations and companies worldwide.

The first instance of such an environmental system was published in June 1992 as BS 7750. Four years later BS 7750 was followed by ISO 14001, a comprehensive environmental management system developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

ISO 14001 is based around the Plan – Do – Check – Act or PDCA approach and is the now the most popular environmental management standard having been adopted by thousands of organisations around the world. The standard was updated in September 2015 and ensures that strong leadership, improved performance and an in-depth approach remain essential building blocks of this environmental management system.

Implementing ISO 14001:2015

ISO 14001:2015 is ideal for organisations who wish to implement such a system for the first time. It is also perfect for businesses that are currently using a different system, and wish to make the move over to the world-leading EMS.

ISO 14001:2015 is the latest update to this well-established environmental management standard. The update was published in September 2015 and is now recognised as the primary standard for environmental management systems around the world. It has been specifically designed to take into account all the processes and elements mentioned above.

Watch the following video to get a good overview of the new 2015 edition of ISO 14001.

Tried-and-Tested Management Framework

It is much easier to achieve greater success in an organisation, or indeed in any part of an organisation, when there is a consistent and proven framework to follow. ISO 14001:2015 provides such a framework, giving organisations a proven method by which they can adhere to the principles of good environmental management.

Making the decision to focus on environmental improvement is a big one for any organisation, regardless of its size and structure. However, once the decision is made, it is vital to ensure that such steps receive the full support of the senior management team and the organisation from the outset, and that the initial implementation stages are taken in the most positive way possible.

This can be made significantly easier by adopting a tried and tested environmental management system such as ISO 14001. Implementing this internationally recognised standard is not simply a case of adopting a one-size-fits-all framework. Rather, it provides the opportunity to adopt a highly successful framework that can be adjusted and tweaked to suit the individual needs of an organisation and the environment or market place in which it operates. This holds true whether the organisation is large or small, is in its early stages or has been established for several years.

An EMS Tailored to Meet Your Needs

ISO 14001:2015 offers excellent flexibility and can also be adjusted to suit the type and style of organisation and the sector it operates in. Furthermore, there is always the flexibility to make additional adjustments in the future if it should expand, contract, offer new services or products or change in any other way.

With such a solid framework in place courtesy of ISO 14001, any organisation can ensure that changes to its environmental practices can be made at any time if required. Regular reviews along with more detailed audits of the environmental management system and how it is working will ensure only the most effective improvements are made in the future to the benefit of the organisation, employees, wider stakeholders and the environment.

The benefits of an effective, well managed environmental management system can be significant to any organisation, especially if there is real commitment to its ongoing success at all levels.

Manage your environmental systems more effectively with our EMS software solutions

Get Expert Environmental Management Support

Contact Quality Management Systems today to discuss your environmental management and ISO 14001 standards requirements. Our experts can provide practical, cost effective advice and support on all aspects of ISO14001 implementation, certification, auditing and training… all tailored to meet the needs of your organisation.

With offices in London and Manchester, supported by regional teams of specially trained management and standards implementation specialists we can deliver cost efficient, straight-forward EMS frameworks developed to support your organisation and what you do.

Contact QMS today for more information about our EMS solutions or for your FREE, no obligation quote.

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