ISO 14001 Revision Nears Completion

The working group revising the international environmental management systems standard ISO 14001 has finalized the technical requirements of the new standard.

ISO 14001:2015 contains significant changes to the 2004 edition, including requirements to: understand the strategic context of the organization and the needs and expectations of interested parties; integrate environmental management in core business processes; ensure the reliability of information communicated; evaluate risks and opportunities, both to the environment and the organization; take a life cycle perspective; extent control and influence through supply chains and design processes.

Significant additional emphasis is given to continual improvement of environmental performance.

Following a final edit and translation, a ballot of ISO members will be conducted in July and August, with the new ISO 14001:2015 standard set for publication in September.

The International Accreditation Forum has set a three-year period for the 300,000 certificate holders worldwide to transition to the new standard.