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ISO 14001: 2015

Environmental Management Systems

ISO 14001 - The Internationally Recognized Standard For Environmental Management Systems

Implement the global standard for the environmental management systems under a reputable and accredited certification body. Have a hassle-free certification experience under Blue Wolf!

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What is ISO 14001?

ISO 14001 is the internationally acknowledged environmental management standard that helps organizations plan, implement and measure how to minimize their impact on the environment.

ISO certification confirms and communicates a company’s ethical, sustainable and nature-friendly philosophy in their day-to-day operations.

The standard offers a set of practical guidelines for any organization to be more environmentally friendly by defining the purpose, objectives, and requirements for implementing an environmental management system effectively.

Certification to ISO 14001 helps organizations strengthen their brand image and acquire the trust of the customers and the community.

Established in the year 1996, ISO 14001 aims to help organizations of all sizes and types to understand the importance of environmental management and sustainability and develop plans to modify their operational activities to reduce harmful impact. The current version used globally is ISO 14001: 2015 with the same aim and objectives.

What are the benefits of getting ISO 14001 Certification?

1. Show that you are taking responsibility for the environment

ISO 14001 establishes a framework for organizations to reduce harmful impacts on the environment. Customers generally want to work with companies that care for the environment and are mindful of sustainability. With the help of ISO certification, organizations can exhibit that they are concerned about environmental and community welfare. The standard helps a company define its environmental philosophy, responsibilities, plans and actions and pushes them to conform to a standardized practice of reducing resource use and environmental impact.

2. Legal Compliance

Every company needs to understand the environmental legislation as well as the regulations stipulated for their particular industry. The certification encourages companies to understand all they need to comply with for the safe and ethical conduct of business.

3. Low-Cost Operations

The standard helps us to understand the value of resources. Organizations implementing ISO 14001 take responsibility for their actions relating to utilizing resources and learning to use them more productively. By reducing the level of unnecessary waste, companies manage to run a lower-cost operation.

4. Competitive Advantage

ISO 14001 certification brings international recognition, making a company an example in their market. Organizations gain a competitive edge and attract more customers.

5. Better Customer Relationships

Today, customers prefer to get products/services from an environmentally friendly and aware company. If a company fails to take care of the environment in their operations and management, ignore community and sustainability, they are likely to lose their customer base. ISO 14001 helps to maintain positive customer relationships, which subsequently supports customer retention.

What Are The Main Requirements For ISO 14001?

1. Resource Management : One of the major requirements / outcomes of ISO 14001 is resource management. The standard requires companies to understand the importance of resources and infrastructure and design strategies to utilize them with minimum waste for maximum productivity.

2. Environmental impact : Companies need to understand how their operations make an adverse impact on nature. Accordingly, they should devise measures to improve their actions and make environmentally friendly business decisions. A sustainable approach towards the environment is the main component of a successful environmental business strategy and ISO 14001 compliance.

3. Review, analysis, and constant improvement : According to the final clauses of ISO 14001, there should be constant monitoring of the implemented system to determine if the expected performance is being achieved. Continual development of the management system should be part of the organization culture so that business continuity can be achieved.

4. Accountability of the management : Accountability of management refers to the focus and engagement required of management to meet environmental management expectations. Responsible management lead, provide resources, monitor and collect performance data.

Main Requirements For ISO 14001

Certification Process

Commit – A trusted certification body is chosen, engaged, and an audit date is set.

Pre-assessment – If the clients wish, an assessment before stage 1 and 2 audits is performed.

Stage 1 Audit – The management system and documentation are reviewed to ensure everything is in place for the stage 2 audit, including determining whether internal audit and the management review have been performed. An audit report is prepared and issued by the auditor for review. If everything looks good, the auditor confirms the stage 2 audit.

Stage 2 Audit – After addressing any concerns or opportunities for improvement from the stage 1 audit, the stage 2 audit is conducted by the auditor. The auditor checks that the management system is implemented and is compliant with ISO 14001. If there are any non-conformities, these are shared by the auditor. Once non-conformities are addressed and the auditor can confirm that the standard is being met, the auditor recommends the company for certification.

Issuing the certification – With the successful completion of the two stages of audits, the certification body issues the certification.

Surveillance Audits – Every certification lasts for 3 years. The certification body organizes annual audit programs to ensure ongoing compliance.

How Blue Wolf Can Help You to Achieve ISO 14001?

Blue Wolf is a business associate of various accredited certification bodies. We audit you to determine if you meet the requirements of ISO 14001:2015. Once confirmed and certified, and to ensure 100% ongoing compliance, Blue Wolf continues to work with you through annual surveillance and recertification audits when your certificate expires.

Our auditors will help your certification experience be the best possible. We aim to help your organization achieve global acknowledgment if it effectively fulfills all the criteria.

Our audit programs are designed to ensure that your management system successfully conforms to the clauses of ISO 14001 as well as the policy objectives of your company. We are available to meet with you and offer exceptional customer care support. Talk to our experts or directly hire us to complete your certification journey.

Certification Process

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is ISO 14001?
ISO 14001 is the most recognized standard for environmental management systems. The current version of the standard is ISO 14001:2015. It is an international standard that ensures a company conducts eco-friendly operations and takes responsibility for environmental sustainability and community welfare. The current version of ISO 14001 gives more focus on the effective conduct of supply chain management and addresses risk factors more comprehensively. Also, the current version is more in line with other current management system standards such as ISO 9001:2015.
2. What is the purpose of ISO 14001?
The main purpose of ISO 14001 is to help organizations minimize their environmental footprint and energy consumption. The aim is to provide a framework that offers guidelines to assess and record the performance of the system after its implementation. The two main objectives of ISO 14001 are:
  • Minimize pollution or environmental impacts caused from day-to-day business operations.
  • Comply with all relevant legal standards to avoid penalties and government intervention.
3. Why is an environmental management program needed?
Every business organization is responsible for the community it serves and the environment it takes resources from. The environmental management program generates awareness and supports it with a holistic framework that identifies operational factors that adversely impact the environment. Further, the framework will ensure the organization works on the gaps to meet the required actions from ISO 14001.
4. How many days does it take to get ISO certified?
It depends on the type and size of your company. Generally, it takes up to six months and in some cases one year to get ready for ISO certification. Audit days are determined from other standards and industry mandatory documents. Factors that increase or decrease the number of audit days include the number of personnel, the level of risk, the type of industry your organization belongs to, and consideration of various factors (simplifications or complications) that help to understand the complexity or your organization. All of this to ensure there is adequate audit time for your auditor to determine compliance to ISO 14001.
5. What is the cost of getting the certification?
The cost depends primarily on the number of audit days as previously addressed above. Each certification body determines their own day rate. The rates can vary depending on the standard, the availability of auditors and the amount auditors charge the certification body. Additional factors that affect cost are the certification body’s accreditation fees, admin costs, and other costs as outlined in their proposal. It is important to be aware of additional fees as they can add up. In some cases, a certification body’s day rate may be low, but additional fees can be high, so do your due diligence. Some certification bodies you may notice will charge premium pricing based on how they perceive themselves in the marketplace, however all certification bodies have the same credibility anywhere in the world because of their accreditation. Before choosing an accreditation body, it may be necessary to check with your customers if they care about the name of the certification body. It is very unlikely your customer cares about the name however as long as it is an accredited certification body. Other costs can be the cost of travel including food, accommodation, etc. for the duration of the audit.

What Do Our Client Say

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“One of the best business decisions I think we’ve made in the entire time we’ve been here in the company.”

Gary Gestring
Founder, Art Advertising
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“Blue Wolf streamlined the entire process. They were very easy to communicate with and work with, very cordial, and just an all-around good experience.”

Kris Gachassin
Quality Manager, Unity Tactical
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“Blue Wolf makes a great partner for not only getting but maintaining your ISO certifications.”

Brandon Izquierdo
Director of Operations, Integrity BioChem
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Carl Redpath
Quality Manager, Lowe Rental
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Chris Alvarez
CEO, Alvarez Wind Energy Services LLC
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“Would give them a 10 out of 10 and would highly recommend them to anybody looking to get ISO certification in the future”

Brett Quarmby
President, Electrical Contact International.
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“The auditor was very knowledgeable, very understanding, very helpful.”

Joe Collins
Founder, Elite Wind.
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“It’s a very smooth and very clear process. Definitely recommended.”

Timothy Zeng
CEO, HQS Automotive.
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“Our experience has been that this process in working with the auditors has shown us more ways to improve internally than what we expected”

Stacy Gestring
Founder, Art Advertising
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Eva Judge
Affordable Staff
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“Your approach [to the audit process] is by far superior than any other audit I’ve ever been through. The contrast was night and day”

Joseph Shushok
Imerys
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Jama Morrison
Quality Manager, Imerys
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“If everybody could have an audit experience like this, more and more people would actually consider an ISO certification”

Milo Fruk
National EMS Director, CHS Broadbent
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“What seemed like a very intimidating process … was made simple … and [has] elevated our quality and safety program to another level.”

Nick Maes
Operations manager, Automated Wellhead
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“What seemed like a very intimidating process … was made simple … and [has] elevated our quality and safety program to another level.”

Cynthia Sayer
Safety Administrator, Clark Bros, Inc.
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Kerry Ashby
Senior Director, PEO/HR + Payroll Operations, Choice Employer Solutions, Inc.
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Andrew Stewart
Inks Production Engineer, NovaCentrix
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“Would give them a 10 out of 10 and would highly recommend them to anybody looking to get ISO certification in the future.”

Brett Quarmby
President, Electrical Contact International