ISO 14001 LA key terms

The part of an organization's management system used to manage environmental aspects, fulfil compliance obligations and address risks and opportunities, structured around plan-do-check-act and continual improvement.

An element of an organization's activities, products or services that interacts or can interact with the environment, such as emissions, waste, resource use or noise.

Any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from an organization's environmental aspects, for example water pollution or habitat restoration.

The measurable results of an organization's management of its environmental aspects, tracked through indicators so it can be compared against policy, objectives and other criteria.

A recurring activity to enhance performance; in an environmental management system it means improving environmental performance, not merely maintaining the system or documenting activity.

Top management's documented intentions and direction for environmental performance, providing the framework for setting environmental objectives and commitments to compliance and improvement.

An aspect that has or can have one or more significant environmental impacts, identified by the organization using consistent criteria such as severity, likelihood and regulatory or stakeholder concern.

A legal requirement that applies to the organization, or another requirement the organization chooses to comply with, that relates to its environmental aspects.

A planned process for evaluating whether the organization fulfils its compliance obligations, covering frequency, method and the action taken when obligations are not met.

Considering the consecutive and interlinked stages of a product or service, from raw material acquisition through design, production, use and end-of-life, when determining aspects and controls.

The external and internal issues, including environmental conditions, that are relevant to the organization's purpose and affect its ability to achieve the intended outcomes of the EMS.

A person or organization that can affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision or activity, such as regulators, neighbours, customers or employees.

Potential adverse effects of uncertainty on the management system and its outcomes, and potential beneficial effects; both must be determined and addressed during planning.

Information the organization must control and maintain, plus the medium containing it, such as procedures, records, monitoring data and external documents, with rules for creation and control.

A systematic, independent and documented process for obtaining objective evidence and evaluating it objectively against audit criteria to determine the extent to which those criteria are fulfilled.

The set of requirements used as a reference against which objective evidence is compared, for example ISO 14001, legal requirements or the organization's own documented arrangements.

Records, statements of fact or other information that are relevant to the audit criteria and verifiable; audit findings rest entirely on evidence gathered through interviews, observation and document review.

Fulfilment of a requirement, whether that requirement comes from ISO 14001, a legal obligation or the organization's own documented arrangements.

Non-fulfilment of a requirement; in an audit it is a finding supported by objective evidence showing that an audit criterion was not met.

Freedom from bias and from conditions that threaten impartiality, so that auditors do not audit their own work and are not influenced by conflicting interests.

The ability to apply knowledge and skills to achieve intended results, demonstrated through education, training, experience and evidence of actual audit performance.

The purpose of the audit, stating what the audit is intended to accomplish, such as verifying conformity or evaluating the effectiveness of the environmental management system.

The extent and boundaries of the audit, covering the organizational units, functions, physical locations, activities and period of time to be audited.

A description of the audit activities and arrangements, including timing, responsibilities, audit methods and the allocation of resources to the audit team.

The auditor who manages the audit, with responsibility for leading the team, communicating with the auditee and delivering the audit report.

The first part of an initial certification audit, examining documented information and the organization's readiness to determine whether the stage 2 audit can proceed.

The result of evaluating collected audit evidence against audit criteria; findings indicate conformity or nonconformity and are recorded together with the supporting evidence.

A formal meeting at the start of the audit to confirm the audit plan, scope, criteria and schedule, introduce the team and explain how findings will be reported.

Examining less than all the items in a population in order to draw conclusions about the whole; sample size and selection should be risk-based and representative.

The technique used to gather and verify audit information, such as interviews, observation, document review or site inspection, chosen to suit the evidence required.

A meeting at the end of the audit where findings and conclusions are presented to the auditee and management, with due regard to the evidence and any disagreement.

Action to eliminate the cause of a nonconformity so that it does not recur, typically following root cause analysis and followed by verification of its effectiveness.

A nonconformity that affects, or could affect, the capability of the management system to achieve its intended results; it usually requires prompt correction and may block certification.

A nonconformity that is isolated or limited in nature and does not affect the system's capability to achieve intended results, corrected within an agreed timeframe.

A documented record of the audit covering objectives, scope, criteria, findings, conclusions and the audit team, which may also note good practice and improvement opportunities.

A verification activity carried out after corrective action to confirm that the actions were implemented and are effective in preventing recurrence of the nonconformity.

The outcome of the audit after considering the audit objectives and all audit findings, stating whether criteria are fulfilled and whether the system is effective overall.

A set of one or more audits planned for a specific time frame and directed toward a specific purpose, including arrangements for resources, methods and auditor competence.

A periodic audit of a certified organization, usually on-site, to verify continued conformity and effective maintenance of the management system between initial certification and recertification.

An audit conducted before the certification expires to confirm the continued conformity and effectiveness of the management system and to support renewal of the certificate.