ISO 14001 LI flashcards
ISO 14001 LI · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Environmental management system
- A set of interrelated elements of an organization used to manage environmental aspects, fulfil compliance obligations and address risks and opportunities, structured around the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle.
- Plan-Do-Check-Act
- Iterative cycle: Plan establishes objectives and processes; Do implements them; Check monitors and reports results against policy and objectives; Act takes actions for continual improvement.
- Environmental aspect
- An element of an organization's activities, products or services that interacts or can interact with the environment, for example emissions, waste generation, water use or noise from a process.
- Environmental impact
- A change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partly resulting from an organization's environmental aspects, such as air quality degradation or habitat restoration.
- Protection of the environment
- A commitment required in the environmental policy, including prevention of pollution and other specific commitments relevant to the organization's context, such as sustainable resource use or climate change mitigation.
- Life-cycle perspective
- Considering stages from raw material acquisition through design, production, transport, delivery, use, end-of-life treatment and final disposal, without requiring a formal life cycle assessment.
- Context of the organization
- External and internal issues, including environmental conditions affected by or capable of affecting the organization, that are relevant to its purpose and that affect its EMS.
- Interested party
- 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, suppliers or investors.
- EMS scope
- Documented boundaries and applicability of the environmental management system, covering all activities, products and services within those boundaries; it must be credible and available.
- Gap analysis
- An initial review comparing current practices, aspects, legal requirements and documentation against ISO 14001 requirements, producing prioritized actions for the implementation plan.
- Top management commitment
- Leadership that establishes policy and objectives, integrates EMS requirements into business processes, provides resources and promotes improvement, accountability being retained even when delegated.
- Significant environmental aspect
- An aspect identified by the organization using established criteria as having or potentially having a significant environmental impact, and therefore driving controls and monitoring.
- Compliance obligations
- Legal requirements that apply to the organization plus other requirements it subscribes to, such as permits, customer requirements, industry commitments or voluntary codes.
- Environmental objective
- A result to be achieved, set at relevant functions and levels, consistent with the environmental policy, measurable where practicable, monitored and updated as appropriate.
- Planning action
- A documented answer to what will be done, what resources are needed, who is responsible, when it will be completed and how results will be evaluated, supporting an objective.
- Risk and opportunity
- Potential adverse effects, including environmental and compliance risks, and potential beneficial effects, such as cost savings or market advantage, that need to be determined and addressed.
- Operational control
- Establishing criteria for processes and implementing control against them, including engineering and administrative controls, and controlling outsourced processes through contractual requirements.
- Emergency preparedness and response
- Identifying potential emergency situations, planning responses, testing and exercising them, training workers, and reviewing and revising plans after tests or actual incidents.
- Competence
- Determining necessary competence for work affecting environmental performance or compliance obligations, ensuring it through education, training or experience, and retaining documented evidence.
- Documented information
- Information required to be controlled and maintained, plus the medium on which it is contained, managed for availability, protection, version control and retention.
- Outsourced process
- A process needed for the EMS that is performed by an external provider; it must be controlled or influenced, with control type and degree defined and communicated.
- Monitoring and measurement
- Determining what needs monitoring, the methods, criteria and timing, analysing and evaluating results, and retaining evidence, with equipment calibrated or verified.
- Evaluation of compliance
- A planned activity to evaluate fulfilment of compliance obligations at a frequency set by the organization, maintaining knowledge and understanding of compliance status.
- Internal audit
- A planned, objective and impartial examination of the EMS against defined criteria and scope, conducted at planned intervals and reported to relevant management and workers.
- Management review
- Top management's review of the EMS at planned intervals, considering defined inputs and producing decisions on improvement opportunities and any need for changes.
- Nonconformity
- Failure to meet a requirement; it requires reaction to control and correct it, evaluation of the need to eliminate causes, implementation of action and review of effectiveness.
- Environmental performance
- The measurable results of an organization's management of its environmental aspects, which the EMS is intended to enhance through continual improvement.
- Corrective action
- Action to eliminate the cause of a nonconformity and prevent recurrence, including evaluating cause, implementing action, reviewing effectiveness and updating risks and opportunities.
- Continual improvement
- Recurring activity to enhance performance, required as a policy commitment and applied to the suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of the EMS to improve environmental performance.
- Stage 1 audit
- Initial certification audit stage reviewing readiness, documentation, scope, context, and status of internal audit and management review, to determine readiness for Stage 2.
- Stage 2 audit
- Certification audit stage evaluating implementation and effectiveness of the EMS, including evidence of compliance evaluation, operational control and achievement of objectives.
- Surveillance audit
- A periodic audit after certification, typically annual, within the three-year certification cycle, to confirm continued conformity and effectiveness of the EMS.