ISO 14001 LI key terms

An element of an organization's activities, products, or services that interacts or can interact with the environment, such as emissions, waste, or resource use, whether or not it is currently controlled.

Any change to the environment, adverse or beneficial, wholly or partly resulting from an organization's environmental aspects, such as air pollution, habitat loss, or reduced energy consumption.

The part of an organization's management system used to manage environmental aspects, fulfil compliance obligations, and address risks and opportunities, structured around policy, planning, support, operation, evaluation, and improvement.

Top management's documented intentions and direction for environmental performance, including commitments to protect the environment, fulfil compliance obligations, and continually improve the EMS.

An aspect that has or can have a significant environmental impact, determined using established criteria such as severity, likelihood, legal requirements, and interested-party concerns.

The documented thresholds, scales, or scoring rules an organization uses consistently to judge which environmental aspects and impacts are significant and therefore require operational control.

A legal requirement that an organization must meet, or another requirement it chooses to adopt, relating to its environmental aspects, such as permit limits, customer specifications, or voluntary commitments.

A maintained list of applicable laws, regulations, permits, and voluntary commitments relevant to the organization's aspects, kept current and used as input to planning and compliance evaluation.

Considering the stages of a product or service from raw material acquisition through design, production, distribution, use, end-of-life treatment, and final disposal when identifying aspects and controlling operations.

Potential adverse effects and potential beneficial effects arising from environmental aspects, compliance obligations, or other issues that the EMS must determine and address to give assurance of intended outcomes.

The external and internal issues, conditions, and interested parties relevant to the organization's purpose and direction and that affect its ability to achieve the intended EMS outcomes.

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, employees, customers, or investors.

The documented boundaries and applicability of the environmental management system, covering the activities, products, services, and physical locations included, with justification where parts are excluded.

The person or group of people who direct and control the organization at the highest level, responsible for providing resources, assigning roles, and demonstrating leadership and commitment to the EMS.

A measurable goal set by the organization consistent with its environmental policy, such as reducing water use by ten percent, with defined timeframes and resources.

A specific, detailed, and quantified requirement arising from an environmental objective, used to track progress and to plan and measure environmental performance.

A measurable value that indicates how well the organization is meeting its environmental objectives and controlling its significant aspects, such as energy consumption per unit of output.

The planned activities of observing and quantifying environmental performance, including calibration or verification of equipment and evaluation of results, to confirm the EMS is effective.

Interpreting monitoring and measurement data and other information to determine whether environmental performance and the EMS are effective, and to identify trends and corrective action needs.

The process of periodically assessing whether the organization meets its compliance obligations, including legal requirements and adopted commitments, and maintaining evidence of the results.

A planned, objective, and independent examination of the EMS by the organization's own personnel or contracted auditors to verify conformity with planned arrangements and ISO 14001 requirements.

The set of arrangements for one or more audits, covering frequency, methods, responsibilities, planning requirements, and reporting, taking into account the importance of processes and prior results.

Top management's planned evaluation, at defined intervals, of the EMS's suitability, adequacy, and effectiveness, using specified inputs and producing decisions on improvement, resources, and changes.

A failure to meet a requirement, whether an ISO 14001 requirement, the organization's own EMS procedure, or a compliance obligation, which must be corrected and investigated for its cause.

Action taken to eliminate the cause of a nonconformity and prevent its recurrence, proportionate to the effect of the problem, and verified for effectiveness.

Recurring activity to enhance environmental performance, not merely to maintain the current level, driven by objectives, monitoring results, audits, and management review.

The planned controls, such as procedures, work instructions, and engineering measures, applied to activities associated with significant aspects to manage them consistently and prevent deviation from criteria.

A process needed by the EMS that the organization chooses to have performed by an external provider, and which must be controlled or influenced to ensure it meets EMS requirements.

Planned arrangements, including identification of potential accidents, response procedures, training, and periodic testing, to prevent or mitigate adverse environmental impacts from emergencies.

The combination of education, training, skills, and experience needed by personnel whose work affects environmental performance or compliance, determined and evidenced by the organization.

Personnel's understanding of the environmental policy, their contribution to EMS effectiveness, and the implications of not conforming, developed through communication and training.

The planned internal and external exchange of environmental information, including what, when, with whom, and how the organization communicates, and how it responds to interested parties.

Information required to be controlled and maintained by the organization, in any medium, covering both documents such as procedures and records providing evidence of results.

An independent third-party audit, normally in two stages, that assesses the organization's EMS for conformity with ISO 14001 and issues a certificate if the audit is successful.

The initial certification audit stage that reviews documented information, scope, readiness, and understanding of significant aspects to determine whether the organization is ready for Stage 2.

The certification audit stage that evaluates implementation and effectiveness of the EMS on site, including evidence of compliance evaluation, operational control, and internal audit and management review.

A periodic audit after certification, usually annual, that verifies the certified EMS continues to conform and remain effective, and that nonconformities have been addressed.