Introduction
Organizations of all kinds are increasingly concerned with achieving and demonstrating sound environmental
performance by controlling the impacts of their activities, products and services on the environment, consistent
with their environmental policy and objectives. They do so in the context of increasingly stringent legislation, the
development of economic policies and other measures that foster environmental protection, and increased
concern expressed by interested parties about environmental matters and sustainable development.
Many organizations have undertaken environmental “reviews” or “audits” to assess their environmental
performance. On their own, however, these “reviews” and “audits” may not be sufficient to provide an
organization with the assurance that its performance not only meets, but will continue to meet, its legal and
policy requirements. To be effective, they need to be conducted within a structured management system that is
integrated within the organization.
International Standards covering environmental management are intended to provide organizations with the
elements of an effective environmental management system (EMS) that can be integrated with other
management requirements and help organizations achieve environmental and economic goals. These
standards, like other International Standards, are not intended to be used to create non-tariff trade barriers or to
increase or change an organization’s legal obligations.
This International Standard specifies requirements for an environmental management system to enable an
organization to develop and implement a policy and objectives which take into account legal requirements and
information about significant environmental aspects. It is intended to apply to all types and sizes of organization
and to accommodate diverse geographical, cultural and social conditions. The basis of the approach is shown
in Figure 1. The success of the system depends on commitment from all levels and functions of the
organization, and especially from top management. A system of this kind enables an organization to develop an
environmental policy, establish objectives and processes to achieve the policy commitments, take action as
needed to improve its performance and demonstrate the conformity of the system to the requirements of this
International Standard. The overall aim of this International Standard is to support environmental protection and
prevention of pollution in balance with socio-economic needs. It should be noted that many of the requirements
can be addressed concurrently or revisited at any time.
The second edition of this International Standard is focused on clarification of the first edition, and has taken
due consideration of the provisions of ISO 9001 to enhance the compatibility of the two standards for the benefit
of the user community.
For ease of use, the subclause numbers in Clause 4 of the body of this International Standard and in Annex A
have been related. For example, 4.3.3 and A.3.3 both deal with objectives, targets and programme(s), and 4.5.5
and A.5.5 both deal with internal audit. In addition, Annex B identifies broad technical correspondences
between ISO 14001:2004 and ISO 9001:2000 and vice versa.
There is an important distinction between this International Standard, which describes the requirements for an
organization‘s environmental management system and can be used for certification/registration and/or selfdeclaration of an organization’s environmental management system, and a non-certifiable guideline intended to
provide generic assistance to an organization for establishing, implementing or improving an environmental
management system. Environmental management encompasses a full range of issues, including those with
strategic and competitive implications. Demonstration of successful implementation of this International
Standard can be used by an organization to assure interested parties that an appropriate environmental
management system is in place.
Guidance on supporting environmental management techniques is contained in other International Standards,
particularly those on environmental management in the documents established by ISO/TC 207. Any reference
to other International Standards is for information only.
NOTE This International Standard is based on the methodology known as Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA). PDCA can be
briefly described as follows.
— Plan: establish the objectives and processes necessary to deliver results in accordance with the organization’s
environmental policy.
— Do: implement the processes.
— Check: monitor and measure processes against environmental policy, objectives, targets, legal and other
requirements, and report the results.
— Act: take actions to continually improve performance of the environmental management system.
Many organizations manage their operations via the application of a system of processes and their interactions, which can
be referred to as the “process approach”. ISO 9001 promotes the use of the process approach. Since PDCA can be
applied to all processes, the two methodologies are considered to be compatible.
ISO 14001:2004(E)
The organization shall identify training needs associated with its environmental aspects and its environmental
management system. It shall provide training or take other action to meet these needs, and shall retain
associated records.
The organization shall establish, implement and maintain a procedure(s) to make persons working for it or on its
behalf aware of
a) the importance of conformity with the environmental policy and procedures and with the requirements of the
environmental management system,
b) the significant environmental aspects and related actual or potential impacts associated with their work, and
the environmental benefits of improved personal performance,
c) their roles and responsibilities in achieving conformity with the requirements of the environmental
management system, and
d) the potential consequences of departure from specified procedures