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ISO 14001

Glossary of Terms

Def ining t he terms

you need t o know

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Understanding the complex terminology

relat ing t o ISO 14001 and Environmental

Management Systems (EMS) can be a real challenge

to those involved in implementation projects,

especially when new to the subject area. BSI has

compiled this list of the commonly used terms

and their definit ions to help.

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GLOSSARY OF TERMS

INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT SYSTEMSManagement System this is the manner in w hich an element of your

organization is managedit could be qualit y, environmental,

information security, or health and safety. Because they can be

systemized, they can be standardized, benchmarked, assessed and

therefore reviewed and improved.

Environmental Management System (EMS) this is a common sense,

documented system that ensures consistency and improvement of

working practices that have an impact on the environment.

Standard a document produced by an int ernational committee of

experts sett ing the guidelines on how things should be done.

ISO International Organization for Standardizat ion responsible for

coordinating and publishing ISO 9000, ISO 14001 and otherinternational standards.

ISO 14001 the standard that sets out the requirements for an

effective Environmental Management System. An organization gains

registration to this standard.

Registration/Certification this is what you achieve when you pass the

registration assessment. An accredited third party assesses your EMS

against the requirements of the standard. BSI prefers to use the term

registration, as certi f ication is of ten misunderstood to mean t hat each

product or service is guaranteed.

Assessment a verif ication of the effectiveness of the EMS operated

by an organization. This involves careful examinat ion of the aspects,

regulatory or other requirements, operational controls, monitoring

processes and environmental management projects that allow it to

prevent pollut ion and achieve cont inual improvement , in accordance

with the requirements of ISO 14001.

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MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION ANDREGISTRATIONRegistrar or Certification/ Registration Body (CRB) an independent

body who visits your organizat ion to determine the effectiveness of

your EMS and assess whether you are doing the things that you say you

do. A good registrar will not only perform a thorough assessment of

your system, but will also highlight , where appropriate, areas for

improvement . Af ter a successful init ial assessment , your registrar w ill

award you a certificate, and will periodically reassess your system to

ensure it cont inues to meet the requirements of the standard.

Assessor/auditor a qualif ied expert, preferably with experience

in your industry, who visits your organization and assesses what

you do, and how it is planned and controlled through your

management system. At BSI we use the term Client Manager.

Accreditation this is the means that an authoritative body (such as the

ANAB or SCCsee definit ion below) uses to give formal recognit ion

that an organization (such as a registrar) is competent to carry out

specific tasks. Accreditation provides assurance to a registrars

customers that the registrar continues to operate according to

internationally accepted criteria (such as ISO Guide 66see definition

below). Some registrars operate without accredit ation, so obviously

there is nobody checking that t hey are doing a good job.

ISO Guide 66 this is the document that sets out how registrars should

go about assessing companies to ISO 14001. It includes guidelines on

the number of days we should spend assessing different sizes, types

and complexity of organizations.

ANAB (The ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board) and SCC

(Standards Council of Canada) the primary accreditation bodies in

North America (see previous)they allow us to issue you w ith a

certificate, and they carry out a similar assessment on us as we do on

you. EMAthe Mexican equivalent , InMetrothe Brazilian equivalent.

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Consultant will help you to implement your EMS effectively. They can help

you design, write and implement your management system in accordance

with the standard, or they can perform a regulatory compliance audit for

you to meet the requirements of element 4.5.2 of the standard, providing

you with immediate assistance.

Software there is a great deal of sof tware out there to help you to

implement your management system in the first place and to manage your

documentat ion and processes in an ongoing situation.

Training classroom and tailored training courses are available to help

improve the knowledge and skills of employees, before or after registrationis sought. BSI offers a wide range of classes from an introduction to an EMS

aimed at senior management, to detailed EMS lead auditor qualif ications

for day to day practitioners and system managers.

State or Provincial Department of Environmental Quality or Department of

Natural Resources many states and provinces provide assistance to

organizations that wish to implement an EMS through their Envoronmental

Assistance Division. This may be provided in the form of training or how-to manuals, consult ing, or classroom t raining.

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMEnvironmental Policy shall be defined by top management and written so

that i t is appropriate to the size and nature of the organization. It should

include a commitment to comply with legal and other requirements and

cont inually improve the effectiveness of the EMS in the prevent ion of

pollution. It provides a framework for establishing objectives and

environmental management programs. It should be communicated and

understood within the organization, and reviewed for continuing

suitability.

Environmental Aspects these are activities, products, and services that can

interact with the environment, causing impact (see below). An organization

will have hundreds, maybe even thousands of aspects, depending on its

size and complexity.

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Significant Aspects these are those aspects that can most put the

organization at risk. Simple organizations of limited complexity may

have only ten or twelve signif icant aspects. More complicated

organizations can have dozens of signif icant aspects.

Environmental Impacts the effects that an environmental aspect can

have on the environmentwhether posit ive or negative. Posit ive

impacts can be acknowledged and supported, negative impacts should

be managed, and where possible reduced or eliminated.

Environmental Target a measurable step or goal in an organizations

environmental improvement progress.

Environmental Performance an organizations track record in

pollut ion prevention, the results of ongoing operational controls, and

objective evidence of cont inual improvements.

Environmental Objectives the organizations strategic planning and

environmental policy provide a framework f or the sett ing of

environmental objectives. The objectives should be measurable in

order to facilit ate an effective and eff icient review by management.

Consideration must be given to significant aspects, legal and other

requirements as well as the views of interested part ies in sett ing

objectives.

Procedure a procedure out lines what needs to be done to complete a

task. It is a flow of activity that describes who does what, in what

order and t o what requirements. Procedures should be writ ten as

support for your business processes. Collectively the procedures make

up your EMS, and must be effectively linked. Procedures will describe

how an organization operates and controls its business, and meets the

requirements of the standard.

Work Instructions provide more detail than described in the

procedures. The complexity of an organization helps it to determine

whether detailed work instructions are needed in addit ion to

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procedures. Many organizations include work instructions to aid in

training, clarify how a job is done, and to reduce mistakes.

Process any activit y or set of activit ies that use resources and/or result sin by-products or waste streams. Some processes are regulated, but not

all. One example of a process is manufacturing of paper. This would use

raw materials in the forms of t rees, chemicals, water, and energy. The

process produces a number of environmental impacts, including scrap,

wastewater, sludge and air emissions.

Plan Do Check Act a

fairly common sense, closed-loop process of planning,

doing, checking and t hen

acting to cont inually improve

the EMS. This model f orms

the basis for much of the

strategy embodied in ISO

14001.

Internal audit when a member of staff , or a cont racted consultant,

regularly audits the systems and procedures in place in an organization.

An Environmental Engineer may do this to see if the EMS is being

followed, maintained and is effective.

ISO 14000 Series this series of over 20 standards covers all elements of

Environmental Management Systems. The key standards in the series

are:

ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management Systems

requirements (see definition above)

ISO 14004:2004 General guidelines on principles, systems and

support ing t echniques for Environmental Management Systems

ISO 19011:2002 Guidelines on Qualit y and Environmental

Management System audit ing

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Source: ISO 14001:2004

Environmental M anagement System for ISO 14001

EnvironmentalPolicy

Planning

Implementationand Operation

CONTINUALIMPROVEMENT

Checking andCorrective Action

ManagementReview

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THE ASSESSMENTPre assessment this is an optional service to ensure t hat an

organization is ready for full assessment . It can be viewed as a dry runto make sure that t here will be no major barriers to achieving

registration. It may cover any processes or methods requested by the

organization t o ensure their readiness for registration. 98% of all

clients that use this service go on to pass their initial assessment if all

the information supplied to them is addressed prior to the initial

assessment.

Initial assessment Unlike the registration of a qualit y system, the f irstfull assessment of an EMS is done in two parts, or stages:

Stage 1 consists of a review of the documented system and a

review of the site to see if all operations have been identif ied and

addressed in the planned arrangements. Records reviewed include

the aspect analysis, the internal audit s, management review

minutes and the evidence that a regulatory compliance audit has

been completed. This ensures adequate structure is implementedand that t he organization is ready to proceed to Stage 2. The

audit team will also collect suff icient information to prepare for

the Stage 2 audit.

Stage 2 is of ten referred to as the implementation assessment.

During Stage 2, the assessment team w ill ensure that all planned

arrangements are being met by the organization. If t his goes well

and only minor non-conformit ies are identif ied, the organizationwill be recommended for registration/ certi f ication. This will be

dependent on t he organization supplying a corrective action plan

to close down the minor non-conformit ies. Upon an acceptable

independent review, the certi f icate of registration w ill be issued.

Opening/Closing meeting the formal meetings at the beginning and

the end of an assessment between the organization and the

assessment team. The opening meeting sets the scene, confirms the

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schedule and expectations of the assessment. The closing meeting

addresses the f indings and makes recommendations for improvement .

Opportunities for improvement (OFI) writ ten comments provided byassessors to organizations pointing out weaknesses in the system that

may lead to f uture nonconformit ies.

Nonconformity when the assessor sees something in an EMS that

doesnt meet the standards requirements, it is called a nonconformity.

The term Nonconformity should not be confused with

Noncompliance , which is a failure to meet an environmental legal

or regulatory requirement.

Minor nonconformity where there is a single lapse in following

a procedure that does not affect the overall integrity of the system.

Major nonconformity a failure to implement and maintain a

required EMS element ; identif ication of a regulatory non-

compliance coupled with a failure to take suitable correct ive

action, or a series of minor non-conformances, which when viewed

as a whole, show a breakdow n of part or whole of the EMS.

Corrective action action taken to eliminate the causes of a

nonconformity in order to prevent recurrence.

Preventive action action taken to avoid the occurrence of a

nonconformity.

Certificate of registration awarded follow ing recommendation after

the init ial assessment , and maintained t hrough cont inuing assessments

and reassessments.

Scope of registration a precise definit ion of an organizations

activit ies that are the subject of assessment . While a Qualit y

Management System registrat ion can be restricted to certain

manufacturing or service activit ies, an EMS registration must cover all

act ivit ies from fenceline-to-fenceline.

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Appendix support ing sheets to a certi f icate that define the activit ies

and locations assessed and cert if ied under one EMS.

Continuing assessment the periodic (every 6 months, or otherwisedefined) visits a registrar makes to an organization to ensure they are

st il l using the EMS effectively. At each visit a sample of your business

processes and certain critical elements which can be considered as

system inf rastructure are reviewed. This infrastructure consists of an

organizations aspect analysis, objectives and targets, internal audits,

management review(s) and corrective action requirements from the

previous visit.

Reassessment BSIs review of an organizations whole system and

past performance that allows them to retain their registration. Posit ive

assessment history can allow for the organization to gain continued

registration without addit ional days of assessment beyond that of

their normal periodic assessment schedule. We look back at lessons

learned, and the changes and trends. We also look forward and link

an organizations EMS to its business plan. We seek to add value by

helping the organization meet its own goals and objectives as a

business.

BSI Registered Logo this is the unique BSI logo recognized

worldwide, which can only be used by BSI registered clients to

promote their registration. Examples of where our clients use the logo

include company vehicles, letterheads, business cards, and company

literature.

Accreditation Marks the marks associated w ith the accredit ation

bodies that monitor the registrars activit ies. These marks can only be

used in conjunction with the registrars logo.

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ISO 14001EMS 12345

ISO 14001EMS 12345

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FEE STRUCTUREApplication Fee this is a one-time, non-refundable payment to cover

the administrative costs of advancing an application.

Assessment fee this is the charge for the assessors time. This is

worked out on a daily basis. An organization is charged based on how

many days the assessor spends at their location, as defined by ISO

Guide 66.

Expenses the t ravel costs associated w ith the assessor coming to a

clients location. BSI also offers an all-inclusive assessment fee, so the

client does not have to pay the expenses on top. This makes it much

easier to budget, as the client always knows how much a BSI

assessment is going to cost.

Report fee a fee that some registrars charge in addit ion to the

assessment visit so a client can receive a report of what went on either

during the pre, init ial or cont inuing assessment visit . BSI does not

charge extra for this, as it is part of the normal assessment .

Annual Management fee a cost per year for t he work we have to do

when we are not visiting a clients site. Primarily, the planning and

preparation for visits and maintaining the accreditation that

safeguards the credibil ity of you registration.

BSI is the worlds leading management systems

registrar, having registered over 45,000 companies

worldwide to ISO 9000 and ISO 14001. BSI of fers a range of

services for companies seeking to f ind out more or become

registered, including training, guidance publications,

purchasing standards and registration. For further

information on BSIs services, please call 1 800 862 4977.

BSI also offers further guidance documents to help you get the most

out of your management system. These free documents are availablefor download at:www.bsiamericas.com/getthemost

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BSI Management SystemsUSA

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703 437 9000Fax: 703 437 9001

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Tel: 1 800 862 6752

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