Cautious welcome for ISO 14001 revised standard draft agreement
1 min read
News that the revision to the ISO 14001 international environmental standard has been approved for final draft status has been given a cautious welcome by consultancy Cedrec. However, the online legislation specialist also voiced concerns over its implementation and urged businesses to start preparing now for its likely impact.
It said: "Strong support from ISO member bodies for the draft standard has seen the revision move towards the final approval stage. But this agreement is in contrast to the views of environmental professionals who will be charged with implementing the revised standard."
Research conducted by Cedrec in August revealed that there was significant uncertainty about the impact of the new standard on management system operations. It showed that nearly two-thirds (62%) of environmental professionals did not know how the changes would affect their management systems.
Richard Clarke (pictured), senior consultant at Cedrec, said: "While the new version of ISO 14001 represents a significant change in the requirements of the standard, it's clear that many environmental managers remain unsure what this will mean. So, the sooner ISO can adopt the standard as a final version; the sooner work can begin in assessing the changes that will need to be made to conform to the range of revised requirements."
He added: "The revision includes changes to the legal compliance requirements which are set against a background of discussions between the regulator and accreditation bodies around changes in the extent of regulatory control.
"While a revised 14001 supporting an enhanced legal compliance process is welcome, businesses need to know precisely what this will mean."
