Jason Davies, quality assur-ance manager at Jasun Fil-tration plc explains why yourcompany should have anenvironmental managementsystem (EMS) and complywith ISO 14001.

So what is ISO 14001?ISO 14001 is a voluntary inter-national standard that specifiesa process for controlling andimproving a company’s envi-ronmental performance. Itgives a company the opportu-nity to demonstrate its envi-ronmental credentials by dis-playing its understanding of onsite processes and activities,determining how these impacton the environment and thenaddressing these problemsthrough an action plan forongoing improvement.

The four main principlesof ISO 14001 are:

1. Understanding the issues2. Developing a policy3. Implementing the policy4. Auditing the policy.

The standard is designed tosupport a third party certifica-tion. Neither a competency nora performance standard, it is atool that shows that a companyhas an environmental manage-ment system (EMS) in place.A critical part of an EMS is todemonstrate a commitment toimproving the processes onsite. The company (especiallythe Directors) has to clearlydemonstrate that it is commit-ted towards legally complyingwith all relevant environmentallegislation and pollution con-trol.

So why obtain ISO 14001?Not only does obtaining ISO14001 help towards creating amore sustainable environment,it demonstrates that a companyhas an understanding of

environmental regulations andcan help towards winning newbusiness. If a company is inpossession of an environmen-tal policy it may influencewhether a company wins acontract from an ISO14001accredited customer.

In practical terms, theobjectives of the managementsystems are met in differentways depending on the type ofindustry and their methods.Therefore the environmentalrisks and responsibilities foreach individual company willbe different. Each companywill have to implement theirenvironmental managementsystem through a series of sep-arate programmes, which arelikely to include the following:

1. Monitoring programmes toensure compliance with therequirements of licences andconsents (such as to dis-charge waste water or toemit exhaust gases)

2. Employee training and envi-ronmental awareness to staff

3. Development of job descrip-tions and accountabilities

4. Waste management andwaste minimisation

5. Emergency response (con-tingency planning) tospillages, leaks or fires

6. Environmental auditing,including non-compliancecorrective action and report-ing.

In the case of Jasun Fil-tration, the company manu-factures air filtration productsto improve environments, butin doing so creates an envi-ronmental impact throughenergy consumption andwaste production. As ourproducts clean the environ-ment, it would be hypocriticalof us not to address theseimpacts. By using the

framework developedthrough the standard we cannow measure and minimisethe effects of our workingpractices on the environment.

Implementing ISO 14001can result in:

• Tightening up of wastestreams, and reducing theamount going to landfill

• Increased recycling of waste• Reduced waste costs• Lower taxes and running

costs through green fleetmanagement

• Reduced congestion chargecosts on certain companyvehicles

• Better working with suppli-ers of recycling packagingsuch as drums.

It can also:

• Help create a better environ-ment

• Instantly show customers acompany’s status regardingorganisation and the envi-ronment

• Enable companies to tradewith customers who requireISO 14001 accreditation

• Ensure compliance withcurrent and upcoming legis-lation.

• Enable better working withsuppliers recycling packag-ing.

ConclusionImplementing ISO 14001canbe time-consuming and incursome initial costs but the ben-efits outweigh the expense.We found that while some ofthe financial savings andimpacts were perceived assmall, when assessed andmeasured they added up –almost to the point of legisla-tive obligation.

Looking at the wider pic-ture, adopting an environmen-tal working strategy not onlyhelps reduce the drain onworld resources but also cre-ates a better working environ-ment for employees.

Jason Davies is quality assur-ance manager at Jasun Filtra-tion plc. Tel: 01278 452277 Fax: 01278 450873 Email: info@jfilters.com,web: www.jfilters.com.

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May 2005

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Filtration Industry Analyst

WHAT’S THE POINT

OF ISO 14001?

SAVINGS

3. Legislation compliance

4. Contingency planning

POTENTIALSAVINGS

1. Waste

2. Energy/ resource minimisation

- Disposal costs- Utility usage- Material costs

- Prosecution- EnvironmentalAccidents Disasters

Savings and potential savings of ISO 14001.