ISO 14001
Environmental management systems
The international standard for an environmental management system: identifying environmental aspects and impacts, legal compliance, objectives, operational control and improvement.
ISO 14001 requires an organisation to identify how its activities affect the environment (waste, emissions, water, noise, materials, energy, spills), determine the legal requirements that apply, set objectives, control the significant aspects operationally, prepare for emergencies (spill response above all), monitor, audit and improve. For a construction contractor the significant aspects are usually waste (the duty of care, waste transfer notes, hazardous waste consignment), fuel and oil storage and spills, dust and noise affecting neighbours, protection of watercourses and drains, and the carbon in materials and plant.
It is increasingly a tender requirement, particularly for public sector and infrastructure work, and it sits in the Common Assessment Standard at the higher tiers. It shares its structure with ISO 9001 and ISO 45001, and most contractors certify to all three as an integrated system, with one manual, one audit programme and one management review.
Where it comes from
- ISO 14001:2015. Certification by a UKAS-accredited body.
- Evidences compliance with the Environmental Protection Act 1990 s.34 (waste duty of care), the Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005, the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) Regulations 2001 and related law.
Questions people ask
What is an environmental aspect?
An element of what you do that can interact with the environment: running a diesel generator, storing fuel, generating plasterboard waste, washing out a concrete wagon. Each aspect has an impact (air pollution, contamination, landfill, watercourse pollution). The standard asks you to list them, rank them and control the significant ones.
ISO 14001, handled on a phone
SiteLynx puts the RAMS, permits, inspections, audits, plant checks and records behind every term in this glossary on the crew's phones, signed on site, with a PDF at the end. 14 days free, no card.
Start free trial