What an assessor wants to see against ISO 14001:2015, and the mistake that gets firms bounced, for every criterion in the check above. Readiness only. The assessor makes the call, never us.
1
Context of the organisation
Have you written down what your environmental management system covers, and the internal and external issues and interested parties that shape it?
What good looks like: A documented scope and boundaries, a review of the environmental issues that affect you, a register of interested parties such as regulators and neighbours, and a map of your core processes.
Watch out: No documented scope, or one copied from another company that does not match your actual activities and sites.
2
Leadership
Do you have an environmental policy signed by your most senior person, with environmental roles and responsibilities clearly assigned?
What good looks like: A signed, dated environmental policy, visible commitment from the top, and a matrix showing who is responsible for what.
Watch out: A policy not signed by top management, or environmental roles left unassigned with no one clearly owning the system.
3
Planning
Have you identified your significant environmental aspects and legal duties, and set measurable environmental objectives with plans to meet them?
What good looks like: A register of environmental aspects and legal obligations, measurable objectives, and plans with named owners to achieve them.
Watch out: No objectives, objectives that cannot be measured, or a register that misses the aspects that really matter to your work.
4
Support
Do you control your documents and records with version control, and keep a record of the environmental competence and awareness your people need?
What good looks like: A competence matrix, a procedure for controlling documents and records, and a plan for how environmental matters are communicated.
Watch out: Documents with no version control or approval, or people unaware of the environmental impact of their work.
5
Operation
Are the activities with an environmental impact planned and controlled, including waste, emergencies and the suppliers you rely on?
What good looks like: Documented operational controls, waste duty-of-care and emergency arrangements, supplier checks, and change control with records.
Watch out: Activities that affect the environment carried out with no documented control or record that they are managed.
6
Performance evaluation
Do you monitor and measure your environmental performance and compliance, run internal audits, and hold a management review?
What good looks like: Monitoring of your key impacts and legal compliance, an internal audit programme with recorded results, and management-review minutes.
Watch out: An audit programme, compliance check or management review named on paper that clearly never actually runs.
7
Improvement
Do you record environmental incidents and nonconformities, take corrective action with a look at the root cause, and show your performance improving over time?
What good looks like: A nonconformity log, corrective actions with root-cause analysis, and evidence that environmental performance improves over time.
Watch out: Corrective actions raised but never closed out, or no record of incidents and nonconformities at all.