ISO 14001 Environmental Management Standard in Plain English

ISO 14001 2004 is an environmental management standard. It specifies
a set of environmental management requirements for environmental
management systems. The purpose of this standard is to help all
types of organizations to protect the environment, to prevent
pollution, and to improve their environmental performance.

This page presents a detailed preview of the ISO 14001 2004 standard.
However, it does not present the entire standard. If you need a detailed
and complete interpretation of the ISO 14001 2004 environmental
management standard, please consider purchasing our
Title 50: ISO 14001 2004 Translated into Plain English.

ISO 14001 presents environmental management requirements in
section 4. Therefore, the following material begins with section 4.1.

	ISO 14001 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS
	4.1 Systemic requirements	Establish an environmental management system that complies with the ISO 14001 2004 standard. Document your environmental management system in accordance with the ISO 14001 2004 standard. Implement your environmental management system in accordance with the ISO 14001 2004 standard. Maintain your environmental management system in accordance with the ISO 14001 2004 standard. Continually improve your environmental management system in accordance with the ISO 14001 2004 standard.
	4.2 Policy requirements	Establish your organization’s environmental policy. Define your organization’s environmental policy. Document your organization’s environmental policy. Implement your organization’s environmental policy. Maintain your organization’s environmental policy. Communicate your organization’s environmental policy.
	4.3 Planning requirements	4.3.1 Identify your environmental aspects. Establish procedures to identify the environmental aspects of your activities, products, and services. Implement procedures to identify the environmental aspects of your activities, products, and services. Document the environmental aspects of your organization’s activities, products, and services. Maintain procedures to identify the environmental aspects of your activities, products, and services. 4.3.2 Clarify legal and other requirements. Establish procedures to identify and clarify the legal and other requirements that apply to your organization’s environmental aspects. Implement procedures to identify and clarify the legal and other requirements that apply to your environmental aspects. Maintain procedures to identify and clarify the legal and other requirements that apply to your environmental aspects. 4.3.3 Establish objectives and programs. Establish environmental objectives and targets. Implement environmental objectives and targets. Maintain environmental objectives and targets. Establish programs to achieve your organization's environmental objectives and targets. Implement programs to achieve your environmental objectives and targets. Maintain programs to achieve your environmental objectives and targets.
	4.4 Operational requirements	4.4.1 Provide resources and establish jobs. Provide the resources needed to support your organization’s environmental management system. Provide the resources needed to establish your environmental management system. Provide the resources needed to implement your environmental management system. Provide the resources needed to maintain your environmental management system. Provide the resources needed to improve your environmental management system. Establish environmental management roles, responsibilities, and authorities. Define your environmental management roles, responsibilities, and authorities. Document your environmental management roles, responsibilities, and authorities. Communicate your environmental management roles, responsibilities, and authorities. Appoint someone to assume the role of management representative. 4.4.2 Deliver training and awareness programs. Make sure that people, who perform tasks that could potentially have a significant environmental impact, are in fact competent. Establish your environmental training programs. Identify your organization’s environmental training needs. Deliver training programs that meet your environmental training needs. Maintain a record of your organization’s environmental training activities. Establish a procedure to make people aware of your environmental management system. Implement your environmental awareness procedure. Maintain your environmental awareness procedure. 4.4.3 Establish communication procedures. Establish a procedure to control your organization’s internal environmental communications. Implement your organization’s internal environmental communications procedure. Maintain your organization’s internal environmental communications procedure. Establish a procedure to control your organization’s external environmental communications. Implement your organization’s external environmental communications procedure. Maintain your organization’s external environmental communications procedure. 4.4.4 Document your environmental management system. Document your organization’s environmental policy. Document your organization’s environmental objectives. Document your organization’s environmental targets. Document the scope of environmental management system. Document the main parts of environmental management system. Describe how the parts of your organization's environmental management system interact. 4.4.5 Control environmental management documents. Control documents required by the ISO 14001 2004 standard. Control documents required by your environmental management system. Control your environmental management system records. 4.4.6 Control environmentally significant operations. Identify those operations that are associated with your organization’s significant environmental aspects. Establish procedures to manage and control operational situations that could have significant environmental impacts. Document your environmental operational control procedures. Implement your environmental operational control procedures. Maintain your environmental operational control procedures. Establish procedures to control the significant environmental aspects of the goods and services provided by your suppliers and contractors. Implement your environmental supplier and contractor control procedures. Maintain your environmental supplier and contractor control procedures. 4.4.7 Establish an emergency management process. Prepare for emergency situations and accidents that could have a significant impact on the environment. Establish procedures to identify potential emergency situations and accidents that could have an impact on the environment. Implement procedures to identify potential emergency situations and accidents that could have an impact. Maintain procedures to identify potential emergency situations and accidents that could have an impact on the environment. Establish procedures to respond to actual emergency situations and accidents that have an impact on the environment. Implement procedures to respond to actual emergency situations and accidents that have an impact. Maintain procedures to respond to actual emergency situations and accidents that have an impact on the environment. Test your environmental emergency response procedures. Respond to actual environmental emergencies and accidents. Prevent or mitigate the adverse environmental impacts that emergencies and accidents can and do cause. Review and revise your environmental emergency preparedness and response procedures.
	4.5 Checking requirements	4.5.1 Establish monitoring and measurement capabilities. Establish procedures to monitor and measure the operational characteristics that could have a significant impact on the environment. Implement your organization's environmental monitoring and measuring procedures. Maintain your organization's environmental monitoring and measuring procedures. Use calibrated or verified environmental monitoring and measuring equipment. Maintain your organization’s environmental monitoring and measuring equipment. Keep a record of your environmental monitoring and measuring activities. 4.5.2 Evaluate legal and other compliance. 4.5.2.1 Evaluate compliance with legal requirements. Establish a procedure to periodically evaluate how well your organization complies with all relevant legal environmental requirements. Implement a procedure to periodically evaluate how well your organization complies with all relevant legal environmental requirements. Maintain a procedure to periodically evaluate how well your organization complies with all relevant legal environmental requirements. Record the results of your organization's legal environmental compliance evaluations. 4.5.2.2 Evaluate compliance with other requirements. Establish a procedure to periodically evaluate how well your organization complies with other environmental requirements. Implement a procedure to periodically evaluate how well your organization complies with other environmental requirements. Maintain a procedure to periodically evaluate how well your organization complies with other environmental requirements. Record the results of your organization's other environmental compliance evaluations. 4.5.3 Deal with your nonconformities. Establish nonconformance management procedures. Implement nonconformance management procedures. Maintain nonconformance management procedures. Change documents when nonconformities make it necessary. 4.5.4 Control your environmental records. Establish environmental records for your organization. Establish procedures to control your environmental records. Implement procedures to control environmental records. Maintain procedures to control environmental records. 4.5.5 Perform internal environmental management audits. Plan the development of an internal environmental management audit program. Establish your environmental management audit program. Implement your internal environmental management audit program. Maintain your internal environmental management audit program. Establish an environmental management audit procedure. Implement your internal environmental management audit procedure. Maintain your internal environmental management audit procedure. Conduct internal audits of environmental management system. Report internal audit results to your organization’s management.
	4.6 Review requirements	Perform environmental management reviews. Review the suitability, adequacy, and effectiveness of your environmental management system. Assess opportunities for improvement. Assess whether or not your environmental management system should be changed. Assess whether or not your organization’s environmental policy should be changed. Assess whether or not your organization’s environmental objectives should be changed. Assess whether or not your organization’s environmental targets should be changed. Keep a record of your environmental reviews.

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ISO 14001 2004

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT STANDARD