Overview

Guidance on establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving an environmental management system, forming a consistent pair with the ISO 14001 requirements standard.

ISO 14004:2016 provides guidance for an organization on the establishment, implementation, maintenance and improvement of a robust, credible and reliable environmental management system (EMS). It is applicable to any organization regardless of size, type and nature, and applies to the environmental aspects of activities, products and services that the organization determines it can control or influence, considering a life cycle perspective.

Relationship to ISO 14001. ISO 14001 and ISO 14004 form a consistent pair. ISO 14001:2015 states the auditable requirements against which organizations are certified; ISO 14004:2016 explains how to meet them and goes further, offering generic EMS guidance beyond the scope of ISO 14001. It is designed to complement ISO 14001 but is not limited to it — an organization can use ISO 14004 to build an environmental management system without seeking certification. The 2016 edition was revised alongside ISO 14001:2015 and reflects the same emphases: protecting the environment, environmental performance, a life cycle perspective, leadership and strategic environmental management.

What the guidance covers. ISO 14004 works through the EMS in the same order as ISO 14001 — understanding the organization and its context, needs and expectations of interested parties, determining scope, leadership and environmental policy, identifying environmental aspects and compliance obligations, addressing risks and opportunities, setting environmental objectives and planning to achieve them, providing resources and competence, operational planning and control including a life cycle perspective, emergency preparedness and response, monitoring and measurement, evaluation of compliance, internal audit, management review and continual improvement — and for each area explains the intent, offers practical approaches and includes illustrative examples.

The standard is written with explicit support for small and medium-sized organizations, which often need the reasoning behind a requirement rather than the requirement alone. Much of its practical value lies in the treatment of environmental aspect identification and significance evaluation, and in how to make the life cycle perspective workable without conducting a full life cycle assessment.

Certification. ISO 14004 is guidance and is not certifiable. Organizations seeking third-party certification of an environmental management system certify to ISO 14001. ISO 14004 is best used during design and implementation of that system, and again during improvement cycles, alongside supporting standards such as ISO 14031 (environmental performance evaluation), ISO 14040/14044 (life cycle assessment) and ISO 14064 (greenhouse gases).

Purpose

To give practical guidance on establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving an environmental management system, and on integrating it with the organization's overall management and strategic direction.

Key Benefits

• Explains the intent behind ISO 14001 requirements rather than restating them
• Practical examples and approaches suitable for small and medium-sized organizations
• Guidance on identifying and evaluating environmental aspects and impacts
• Support for applying a life cycle perspective in a proportionate way
• Helps build an EMS whether or not certification is sought
• Supports strategic environmental management and leadership engagement

Key Requirements

• Understand organizational context, interested parties and EMS scope
• Establish an environmental policy and leadership commitment
• Identify environmental aspects, impacts and compliance obligations
• Address environmental risks and opportunities
• Set environmental objectives and plans to achieve them
• Provide resources, competence, awareness and communication
• Apply operational planning and control with a life cycle perspective
• Prepare for and respond to emergency situations
• Monitor, measure, analyse and evaluate environmental performance and compliance
• Conduct internal audit and management review and drive continual improvement

Who Needs This Standard?

Organizations implementing or improving an environmental management system, EMS managers and coordinators, consultants supporting ISO 14001 implementation, small and medium-sized enterprises new to environmental management, and internal auditors seeking to understand the intent of ISO 14001 requirements.

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