Integrating Management Systems Within The ISO 9001 Standards

Integrating Management Systems Within The ISO 9001 Standards

Today’s free market economies increasingly encourage diverse sources of supply and provide opportunities for expanding markets. Fair competition needs to be based on identifiable, clearly defined common references that are recognised from one country to the next. A standard, internationally recognised, developed by consensus among trading partners, serves as the language of trade. The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has developed around 8?700, mostly technical related standards on this basis. Standards Series such as ISO 9000, ISO 14000 and what is to be known as ISO 18000 and ISO 26000 are Management related. These standards contain generic guidelines for Management Systems in the area of Quality, Environment, Occupational Health & Safety and Human Resources.

ISO is a word derived from the Greek isos, meaning “equal”. ISO 9000 Standards are developed and updated by the International Organisation for Standardisation which has around 150 member bodies. A member body of ISO is the national body “most representative of standardisation in its country”.(eg. Germany – DIN, USA – ANSI, Australia – SAA).
More than 50 countries, as well as the European Community have adopted ISO 9000 which is recognised internationally as a benchmark for measuring quality in a trade context. Since its first issue in 1987, approximately 430?000 companies have been using ISO 9000. Being a standard coming from an organisation that is usually involved in the development of technical standards, ISO 9000 is often regarded as a document that belongs in the hands of a technician exposed to production line quality control. At a closer look, however, ISO 9000 Standard Series provide guidance in the development and application of Management Systems as well as Quality Control in Manufacturing and Administration.

ISO has been developing a number of Management System Guidelines for various aspects of business. The most recent are the ISO 14000 Environmental Management System Guidelines. This is an international standard that will affect business in the near future. ISO 14000 has been designed to integrate with ISO 9000. However, apart from international standards there are local standards a company has to comply with. To remain compliant with local standards, further manuals and/or procedures are required (eg. lifting procedure in a warehouse to satisfy Work Safety requirements). A company may have several Manuals describing its Management Systems (eg. Human Resources, Quality, Security, Health/Safety, Finances). An overall link between the systems is often missing which makes the monitoring and the assessment of effectiveness difficult. Double handling of information, contradicting instructions, high maintenance costs, administrative excess and lack of overall transparency are common results.
ISO 9000 Standard Series for Quality (of) Management Systems provide generic guidance for the development of an overall Management System, ISO 14000 provides guidance for Environmental Management, etc. Transparency and monitoring of all business activities can be achieved by integrating all systems into one.
Complaints that ISO 9000 is paralysing operations and, that it does not reflect reality are usually a result of not clearly understanding how the standard can be properly structured to address the needs of a company. ISO 9000 can be structured by focusing on “best practice” process rather than the standard, by fitting the standard to the process and not the process to the standard. Having recognised this, ISO has been working on a new structure for ISO 9000, called “Vision 2000?, taking a process orientated approach to ensure that “best practice” as well as several standards can be addressed within one system. Focusing on process allows the development of a practical “working document”, providing an effective management tool. Having learned from the past, the trend to Process Orientated Management Systems started about three years ago in Europe and is finding increasing approval from certification bodies.Every company has its own culture and key individuals.
The business environment influences processes in certain ways (eg. employee market, laws, infrastructure, client, etc.)
To ensure competitiveness a company needs to ensure adequate flexibility in their system to effectively respond to changes in the business environment.
An effective system is a lean system that incorporates all necessary functions, controls of activities and “best practice” without being caught up in detail.
An effective system must also be flexible enough to enable the proper controls on outsourcing and sub-contracting of activities (eg. production, administration, service, etc.)

ISO 9000 Standards Document control procedures

ISO 9000 Standards Document control procedures
The ISO 9000 Standards requires that a documented procedure be established to define the controls needed.

This requirement means that the methods for performing the various activities required to control different types of documents should be defined and documented.

Although the ISO 9000 standards implies that a single procedure is required, should you choose to produce several different procedures for handling the different types of documents it is doubtful that any auditor would deem this noncompliant. Where this might be questionable is in cases where there is no logical reason for such differences and where merging the procedures and settling on a best practice would improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Documents are recorded information and the purpose of the document control process is to firstly ensure the appropriate information is available where needed and secondly to prevent the inadvertent use of invalid
information. At each stage of the process are activities to be performed that may require documented procedures in order to ensure consistency and predictability. Procedures may not be necessary for each stage in the process.

Documentation Structure For ISO 14001 EMS

ISO 14001 Standard does not require an Environmental Manual. Despite this, almost all companies I worked with developed and used EMS Manuals. Many of our clients use a four-level structures, including records, as shown below:
Manual – level 1
Procedures – level 2
Instructions – level 3
EMS Records – level 4
While auditing EMS systems like the one above, I often asked clients about the position of their Environmental policy in this structure. If you start from an Environmental Manual, how would you know what standard this manual should cover? The Environmental policy defines it and therefore it may be included into the structure:
Policy – level 1
EMS Manual – level 2
ISO 14001 Procedures – level 3
Work Instructions – level 4
EMS Records – level 5

Environmental Aspects In ISO 14001 Standards EMS

Environmental Aspects In ISO 14001 Standards EMS

First make lists of the environmental aspects (issues) that are relevant

to the business. The environmental review mentioned earlier should

provide most of this information and the Annex to ISO 14001 provides

guidance on the format for doing this.

Consider the inputs, outputs and processes/activities of the business in

relation to;

a) emissions to air

b) releases to water

c) waste management

d) contamination of land

e) use of raw materials and natural resources

f) other local environmental and community issues

Consider both site (direct) and offsite (ie. indirect) aspects that you

control or have influence over (such as suppliers) and in relation to

normal operations, shut-down and start-up conditions and reasonably

foreseeable and emergencies situations

A simple written procedure is then required to determine which of the

aspects identified are really or probably significant (important) and should

therefore be managed by the EMS. This process which is

similar to health and safety risk assessment ranks the aspects by order

of importance and the significant aspects identified are then the core

of the environmental management system.

There are various methods of determining significance but most are

based on the principle of attributing a relative value for the

environmental hazard or potential to cause harm (eg. on a scale of 1-

5) and the risk or likelihood of occurrence (eg. on a scale of 1-5). The

relative significance is then determined by multiplying the hazard by

the risk. (eg. max score of 25). An arbitrary but cautious threshold

value is then set above which environmental aspects are considered to

be significant. This threshold can be determined by a common sense

consideration of the aspects identified.

ISO 14001 Standard & Environmental Issues

ISO 14001 Standard & Environmental Issues

ISO 14001 is a systematic tool that enables an organization in any market sector to focus on their situation, identify the relevant environmental issues and to lessen their impact to their benefit and the environment. It is part of a global response to the recognition that we are damaging the environment in which we all live. The cause and effect of the foremost world environmental issues, which are all due to mankind, are generally too vast and too intangible for us to grasp and so the slightly cliché expression ‘think global, act local’ is very relevant. Once the EMS is implemented and to become registered to ISO 14001, the external auditor will assess your EMS in two separate stages, on site. The first stage to understand your business activities and determine formal readiness for assessment and the second to check practical compliance with ISO 14001. After registration he will return at regular intervals every year to verify continual improvement and regulatory compliance, against your set objectives and your EMS. The external auditor should be seen as a wise friend, not a policeman. He should certainly explain his findings and assist the company to find ISO 14001 registration is not a cure for all environmental problems but I hope I’ve demonstrated that it is a worthwhile, if not essential business initiative that could enable your management to better manage your business, gain commercial advantage and minimize its environmental impact.

ISO 14001 Standards Environmental Management System

Global warming, ozone depletion, pollution and extinction of numerous species of animals. These are just a few of the environmental issues that the world faces, in the name of development. As responsible corporate citizens, SMEs can play their part in preserving our natural environment for our next generation.

Both individuals and businesses especially have a social and environmental responsibility to fulfil. With the rapid development in today’s industrialised world, the issue of preserving and managing our environment has become crucial. The increasing awareness of the importance of good environmental management systems is evidenced by the amendments made to the Environmental Quality Act 1974 and other environmental regulations which serve to ensure stricter compliance of environmental standards. Malaysia also adopted the National Environment Policy in 2002 as a means of addressing environmental issues in an integrated manner while more and more companies are striving to attain the MS14001 EMS certification.

WHAT SMEs CAN DO TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT
As responsible corporate citizens, SMEs have a major role to play in preserving the environment. For starters, they can help the Government to achieve its recycling goals, by creating mechanisms to facilitate the segregation of recyclable wastes and to ensure that these wastes are sent to the relevant parties instead of being dumped in landfills and illegal dumpsites. Furthermore, SMEs must also ensure that proper waste management systems are in place in conducting their day-to-day businesses.

Below are a few steps that SMEs can take to do their part for the environment:
• Dispose off company wastes properly and responsibly.
• Encourage employees to reuse items where possible, for example, printing on both sides of the paper, etc.
• Practise recycling in the office, by introducing a recycling programme. Among the items that can be recycled are papers, cardboards, glass, aluminium cans and scrap metals.
• Implementing an Environmental Management System (EMS).

WHAT IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (EMS)?
An EMS provides a framework for managing environmental practices that integrates with overall business goals in a systematic way. Various models can be applied to develop, implement and maintain an EMS. One of the more common models used by industries is the model described by the ISO 14001 standard which was developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). The ISO 14001 standard EMS model focuses on continuous improvement through an on-going cycle of actions called the continual improvement cycle which incorporates the elements of planning, doing, checking and acting.

An EMS typically begins with a strong environmental policy which describes the organisation’s approach in managing its environmental affairs and reflects its commitment to protect the environment and human well-being. The environmental policy establishes the framework for environmental leadership and serves as a contract between an organisation’s employees and its stakeholders. As such, commitment and strong support from top management is essential in making an EMS a success. Developing the environmental policy also helps to lay the groundwork for the planning phase of the EMS cycle. It is in this stage that active management support is sought, a multi-disciplinary EMS implementation team is formed and an introduction meeting is held to brief employees on the implementation of EMS. On top of that, the scope and budget for the implementation of EMS is also pre-defined. In other words, it is important that management provides all the resources necessary for the successful implementation of EMS.

CURRENT ENVIRONMENTAL PRACTICES
It is evident that some SME has put in place various initiatives to preserve the environment while utilizing resources efficiently. These initiatives include the following:

1. Discouraging open burning in fields and plantation sites while encouraging the composting of felled trees and crops in an environmentally-friendly way which in turn prepares land for replanting by using natural fertilizer;
2. Discouraging the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in various industrial, commercial and household appliances; and
3. Encouraging the recycling of resources for example, in the plastic manufacturing industry, materials are being regenerated through the forming process in an effort to reuse biodegradable products in an environmentally-friendly way.

WHAT IS WASTE MANAGEMENT?
Waste management involves collecting, transporting, processing, recycling and disposing waste materials, in an effort to reduce their adverse effects on human health and the environment. Waste materials include solid, liquid or gaseous substances. The implementation of waste management requires careful planning and also adequate financial resources and is the responsibility of all parties involved such as individuals, businesses and corporations, including SMEs.

INCENTIVES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND WASTE MANAGEMENT
In an effort to support an enhanced level of environmental pro activity, the government provides a range of fiscal activities which includes the Pioneer Status tax exemption and the Investment Tax Allowance for the manufacture of environmentally-friendly products, the provision and supply of environmentally-friendly services and specific activities which contribute towards the presentation of the environment. The said incentives are available for the following activities:

• Storage, treatment and disposal of toxic and hazardous waste
• Waste recycling activities which are high-tech in nature for instance, recycling agricultural wastes, chemicals and the production of reconstituted wood-based panel boards or other products
• Energy-generating activities using biomass which are renewable and environmentally-friendly. Examples of biomass resources include palm oil mill waste, rice mill waste, sugar cane mill waste, timber/sawmill waste and paper recycling mill waste
• Energy conservation services

Accelerated Capital Allowance with a special initial rate of 40% and an annual rate of 20% for total write-off within three years is given to organisations that are waste generators, for their capital expenditure on machinery and equipment incurred, to set up facilities to store, treat and dispose their waste. This incentive is also available to companies undertaking waste recycling activities.

The Challenge Of ISO 14001 Standards

The Challenge Of ISO 14001 Standards

The building blocks of an environmental management system is an understanding of aspects and impacts.

Implementing ISO 14001 begins with identifying how an organisation’s business activities impact on the

environment.

Many organisations believe they are already aware of the significant aspects and impacts of their operations.

The process of implementing ISO 14001 may uncover significant impacts not previously identified and allows

for a consistent approach to analysis.

Generally this analysis is done department by department or centre by centre.

It is best if it is a team approach that involves the employees who do the activity. An employee’s

familiarity with a task is essential for both the identification of the environmental impacts of business

activities and the determination or implementation of control measures.

An aspect is any element of an organisation’s activities, products or services that can interact with the

environment.

An impact is the change caused to the environment.

Impacts may occur during normal and abnormal operating conditions, such as accidents and emergencies.

Aspects can often be isolated by analysing the inputs and outputs of an activity.

EVALUATION OF IMPACTS

Once the impacts have been determined they have to be evaluated.

Criteria for evaluation include environmental concerns such as the severity of the impact, and business

concerns such as potential regulatory and legal exposure, the probability of the impact occurring, the

cost of changing the impact and effect on public image.

This type of evaluation highlights the significant impacts. These, in turn, determine the significant

aspects. Once the significant aspects have been determined, targets and objectives can be set.