Practical ISO 14001 EMS Course

 This ISO 14001 course is designed to provide you with:

• A broad understanding of ISO 14000’s Environmental Management Systems standard

• A set of practical tools to develop and start implementing a cost-effective EMS

This one-day course takes you through a case study of how an EMS is developed and implemented at a large hypothetical organization with major environmental issues.

Overview of ISO 14001 EMS

This session covers the key elements of ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems. It sets the framework for the rest of the course. Topics include:

• How to develop a corporate Environmental Policy

• How to obtain top management commitment

• How to ensure that your policy is appropriate to the nature, scale and environmental impacts of your operations

• How to avoid common pitfalls

• The Need for top down support and bottom-up involvement

• How to communicate your environmental policy to your employees and community

 Planning for the EMS

Planning is a key element in ISO 14001. This session discusses the process by which you can identify significant environmental aspects as well as legal and other requirements. Topics include:

• Meaning of the term “environmental aspect”

• What is meant by significant

• How to identify which of your operations, services and products have significant impacts on the environment

• Practical ways to stay on top of ever changing legal environmental requirements at the corporate and plant levels

Setting Environmental Objectives and Targets

It is critical for an EMS to have developed realistic sets of environmental objectives and targets. This session describes practical ways to establish these objectives and targets. Topics include:

• How to incorporate views of other parties in setting targets and objectives
• How to avoid common pitfalls.
• How to develop an Environmental Management Program to meet your objectives and targets
• How to set realistic time-frames

Implementation and Operations

This session discusses the various practical ways to implement your EMS. Topics include:

• How to develop the management structures and assign responsibilities for implementing the targets and objectives

• How to allocate resources to your EMS

• The need for a senior management representative to be the champion of EMS

Training, Awareness, Competence and Communications

For your EMS to be effective, all your employees have to receive the appropriate amount of training. They also need to be aware of your environmental policy. This session discusses the many practical ways you can train your employees to implement your EMS. Topics include:

• How to raise environmental awareness level within your organization
• How to ensure employees whose work impacts the environment are competent and properly trained.
• Practical ways to effectively communicate with external parties - including government agencies
• How to respond to external enquiries about your environmental aspects

Environmental Management System Documentation

ISO 14000 has very strict standards on document and record controls. This session covers the following topics:

• Difference between documents and records

• Practical ways to manage and control your documents and records.
• How to ensure your procedures survive personnel changes, rapid growth, downsizing, etc.
• How to ensure your records are accurate, legible and easily accessible
• How to ensure your documents are up-to-date.

Operational Control

ISO 14001 requires that procedures be established to control all significant environmental aspects. The topics include:

• How to ensure consistent operation under specified conditions.

• How to manage contractors and suppliers.

Emergency Preparedness and Responses 

Being prepared for emergencies and being able to respond to them are both critical elements of an ISO 14001 EMS. This session covers:

• How to identify potential for and respond to accidents and emergency situations

• How to set up procedures for preventing and mitigating environmental impacts.

• The need for periodic testing of emergency procedures.

Monitoring, Measurement, Checking and Corrective Action

Your EMS needs to monitor and measure the key characteristics of operations and activities that can have significant impact on the environment. ISO 14001 EMS is based on the concept of “Do-Act-Check-Fix”. This session covers:

• How to establish and maintain documented procedures to monitor and measure

• How to track key environmental performance

• How to put in place a mechanism to take corrective actions in a timely fashion

Environmental Management Systems Audits and Management Review

ISO 14001 requires you to periodically check up your EMS by performing audits. Management needs to review the performance of your EMS and make adjustments to improve it. The topics include:

• Management audit vs. compliance audit 

• What questions to ask and how to ask them

• How to develop an "internal early warning system"

• Practical ways of protecting your audit information

• ISO 14001 EMS audit checklists

• EPA’s Audit and self-disclosure Policy

• How to develop procedures for management review

• Documenting the management review

Certificate of Completion, Course Manual and CD-ROM.  You will receive a Certificate of Completion and a complete set of course material written in plain English. Excellent material for future reference. As an attendee, you will also receive a CD-ROM containing over 250 files of key EPA policies, guidance documents, and numerous practical environmental compliance tools.

If you have 5 or more persons in your organization who are interested in learning about the requirements for ISO 14000, you can take this course either online or in-house.

Contact us at 360-898-1114 or email us for more details.

To download a copy of our latest article on the Practical Implementation of an EMS, click here.

Send mail to webmaster@proactenv.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2007 Environmental Management and Training, LLC.
Last modified: 08/20/08