Environmental Policy
ISO14001 Toolkit: Version 3
Implementation guidance
The header page and this section, up to and including Disclaimer, must be removed from the final version of the document. For more details on replacing the logo, yellow highlighted text and certain generic terms, see the Completion Instructions document.
Purpose of this document
The Environmental Policy acts as the root of the Environmental Management System (EMS) and must be approved by top management (defined as the “person or group of people who direct and control an organization at the highest level”) as evidence of their commitment.
Areas of the standard addressed
The following areas of the ISO14001 standard are addressed by this document:
• 5. Leadership o 5.2 Environmental policy
General guidance
Prior to the certification audit, you must ensure the policy has been communicated to relevant staff, that they have understood it and that these facts are evidenced, e.g. via meeting minutes. The inviting and answering of questions during such a meeting are likely to show evidence of understanding.
We would also recommend that the document is made available via the intranet, if you have one, or any other appropriate means.
Review frequency
We would recommend that this document is reviewed as part of an annual exercise which also covers key documents such as the Environmental Management Plan. This exercise should include significant management and worker involvement to ensure that changed requirements are captured and customer feedback obtained.
Document fields
This document may contain fields which need to be updated with your own information, including a field for Organization Name that is linked to the custom document property “Organization Name”.
To update this field (and any others that may exist in this document):
1. Update the custom document property “Organization Name” by clicking File > Info > Properties > Advanced Properties > Custom > Organization Name.
2. Press Ctrl A on the keyboard to select all text in the document (or use Select, Select All via the Editing header on the Home tab).
3. Press F9 on the keyboard to update all fields.
4. When prompted, choose the option to just update TOC page numbers.
If you wish to permanently convert the fields in this document to text, for instance, so that they are no longer updateable, you will need to click into each occurrence of the field and press Ctrl Shift F9.
If you would like to make all fields in the document visible, go to File > Options > Advanced > Show document content > Field shading and set this to “Always”. This can be useful to check you have updated all fields correctly.
Further detail on the above procedure can be found in the toolkit Completion Instructions This document also contains guidance on working with the toolkit documents with an Apple Mac, and in Google Docs/Sheets.
Copyright notice
Except for any specifically identified third-party works included, this document has been authored by CertiKit, and is ©CertiKit except as stated below. CertiKit is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 6432088.
Licence terms
This document is licensed on and subject to the standard licence terms of CertiKit, available on request, or by download from our website. All other rights are reserved. Unless you have purchased this product you only have an evaluation licence.
If this product was purchased, a full licence is granted to the person identified as the licensee in the relevant purchase order. The standard licence terms include special terms relating to any third-party copyright included in this document.
Disclaimer
Please Note: Your use of and reliance on this document template is at your sole risk. Document templates are intended to be used as a starting point only from which you will create your own document and to which you will apply all reasonable quality checks before use.
Therefore, please note that it is your responsibility to ensure that the content of any document you create that is based on our templates is correct and appropriate for your needs and complies with relevant laws in your country.
You should take all reasonable and proper legal and other professional advice before using this document.
CertiKit makes no claims, promises, or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of our document templates; assumes no duty of care to any person with respect its document templates or their contents; and expressly excludes and disclaims liability for any cost, expense, loss or damage suffered or incurred in reliance on our document templates, or in expectation of our document templates meeting your needs, including (without limitation) as a result of misstatements, errors and omissions in their contents.
Environmental Policy
1
DOCUMENT REF EMS-DOC-05-1
VERSION 1
DATED [Insert date]
DOCUMENT AUTHOR [Insert name]
DOCUMENT OWNER [Insert name/role]
date]
Revision history
Distribution
NAME TITLE
Approval
NAME POSITION SIGNATURE
1 Introduction
As a modern, forward-looking business, [Organization Name] recognises at senior levels the need to ensure that its business works to achieve a balance between the environment, the economy and society. These are known as the Three Pillars of Sustainability
To provide such assurance, [Organization Name] has implemented an Environmental Management System (EMS) in line with the international standard for an EMS, ISO14001.
The operation of this EMS has many benefits for the environment and for the business, including:
• Protecting the environment in the course of normal business activities
• Preventing or effectively dealing with incidents affecting the environment
• Meeting legal and regulatory compliance requirements
• Contributing to a better understanding of the environment and the organization’s role within it
• Demonstrating a responsible attitude to the protection of the environment
• Maintaining and enhancing shareholder value
It is important to understand which areas of the business are currently within the umbrella of the EMS and which are excluded. The boundaries of the EMS as implemented within [Organization Name] are defined within the document entitled EMS Context, Requirements and Scope. It is recommended that this document be reviewed in conjunction with this policy.
The purpose of this document is to define an overall policy with regard to environmental management that is appropriate to the purpose of [Organization Name], and includes:
• A framework for setting objectives
• A commitment to satisfying applicable requirements
• A commitment to continual improvement of the EMS
This EMS Policy is available in both paper and electronic form and will be communicated within the organization and to all relevant stakeholders and interested parties.
2 Environmental policy
2.1 Environmental aspects and impacts
[Organization Name] will determine the environmental aspects of its business activities, products and services by understanding the life cycle of each, and their corresponding potential and actual environmental impacts.
A documented process will be used to identify those aspects that have a real or possible significant impact on the environment, so that they can be effectively managed on an ongoing basis.
2.2 Framework for setting objectives
Objectives will be defined for environmental planning within an annual cycle timed to coincide with organizational budget planning. This will ensure that adequate funding is obtained for the improvement activities identified. These objectives will be based upon a clear understanding of the overall environmental requirements and how they may change during the year.
Environmental objectives will be documented in the Environmental Management Plan for the relevant financial year, together with details of a plan for how they will be achieved. Once approved, this plan will be reviewed on a quarterly basis as part of the management review process, at which time the objectives will also be reviewed to ensure that they remain valid. If amendments are required, these will be managed through the organizational change management process.
2.3 Commitment to the protection of the environment
Commitment to the protection of the environment extends to senior levels of the organization and will be demonstrated through this Environmental Policy and the provision of appropriate resources to establish and develop the Environmental Management System. This commitment extends to [edit as required]:
• The prevention of pollution
• The preservation and conservation of natural resources
• Sustainable resource use
• Climate change mitigation and adaptation
• The protection of biodiversity and ecosystems
2.4 Commitment to meeting compliance obligations
Top management is committed to meeting its relevant compliance obligations through the EMS. These obligations may include:
• Relevant needs and expectations (expressed as requirements) of interested parties
• Legal and regulatory obligations
• Obligations stated as part of contracts with third parties
A process is in place to ensure that existing obligations are reviewed on a regular basis, and new ones are identified as appropriate.
2.5 Continual improvement of the EMS
[Organization Name]’s policy with regard to continual improvement of the EMS is to:
• Continually improve the effectiveness of the Environmental Management System across all areas within scope
• Enhance current processes to bring them into line with good practice as defined within ISO14001
• Achieve ISO14001 certification and maintain it on an ongoing basis
• Increase the level of proactivity (and the business perception of proactivity) with regard to ongoing environmental management
• Review relevant metrics on an annual basis to assess whether it is appropriate to change them, based on collected historical data and feedback from relevant sources
• Obtain ideas for improvement via regular review meetings with interested parties, and document them
• Review ideas for continual improvement at regular management meetings in order to prioritise them and assess timescales and benefits
Ideas for improvements may be obtained from any source including customers, suppliers, employees, risk assessments and audits. Once identified, they will be documented and evaluated by the staff member responsible for continual improvement. If accepted, the improvement proposal will be prioritised in order to allow more effective planning.