ISO 14001 - What will your auditor be asking? Pt 3

With ISO 14001 having changed to 2015 version, what will auditors be looking for? What questions will they be asking?

Generally, when something changes, that will be what the auditor is going to focus on; the vindictive auditor will try to catch you out, to show they know more than you, and make themselves look good. The professional environmental auditor will focus on the continual improvement approach and appreciate that management systems change and improve over time. Either way, to avoid non-conformities, you still need to be prepared.

We’ve put together five key questions we think auditors will be asking, and we’ve also suggested how your environmental management system could address it.

…and for you technical “system types” we’ve added some useful tips to make sure you are fully up to speed.

Here is one of the questions and we’ll post the rest over the next few days. If you can’t wait jump across to our website and read them all.

3. Actions to address risks and opportunities – clause 6.1

How have you considered the Environmental opportunities to the organization?

Environmental aspects and the associated impacts tend to be seen as only being negative, the damage or potential damage that your organization is doing or could do to the environment.

With the adoption of a risk based approach to the environment, ISO 14001:2015 has now included the term opportunities… And an opportunity is where an organisation can improve the environment. It is not about reducing its negative impact, such as using less water, or using less power – they are just reducing the negative impacts. It is more positive than this and could include such things as removing noxious weeds that already existed, managing feral animals, funding local schools.

Opportunities will also cover major changes to how the business operates environmentally, for example if it changes its entire fleet of vehicles from petrol over to electric. Even though this is arguably only reducing an impact that the business itself creates the change is so large it is best viewed as an opportunity.

Useful tip: In the previous version this was covered in the definitions where it stated that environmental impacts could be adverse or beneficial, it is now more clearly stated, and included in the body of ISO 14001:2015.