Environmental Management System (EMS)
Introduction
The ISO 14000 series of standards is a set of standards that covers aspects of the environment, products and organizations, highlighting the ISO 14001 Standard, an international environmental management standard published in 1996, after the success of the ISO 9000 series of standards for quality management systems.
Description
The ISO 14000 series of standards is a set of international standards published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which includes ISO 14001 Standard that expresses how to establish an effective Environmental Management System (EMS).
The ISO 14001 standard is applicable to any organization, of any size or sector, that under an assumption of voluntarism "Voluntarism (policy)") is seeking to reduce impacts on the environment and comply with environmental legislation.
History
The emergence of the ISO 14000 series of standards is a direct consequence of the GATT round of negotiations in Uruguay and the United Nations Rio de Janeiro summit on the environment, which were held in 1992.[1].
Due to the rapid acceptance of the ISO 9000 Series of Standards and the emergence of a large number of environmental standards around the world, ISO recognizes the need to create administrative standards in the environmental area. In 1991, the Strategic Consultation Group on the Environment (SAGE) had been created and in 1992, due to the recommendations of this group, the ISO/TC 207 committee was created, which would bring together representatives from the industry, standards bodies, the government and environmental bodies.[2].
It must be kept in mind that the standards stipulated by ISO 14000 do not set specific environmental goals for the prevention of pollution, nor are they involved in environmental performance at a global level, but rather they establish tools and systems focused on production and organizational processes within a company or organization, contemplating the effects or externalities that these derive from the environment.
It is worth highlighting two aspects of ISO 14000:
ISO 14000 is based on the former British standard BS7750"), which was officially published by the British Standards Institution (BSI) prior to the UN World Environment Meeting (ECO 92").