ISO 14001 certification: A Strategic Advantage

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A viable and efficient EMS is above all a profitable approach. And that’s good: ISO 14001 certification can reduce certain costs of your company, and this on several levels: the management of waste, raw materials or logistics is improved, while energy bills decrease.

Economic performance at stake

Still from the financial point of view, and in addition to reducing costs, such an approach very often makes it possible to increase turnover. More and more studies (such as this survey carried out by the British Assessment Bureau) out there is also the link between the use of ISO standards in a company and economic performance.

A new turning point for your business

In fact, these gains are due to increased visibility on calls for tenders. This standard has gradually become a standard and if you wish to respond to a call for tenders on a public market and for a large European company,  ISO 14001 certification will at least be a competitive advantage, and may even be an imperative. ISO 14001 certification therefore allows companies to be more efficient and to increase their competitiveness, but also and above all to restore their value in a changing world, in a context where no one can any longer tolerate that environmental considerations are not taken into account.

Obtaining ISO 14001 Certification?

Complying with the ISO 14001 standard therefore means setting up a system of procedures capable of managing the environmental impacts of your company, and making it possible to improve its performance on environmental issues. But how to set up this certification?

Auditing

The audit is the first brick of this approach, that of your practices in terms of environmental management, that of their compliance with the regulations, that of their consistency with the objectives set. This audit can be carried out internally at first, but will have to be possibly supplemented but especially validated by a consultant belonging to one of the various organizations of certification.

The action plan

Once this audit has been completed, the second building block consists of an action plan to be implemented according to a defined schedule. Only the realization of these actions will allow you to obtain the certification. The realization of these actions must be worked on by the whole company if you want to move forward effectively and be part of this new turning point. For this we strongly recommend that you use collaborative tools to correct all the non-conformities detected.

Evaluation

The last step in this process is a rigorous assessment of the environmental impact of the new practices implemented. This evaluation is to be carried out every 3 years and is each time an opportunity to make changes and thus improve your business processes. As you will have understood, ISO 14001 certification paves the way for many improvements within your organization, whether in terms of its profitability, its image and its impact on the environment.