Will My Company Have To Get Certified?
The decision to move toward certification to ISO
14001 must make good business sense to the organization. Certainly, there are numerous
benefits that will be realized by a company that meets the requirements, regardless
of whether or not they obtain certification from an accredited third-party registrar.
However, in the real world, especially the world of the international market place,
it seems to make good sense to become certified.
At this time, companies that export to Europe but
do not have sites in Europe are not directly affected by the requirements of EMAS,
that is, they are not required to have met EMAS requirements for their US based
operations as a condition of export. (One requirement of EMAS is to have an environmental
management system in place. Certification to ISO 14001 meets this requirement.)
However, if these companies do not have evidence of an approved environmental management
system, the reality may be that their products will not be viewed as favorably as
those manufactured in Europe under an EMAS recognized environmental management system.
The result could be an artificial restriction to trade.
As you consider whether or not to pursue certification,
remember that as the requirements for certification to ISO 14001 increase in the
United States, there will be a major shift from evolutionary to revolutionary actions.
A good analogy is what happened when the American automobile manufacturers, the
Big-Three developed QS-9000, using ISO 9001 for its core requirements. Prior to
this, certification to ISO 9001 was virtually voluntary in the United States. Unless
you were manufacturing a product that required application of a CE mark for sale
in Europe, your firm was not required to be certified. However, this all changed
when QS-9000 was issued. Chrysler and General Motors issued dates for mandatory
certification; Ford also required compliance by a specific date. The result, at
first, was a wait-and-see attitude on the part of the supply chain. However, as
more and more subcontractors began to realize that the Big-Three were very serious
about these dates, a revolution mentality set in. Almost overnight, companies started
to clamor for help from consultants. The business of registrars became very hectic.
A shortage of resources was realized. Deadlines came and went. For those companies
that did not meet the deadlines, sanctions are now being administered. (As of today,
the OEMs in the United States are requiring their suppliers to be certified to ISO/TS
16949.)
Where does your company want to be? Do you feel that
there is a lot of time to get certified? Do you think that this ISO 14001 stuff
will go away? Do you feel that your company has no need for complying with or becoming
certified to ISO 14001? Do you feel your company is already in compliance? Do you,
or are you planning to, export your products? The answer to these questions will
be your guide to what approach you take. They are the kinds of questions that should
be on the agenda of board meetings.
Of course, all this assumes that certification is
an option. At the present time, movement within the federal government to address
ISO 14001 has already begun. The U.S. Department of Defense is giving serious consideration
to requiring conformance, but stopping short of certification, to ISO 14001 as part
of its contracts. The Department of Energy is also taking a similar view.
As you proceed in making your decision, one very
important point to consider is the fact that much of the value in this implementation
process is in the preparation stages and you want to take sufficient time to realize
those benefits. The company that gets in a bind with tight mandatory time-frames,
may have to hurry and may not realize the potential benefits which are out there.
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The decision to pursue ISO 14001 certification involves
a substantial commitment of time and resources. Smithers Quality Assessments
recognizes that this is a very personal decision requiring a solution tailored
to your needs. To arrange for a SQA representative to review your certification
needs, contact us at 330-762-4231
today.
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