The Role of Legal Requirements in Environmental Management System

Years between late 1700s and the early 1900s, also known as the Industrial Revolution, have been years with significant changes to society, economy and environment. During this period, changes and innovations in technology have brought growth in different industrial sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, mining and overall mass production.

As global industrialization continued to grow, its impacts on environment became more evident. Transition from manual labor to modern machinery, introduction of steam engines used in different industrial sectors, uncontrolled use of natural resources, generation of wastes and emissions have led to many serious environmental problems such as air and water pollution, greenhouse gases emission, depletion of the ozone layer, global warming, climatic disasters, water scarcity, deforestation, etc.

All these changes have pushed nations to enact legislations in order to protect the environment and mitigate their negative environmental impacts. Early seventies have been the years when environmental agreements have been passed into an international level; including establishment of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the Geneva Convention on long-range trans-boundary air pollution, the Helsinki Agreement on reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions; the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer, and the Basel Convention on trans-boundary movements of hazardous wastes.

ISO 14001 - World’s most recognized framework for environmental management systems (EMS) 

In 1996, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published the first international standard specifying requirements for environmental management systems, to enable organizations to develop a policy and objectives taking into account legislative requirements. Since then, in order to demonstrate sound environmental performance, more than 150 000 organizations worldwide have been certified to this international standard. Besides many other benefits such as improved overall environmental performance, reduced environmental impacts, and conservation of natural resources, ISO 14001 help organizations improve their regulatory compliance. Not surprisingly, in a recent study conducted by Ernst and Young, more than 80 percent of companies participated in the survey have referred to the compliance as their primary motivation for adopting an environmental management system.

In spite of the fact that laws and regulations do not require companies to implement an environmental management system, yet adoption and implementation of such a system is seen as an appropriate mechanism to help them meet applicable legal requirements and comply with requirements to which the company subscribes.

Professional Evaluation and Certification Board (PECB) is a certification body for persons on a wide range of professional standards. Among others it also offers ISO 14001 training and certification services for professionals wanting to gain a comprehensive knowledge of the main processes of an EMS; project managers or consultants wanting to prepare and to support an organization in the implementation of an EMS; auditors wanting to perform and lead EMS certification audits, and staff involved in the implementation of the ISO 14001 standard.

ISO 14001 and Environment Trainings offered by PECB:

• Certified ISO 14001 Lead Implementer (5 days)
• Certified ISO 14001 Lead Auditor (5 days)
• Certified ISO 14001 Foundation (2 days)
• ISO 14001 Introduction (1 day)

Narta Voca is the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Product Manager at PECB. She is in charge of developing and maintaining training courses related to HSE. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact her at training@pecb.com.

For further information, please visit PECB ISO 14001 Training Courses.