About ISO

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world's largest

developer and publisher of International Standards.

ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 159 countries, one

member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that
coordinates the system.

ISO is a non-governmental organization that forms a bridge between the

public and private sectors. On the one hand, many of its member institutes are
part of the governmental structure of their countries, or are mandated by their
government. On the other hand, other members have their roots uniquely in the
private sector, having been set up by national partnerships of industry
associations.

Therefore, ISO enables a consensus to be reached on solutions that meet both

the requirements of business and the broader needs of society

ISO's origins
In 1946, delegates from 25 countries met in London and decided to create a new
international organization, of which the object would be "to facilitate the
international coordination and unification of industrial standards". The new
organization, ISO, officially began operations on 23 February 1947, in Geneva,
Switzerland.

ISO's name
Because "International Organization for Standardization" would have different
acronyms in different languages ("IOS" in English, "OIN" in French for
Organisation internationale de normalisation), its founders decided to give it also
a short, all-purpose name. They chose "ISO", derived from the Greek isos,
meaning "equal". Whatever the country, whatever the language, the short form
of the organization's name is always ISO.

What "international standardization" means

When the large majority of products or services in a particular business or
industry sector conform to International Standards, a state of industry-wide
standardization exists. The economic stakeholders concerned agree on
specifications and criteria to be applied consistently in the classification of
materials, in the manufacture and supply of products, in testing and analysis, in
 terminology and in the provision of services. In this way, International Standards
provide a reference framework, or a common technological language,
between suppliers and their customers. This facilitates trade and the transfer of
technology.

The ISO brand

 Democratic

Every full member of ISO has the right to take part in the development of any
standard which it judges to be important to its country's economy. No matter what
the size or strength of that economy, each participating member in ISO has one
vote. Each country is on an equal footing to influence the direction of ISO's work
at the strategic level, as well as the technical content of its individual standards.

 Voluntary

ISO standards are voluntary. As a non-governmental organization, ISO has no

legal authority to enforce the implementation of its standards. ISO does not
regulate or legislate. However, countries may decide to adopt ISO standards -
mainly those concerned with health, safety or the environment - as regulations or
refer to them in legislation, for which they provide the technical basis. In addition,
although ISO standards are voluntary, they may become a market requirement,
as has happened in the case of ISO 9001 quality management systems, or of
dimensions of freight containers and bank cards.

ISO itself does not regulate or legislate.

 Market-driven

ISO only develops standards for which there is a market requirement. The work
is mainly carried out by experts from the industrial, technical and business
sectors which have asked for the standards, and which subsequently put them to
use.

 Consensus

ISO standards are based on international consensus among the experts in the
field. Consensus, like technology, evolves and ISO takes account both of
evolving technology and of evolving interests by requiring a periodic review of
its standards at least every five years to decide whether they should be
 maintained, updated or withdrawn. In this way, ISO standards retain their position
as the state of the art.

 Globally relevant

ISO standards are technical agreements which provide the framework for
compatible technology worldwide. They are designed to be globally relevant -
useful everywhere in the world.

ISO standards are useful everywhere in the world.

How ISO decides to develop a standard

ISO launches the development of new standards in response to the sectors that
express a clearly established need for them. An industry or business sector
communicates its requirement for a standard to one of ISO's national members.
The latter then proposes the new work item to ISO as a whole. If accepted, the
work item is assigned to an existing technical committee. Proposals may also be
made to set up technical committees to cover new scopes of activity.

At the end of 2006, there were 3 041 technical bodies in the ISO system,
including 193 ISO technical committees.

The focus of the technical committees is specialized and specific. In addition,

ISO has three general policy development committees that provide strategic
guidance for the standards' development work on cross-sector aspects. These
committees ensure that the specific technical work is aligned with broader market
and stakeholder group

Who develops ISO standards

ISO standards are developed by technical committees comprising experts from

the industrial, technical and business sectors which have asked for the
standards, and which subsequently put them to use. These experts may be
joined by representatives of government agencies, testing laboratories,
consumer associations, non-governmental organizations and academic circles.

The experts participate as national delegations, chosen by the ISO national

member institute for the country concerned. These delegations are required to
represent not just the views of the organizations in which their participating
experts work, but of other stakeholders too.
According to ISO rules, the member institute is expected to take account of the
views of the range of parties interested in the standard under development. This
enables them to present a consolidated, national consensus position to the
technical committee.

How ISO standards are developed

The national delegations of experts of a technical committee meet to discuss,

debate and argue until they reach consensus on a draft agreement. This is
circulated as a Draft International Standard (DIS) to ISO's membership as a
whole for comment and balloting.

Many members have public review procedures for making draft standards
known and available to interested parties and to the general public. The ISO
members then take account of any feedback they receive in formulating their
position on the draft standard.

If the voting is in favour, the document, with eventual modifications, is circulated

to the ISO members as a Final Draft International Standard (FDIS). If that vote
is positive, the document is then published as an International Standard.

Every working day of the year, an average of eight ISO meetings is taking place
somewhere in the world. In between meetings, the experts continue the
standards' development work by correspondence. Increasingly, their contacts are
made by electronic means, some ISO technical bodies have already gone over
entirely to working electronically, which speeds up the development of standards,
and cuts travel costs.

Why standards matter

Standards make an enormous and positive contribution to most aspects of

our lives.

Standards ensure desirable characteristics of products and services such as

quality, environmental friendliness, safety, reliability, efficiency and
interchangeability - and at an economical cost.

When products and services meet our expectations, we tend to take this for
granted and be unaware of the role of standards. However, when standards are
absent, we soon notice. We soon care when products turn out to be of poor
quality, do not fit, are incompatible with equipment that we already have, are
unreliable or dangerous.
 When products, systems, machinery, and devices work well and safely, it is often
because they meet standards. And the organization responsible for many
thousands of the standards which benefit the world is ISO.

When standards are absent, we soon notice.

What standards do

ISO standards:

 make the development, manufacturing and supply of products and services more
efficient, safer and cleaner
 facilitate trade between countries and make it fairer
 provide governments with a technical base for health, safety and
environmental legislation, and conformity assessment
 share technological advances and good management practice
 disseminate innovation
 safeguard consumers, and users in general, of products and services
 make life simpler by providing solutions to common problems

How the ISO system is financed

ISO's national members pay subscriptions that meet the operational cost of
ISO's Central Secretariat. The subscription paid by each member is in proportion
to the country's Gross National Income and trade figures. Another source of
revenue is the sale of standards.

However, the operations of ISO Central Secretariat represent only about one fifth
of the cost of the system's operation. The main costs are borne by the member
bodies that manage the specific standards development projects and the
business organizations that provide experts to participate in the technical work.
These organizations are, in effect, subsidizing the technical work by paying
the travel costs of the experts and allowing them time to work on their ISO
assignments.

The scope of ISO's work

ISO has more than 17500 International Standards and other types of normative
documents in its current portfolio. ISO's work programme ranges from standards
for traditional activities, such as agriculture and construction, through mechanical
engineering, manufacturing and distribution, to transport, medical devices,
information and communication technologies, and to standards for good
management practice and for services.
Who can join ISO

Membership of ISO is open to national standards institutes most representative

of standardization in their country (one member in each country).

• Full members, known as member bodies, each have one vote, whatever
the size or strength of the economy of the country concerned.
• Correspondent members pay reduced membership fees. They are
entitled to participate in any policy or technical body as observers, with no
voting rights.
• Subscriber members also pay reduced membership fees. They are
institutes from countries with very small economies that nevertheless wish
to maintain contact with international standardization.
• Although individuals or enterprises are not eligible for membership, both
have a range of opportunities for taking part in ISO's work:

• Individuals may be selected by national member institutes to serve as

experts on national delegations participating in ISO technical
committees
• Individuals and enterprises may provide their input during the process of
developing a national consensus for presentation by the delegation. This
may done through national mirror committees to the corresponding ISO
technical committee
• International organizations and associations, both non-governmental and
representing industry sectors, can apply for liaison status to a technical
committee. They do not vote, but can participate in the debates and the
development of consensus.
Standards benefit

ISO standards provide technological, economic and societal benefits.

For businesses, the widespread adoption of International Standards means that

suppliers can develop and offer products and services meeting specifications that
have wide international acceptance in their sectors. Therefore, businesses using
International Standards can compete on many more markets around the world.

For innovators of new technologies, International Standards on aspects like

terminology, compatibility and safety speed up the dissemination of innovations
and their development into manufacturable and marketable products.

For customers, the worldwide compatibility of technology which is achieved

when products and services are based on International Standards gives them a
broad choice of offers. They also benefit from the effects of competition
among suppliers.

For governments, International Standards provide the technological and

scientific bases underpinning health, safety and environmental legislation.

For trade officials, International Standards create "a level playing field" for all
competitors on those markets. The existence of divergent national or regional
standards can create technical barriers to trade. International Standards are the
technical means by which political trade agreements can be put into practice.

For developing countries, International Standards that represent an

international consensus on the state of the art are an important source of
technological know-how. By defining the characteristics that products and
services will be expected to meet on export markets, International Standards give
developing countries a basis for making the right decisions when investing their
scarce resources and thus avoid squandering them.

For consumers, conformity of products and services to International Standards

provides assurance about their quality, safety and reliability.

For everyone, International Standards contribute to the quality of life in general

by ensuring that the transport, machinery and tools we use are safe.

For the planet we inhabit, International Standards on air, water and soil quality,
on emissions of gases and radiation and environmental aspects of products can
contribute to efforts to preserve the environment.
 ISO 9000

In 1987, the international Standard Organization (ISO) published its first standard
on ‘Quality system’ ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9002. At the same, time the
European version of quality standard EN 2900i, EN 29002. Moreover, EN 29003
were published and British standard BS 5750(part 1, 2, 3) were updated and
aligned with their equivalent foreign counterpart.

All three standards are identical. They were essentially manufacturing standard
are soon came to be applied to services as well as possible misinterpretations of
products, but the 1994 standard has resolved some of those difficulties by
redefining the products.

The structure of the ISO 9000 standard : The family of ISO 9000 standards has
been developed by ISO and it is made up of four core standards:

a) ISO 9000:2000 – Fundamentals and Vocabulary

b) ISO 9001:2000 – Quality Management Systems – Requirements

c) ISO 9004:2000 – Quality Management Systems – Guidelines for

performance improvements

d) ISO 9011: 2002 – Guidelines for quality and/or environmental management

systems auditing

The ISO 9000 series of Standard consist of two broad categories of standards
and supplementary guidance standards

Core standard: are standard in meant for internal use by organization and
provides guidance in designing and implementing a quality system so that they
can meet their market needs and achieve overall success.

Supplementary standards:

Element of ISO 9000

1. Management Responsibility. Management sets the company quality policy and

implements it by providing resources, personnel and training.
2. Quality System. A Quality System comprised of a Quality Manual and
supporting procedures is created and maintained.
3. Contract Review. Contracts reflect the customers' needs and expectations.
Products and services provided must comply with those requirements.
4. Design Control. Engineering drawings and design changes are carefully
documented to ensure that changes have been fully coordinated and approved
internally, and when appropriate, by the customer.
5. Document Control. The creation and modification of documents supporting the
Quality System is strictly controlled by ISO 9001 procedures.
6. Purchasing. Purchasing procedures describe supplier requirements and the
system for ensuring compliance to these standards.
7. Handling of Purchaser Supplied Product. Procedures detail methods of
handling and safekeeping of product supplied by the customer.
8. Product Identification and Traceability. Methods of tracking date and lot codes
of product and raw materials from start to finish guarantee traceability.
9. Process Control. Work instructions, quality plans and workmanship standards
verify that each job is being done correctly.
10. Inspection and Testing. Inspection and testing at receiving, in-process and final
inspection areas ensures quality. Test and inspection records are preserved as
part of the quality system.
11. Inspection, Measuring and Test Equipment. Instruments and measuring tools
are calibrated regularly and records maintained.
12. Inspection and Test Status. Only inspected materials may be used or
processed further. Inspected product is always identified.
13. Control of Nonconforming Product. Materials or products that fail to meet
specifications are rejected and separated from normal production. Only the
proper authorities may decide if rejected material will be used as is, reworked or
returned to the supplier.
14. Corrective Action. The corrective action system focuses on identifying the root
cause of quality concerns and any corrective action required.
15. Handling, Storage, Packaging and Delivery. Procedures outline practices that
protect products from damage during manufacturing and shipping.
16. Quality Records. Quality records provide an audit trail for internal and external
auditors.
17. Internal Quality Audits. Specially trained teams verify that the Quality System is
working by evaluating the same 20 elements required by the external auditors,
on an on-going basis.
18. Training. Training records are maintained for every employee showing their
levels of expertise.
19. Servicing. Where servicing is specified in the contract, procedures are
established to verify that servicing meets the indicated requirements.
20. Statistical Techniques. Control charts, graphs and other methods of analysis
determine how well a process is working and facilitate continuous improvement.

Steps in ISO 9000 registration

1. select the appropriate standard from ISO 90001, 9002, 9003 using guidelines in
9000
2. prepare quality manual to cover all element of selected model
3. Develop proper procedure and shop floor instruction which may be necessary for
the implementation of the quality system.
4. conduct self audit to check compliance of selected model
5. select the register and apply for certification and registration

Quality documentation

First tier: quality manual

Manual may be organized according to ISO standard it is general in nature and

moderate in length which summarizes the whole quality system in one document.
it is written in policy level and acts as an overview in quality system. It defines the
policies, objectives, organization structures and general quality practices of the
company.

Second tier: procedure

Each procedure consists of the objective of the objective and description of the
activity. the procedure describes what is to be done and by whom. And how,
when, why and where the activity is to be carried out. At the procedure level step
by step instruction for performing activities are not included.

Third tier: instruction

It consists of step by step instruction that must be followed in order to get the
particular job done. These direct the worker in a single activity and subordinate
document to procedure. Such instruction may be needed for specific tasks
processes, operation, Tests and inspection etc.

Forth tier: forms and records

It includes files, specification, code of practices, checklists, technical and legal

document and other form to recode data. All documentation of record which
demonstrates compliance of quality system requirement comes under this tier.
 Quality assurance models of ISO 9000

1. ISO 9001 model for quality assurance in design, development, production,

installation and servicing. When conformance to specified requirement is to be
assured by supplier during the various stages. It consist of 20 elements
2. ISO 9002 model for quality and assurance in production, installation and
servicing. It is used when conformance to specified requirement is to be assured
by supplier during the production and installation it consist of 18 elements.
3. ISO 9003 model for quality assurance in final inspection and test. . It is used
when conformance to specified requirement is to be assured by supplier solely at
final inspection and test it consist of 12 elements.

Advantages of ISO 9000

o access to world market

o competitive advantage
o confident of customer
o image of company
o higher productivity
o customer satisfaction
o human resource development
o job satisfaction and work participation and high moral

The impact of just-in-time implementation and ISO 9000 certification on total

quality management

In this paper, we examine the impact of just-in-time (JIT) implementation and

International Standards Organization (ISO) 9000 certification (as specified by the
original standards of the early 1990s) on quality management efforts of
manufacturing firms. Responding firms in the study were grouped into four
categories based on their ISO 9000 and JIT orientation:

1) firms that are ISO 9000 certified but have not implemented JIT (ISO firms );

2) firms that are ISO 9000 certified and have implemented JIT (ISO-JIT firms);

3) firms that have implemented JIT but are not ISO 9000 certified (JIT firms); and

4) firms that have not implemented JIT and are not ISO 9000 certified
( traditional firms).
These groups were compared along 13 plant-level total quality management
(TQM) implementation elements and five TQM outcome measures using
MANCOVA procedure. Analyses resulted in distinct sets of firms reflecting the
impact of the ISO-JIT orientation on its TQM implementation and TQM outcomes.
Results support the contingency view that a firm's ability to implement effective
TQM practices is enhanced: 1) marginally by ISO 9000 efforts; 2) significantly by
JIT implementation; and 3) most by conjoint ISO-JIT efforts (though not much
more significantly than JIT implementation alone). These insights have significant
practical implications for firms investing in JIT implementation, ISO 9000
certification, and TQM implementation. Interestingly, our study conducted in mid-
1990s and its empirical findings lend a strong support for the recent
transformation of the original ISO 9000 requirements into the current ISO
9001:2000 framework.

Quality vs. Certification

A common criticism of ISO 9001 is the amount of money, time and paperwork
required for registration. Many claim that it is only for documentation. Proponents
believe that if a company has documented its quality systems, then most of the
paperwork has already been completed.”

Many believe that, ISO 9001 promotes specification, control, and procedures
rather than understanding and improvement. Few argue that ISO 9000 is
effective as a guideline, but that promoting it as a standard "helps to mislead
companies into thinking that certification means better quality, [undermining] the
need for an organization to set its own quality standards." Paraphrased, Wade's
argument is that reliance on the specifications of ISO 9001 does not guarantee a
successful quality system.

The standard is seen as especially prone to failure when a company is interested

in certification before quality. Certifications are in fact often based on customer
contractual requirements rather than a desire to actually improve quality. "If you
just want the certificate on the wall, chances are, you will create a paper system
that doesn't have much to do with the way you actually run your business," said
ISO's Roger Frost. Certification by an independent auditor is often seen as the
problem area, and according to Barnes, "has become a vehicle to increase
consulting services." In fact, ISO itself advises that ISO 9001 can be
implemented without certification, simply for the quality benefits that can be
achieved.
Another problem reported is the competition among the numerous certifying
bodies, leading to a softer approach to the defects noticed in the operation of the
Quality System of a firm.

Abrahamson argued that fashionable management discourse such as Quality

Circles tends to follow a lifecycle in the form of a bell curve, possibly indicating a
management fad.
 ISO 14000

History of Development

The ISO 14000 series emerged primarily as a result of the Uruguay round of the
GATT negotiations and the Rio Summit on the Environment held in 1992. While
GATT concentrates on the need to reduce non-tariff barriers to trade, the Rio
Summit generated a commitment to protection of the environment across the
world. The environmental field has seen a steady growth of national and regional
standards. The British Standards Institution has BS 7750, the Canadian
Standards Association has environmental management, auditing, eco-labeling
and other standards, the European Union has all of these plus the eco-
management and audit regulations, and many other countries (e.g. USA,
Germany and Japan) have introduced eco-labeling programs.

After the rapid acceptance of ISO 9000, and the increase of environmental standards
around the world, ISO assessed the need for international environmental management
standards. They formed the Strategic Advisory Group on the Environment (SAGE) in
1991, to consider whether such standards could serve to:

o Promote a common approach to environmental management similar to quality

management;
o Enhance organizations' ability to attain and measure improvements in
environmental performance; and
o Facilitate trade and remove trade barriers.

In 1992, SAGE's recommendations created a new committee, TC 207, for international

environmental management standards. The committee, and its sub-committees include
representatives from industry, standards organizations, government and environmental
organizations from many countries. The new series of ISO14000 standards are designed
to cover:

• environmental management systems

• environmental auditing

• environmental performance evaluation

• environmental labeling

• life-cycle assessment

• environmental aspects in product standards

EVOLUTION:

What does the ISO 14000 Series cover?

The best way to answer this question is to provide a list of the proposed
standards:

Standard Title / Description

Guide to Environmental Management Principles,

14000
Systems and Supporting Techniques

Environmental Management Systems - Specification

14001
with Guidance for Use

Guidelines for Environmental Auditing - General

14010
Principles of Environmental Auditing

Guidelines for Environmental Auditing - Audit

14011 Procedures-Part 1: Auditing of Environmental
Management Systems

Guidelines for Environmental Auditing - Qualification

14012
Criteria for Environmental Auditors

Guidelines for Environmental Auditing - Audit

14013/15
Programmes, Reviews & Assessments

14020/23 Environmental Labeling

Environmental Labeling - Practitioner Programs -

14024 Guiding Principles, Practices and Certification
Procedures of Multiple Criteria Programs

14031/32 Guidelines on Environmental Performance Evaluation

 Life Cycle Assessment General Principles and
14040/43
Practices

14050 Glossary

Guide for the Inclusion of Environmental Aspects in

14060
Product Standards

Steps in certification process

Application: All certification bodies require a completed application. The

application will contain the rights and obligation of both the certification body and
the client. it will contain such rights of certification body as access to facilities and
necessary information well as liability issues. It twill contain such rights of clients
as confidentiality. The right to appeal and complain and instruction for the use of
the certification. Clients should check the conditions for terminating the
application. Most applications can be terminated with in 30 days written notice.

Document: once the application is completed and basic information on the

organization size, scope of operation and desired time frame for certification
have been determined the certification body will ask the company to submit
documentation on its environmental management system some certification
bodies perform this document review at the site itself. However, most perform the
review at their own offices, saving travel costs and expenses as well as the time
required to host the auditor.

Pre assessment: which most certification bodies recommend that a pre

assessment review be conducted, some require it. Some bodies use the term pre
assessment to mean complete statues of an operation. Other use the term to
refer to a broad overview of company’s operations to determine its initial
preparedness for a full assessment and to help in audit planning.

Assessment: after pre assessment, or after it has been determined that the
company’s documentation EMS conforms to the requirements of the ISO 14001
standard, a full assessment is conduct. A typical assessment in values two or
three auditors who spend two to four days at a site.
Certification: there are three possible results of an assessment:
Approval a company will probably be certified if it has implement all the element
of ISO 14001 with only minor non conformity detected during an assessment.

Conditional or provisional approval:

A company will probably be conditionally or provisionally approve if:

• It has addressed all the element of the standard and has documented but
perhaps not fully implemented systems or

• Considerable non conformity is detected in a particular area, showing

negative trends.

Conditional approval requires the company to respect to any instance of non

conformity notes during the time defined by the certification body. The
certification body, choose the perform a re-evaluation of accept the corrective
action in writing and review the implementation in conjunction with subsequent
surveillance visits.

Disapproval: it usually occurs when company’s system is either very well

documented but has not been implemented or when basic elements of the
standard such as auditing, corrective action, or process control have not been
addressed at all.

Why ISO Certification?

Regulatory concerns some company are implementing iso 14001 because this
might be regulatory requirement in certain product sectors for entering a
particular market such as European Union.

Contractual requirement customer is beginning to realize that suppliers should

be certified as a contractual requirement.

Internal improvement: another reason to seek iso 14001 Implementation is due

to a belief in the process itself. Companies that have implemented the standard
or a similar EMS have often discovered an improvement in productivity, reduction
of waste, pre emptor regulatory conflict, reduced paper work and other
deficiencies.

Legal cancers: legal concerns also are likely to encourage certification some
companies may register and EMS. At least in part for the role, certification may
play in environmental liability defense.
The marketplace: one of the greatest drives for ISO 14001 certifications market
pressure. Companies already are implementing iso

Auditing Quality system

The ISO 9000 and 14000 have auditing sections, giving detailed requirements for
audit of quality and environment standards. There is also ISO 10,000 series of
standards for auditing quality management systems to audit ISO 9000 which ISO
14000 has audit series to audit 14000 systems.

General Description of ISO14001

ISO14001 requires an Environmental Policy to be in existence within the

organisation, fully supported by senior management, and outlining the policies of
the company, not only to the staff but to the public. The policy needs to clarify
compliance with Environmental Legislation that may effect the organization and
stress a commitment to continuous improvement. Emphasis has been placed on
policy as this provides the direction for the remainder of the Management
System.

Those companies who have witnessed ISO9000 Assessments will know that the
policy is frequently discussed during the assessment, many staff are asked if
they understand or are aware of the policy, and any problems associated with the
policy are seldom serious. The Environmental Policy is different, this provides the
initial foundation and direction for the Management System and will be more
stringently reviewed than a similar ISO9000 policy. The statement must be
publicised in non-technical language so that it can be understood by the majority
of readers. It should relate to the sites within the organisation encompassed by
the Management System, it should provide an overview of the company’s
activities on the site and a description of those activities. A clear picture of the
company’s operations.

The preparatory review and definition of the organization's environmental effects

is not part of a ISO14001 Assessment, however examination of this data will
provide an external audit with a wealth of information on the methods adopted by
the company. The preparatory review itself should be comprehensive in
consideration of input processes and output at the site. This review should be
designed to identify all relevant environmental aspects that may arise from
existence on the site. These may relate to current operations, they may relate to
future, perhaps even unplanned future activities, and they will certainly relate to
the activities performed on site in the past (i.e. contamination of land).
The initial or preparatory review will also include a wide-ranging consideration of
the legislation which may effect the site, whether it is currently being complied
with, and perhaps even whether copies of the legislation are available. Many of
the environmental assessments undertaken already have highlighted that
companies are often unaware of ALL of the legislation that affects them, and
being unaware, are often not meeting the requirements of that legislation.

The company will declare its primary environmental objectives, those that can
have most environmental impact. In order to gain most benefit these will become
the primary areas of consideration within the improvement process, and the
company’s environmental program. The program will be the plan to achieve
specific goals or targets along the route to a specific goal and describe the
means to reach those objectives such that they are real and achievable. The
Environmental Management System provides further detail on the environmental
program. The EMS establishes procedures, work instructions and controls to
ensure that implementation of the policy and achievement of the targets can
become a reality. Communication is a vital factor, enabling people in the
organisation to be aware of their responsibilities, aware of the objectives of the
scheme, and able to contribute to its success.

As with ISO9000 the Environmental Management System requires a planned

comprehensive periodic audit of the Environmental Management System to
ensure that it is effective in operation, is meeting specified goals, and the system
continues to perform in accordance with relevant regulations and standards. The
audits are designed to provide additional information in order to exercise effective
management of the system, providing information on practices which differ to the
current procedures or offer an opportunity for improvement.

In addition to audit, there is a requirement for Management Review of the system

to ensure that it is suitable (for the organization and the objectives) and effective
in operation. The management review is the ideal forum to make decisions on
how to improve for the future.

How can one prepare for ISO 14001

Subscribe to voluntary initiatives on environmental management. Focus on

current environmental management systems and work to improve them. Because
there are many parallels between the two series, companies interested in
preparing for the release of ISO 14001 should be familiar with ISO 9000.

Design an environmental management system to conform to the ISO 14001 draft

and integrate the system to your ISO 9000 framework as much as possible. One
may need to perform an audit assessment of the current EMS. This should help
you to avoid having to revise and rework your EMS.

Develop an environmental auditing program or revise EA program. Then follow

internal process to evaluate environmental performance and communicate that
outside and inside the company. Review the environmental standard definition.
Decide how one will integrate life cycle thinking into management system. Keep
an eye on publication that is current and credible. Benefit could be incalculable.

Some important issue:

How much does certification cost?

The cost of certification varies according to the size of the company and the
environmental system, it has in place. There are many costs with associated with
certification, the first of which is related to actually developing and implementing
the environmental management system. A company may elect to use only use
internal resources to implement the system the, rely completely on services of an
outside consultant, or to combine the two approaches.

Can one self-audit or third party auditing necessary?

Both third party certification and self declaration or acceptable for ISO 14001,
depending on the need of the company

Are there any certified ISO 14001 courses?

There is environmental auditor registration association (EARA) a UK organization

has established accreditation criteria for five EMS courses level.

1. Introduction to EMS

2. Foundation course in environmental auditing

3. Advanced EMS auditing course (Generic ) syllabus

4. Advanced EMS auditing course for quality professional, And

5. Advanced EMS auditing course for Environmental professionals.

Are there any certified ISO 140001 courses.

Certification bodies are accredited usually by quasi governmental organization.
Two examples are the read voor De Certificate (the Dutch council for
certification) in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom accreditation Service
(UKS), formerly the National Accreditation Council for certification bodies
(NACCB) .As of September 1995, RVC had accredited 6 companies to offer BS
7750 certification. UKAS has accredited 12 companies. They both have indicated
once that standard becomes final. As of that date, no US accreditation board
environment auditing round table and American national standards
institute.(ANSI).

The certifiers are evaluated according to standard. Each national unit establishes
criteria for accrediting certification bodies and appoints an accreditation body and
that the named certification bodies and appoints and accreditation body for
ensuring that he accrediting process is followed and that the named certification
bodies meet the criteria adopted. In the United State, for example, and ad hoc
group called the Standards Conformance and Registration Advisory
Group(SCRAG) developed criteria for qualifying a US ISO 14000 accreditor,
company certification bodies auditor certifiers and approvers. However SRAD
has since been disbanded and its work is being taken up by ANSI.

Relationship between ISO 9000 and ISO 14000

ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 are known as generic management system standards
because they are not specific to a particular product, resource, or process. They
refer to families of standards consisting of management systems and related
supporting tools that can be applied equally to private industry and public sector
organizations of any size, that offer any product, activity, or service. The
standards provide an organization with a model for setting up and operating a
management system

Some of the concept iso 14001 is similar to iso 9001 including requirement for
policy statement, top management commitment, document control, training,
corrective actions management review and continual improvement.

ISO 9000 is concerned with quality management and meeting customer quality
requirements, achieving control of processes, and encouraging continuous
improvement while ISO 14000 is concerned with environmental management.
Both standards outline a solid, traditional management approach. The ISO 14001
standard uses the same fundamental systems as ISO 9000 such as document
control, management system auditing, operational controls, recordkeeping
controls, management policies, audits, training, and corrective and preventive
actions. ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 require senior management support and
 commitment for success, and require organizations to have a system for
establishing and reviewing objectives and targets, whether they be quality or
environmentally related. Both require organizations to provide on-going
management review of the management system and its objectives.

Some ISO 9000 quality management processes can be referenced for an ISO
14001 EMS to avoid duplication of efforts. In fact, the ISO technical committee
(TC 207) purposely developed the newer ISO 14000 standards to be in
conformance with the basic philosophy and structure of the previously issued
ISO 9000 standards. For those implementing an ISO 14001 EMS, previous
experience with ISO 9000 will be of great value. The many similarities between
ISO 9000 and ISO 14001 philosophies suggest that one fully integrated
management system for all business and operational activities is most effective.
An ISO 14001 EMS can be developed separately and integrated with ISO 9000
in the future, or can be overlaid within the existing ISO 9001 quality management
system. Integrating ISO 14001 with ISO 9000 will increase the efficiency and
reduce the time and costs necessary for full implementation.

Differences Between ISO 9000 and ISO 14000

While there are some overlaps and similarities in the requirements for the two
standards, there are also differences. The ISO 9000 standards have been developed
specifically to address customer requirements and expectations regarding product
quality. ISO 9001 sets out the requirements for organizations whose business
processes range from design and development, to production, installation and
servicing. ISO 9002 is applicable for organizations that are not involved with design
and development. ISO 9003 is the appropriate standard for organizations whose
business processes do not include design control, process control, purchasing or
servicing, but rather use inspection and testing to ensure that final products and
services meet specified requirements. With ISO 14000, organizations respond to
much more than just customer requirements. Multiple external stakeholders who
influence the environmental aspects of an organization often must be satisfied.
Examples of external stakeholders under ISO 14000 include: Federal, State and local
regulators; the surrounding community; and special interest groups.

ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 Compatibility

Because of the close relationship between ISO 9000 and ISO 14000, ISO
commissioned a year-long study to investigate the compatibility between the two
standards. Technical advisory group 12 (TAG 12) was established to investigate how
a better interface can be achieved for users who wish to implement both standards
TAG 12 recommended the following actions to enhance standards compatibility:

• Relevant terms and definitions should be identical, and there should be consistent
use of terminology in both families of standards;

• Management system standards in the two families should be compatible and, as far
as possible, aligned; and

• Auditing standards in the two families should be integrated to consist of a common

core document with separate modules on quality and the environment.

The TAG 12 recommendations highlight the importance ISO places on coordinated

development among the standards. Results of ISO implementation of the
recommendations should be visible when the next revisions to the standards are
published; a deadline has been set for 2000/2001. TAG 12 also suggested that ISO
work closely with accreditors and certifiers to ensure transition to the revised
documents is as smooth as possible.

Implementing of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 Standards:

A single approach can be implemented for both of them. It can be split into two
parts, the initial steps and implementation program.
Initial steps
• Familiarization with the standards: procure the standards national
standard agencies which are member of ISO and these should be studied
by quality manger and the environment manager.

• Appraising the situation: it is advisable to consult the floor worker /

enquiry to get some feel of the various quality issues, initial review should
be carried on four arrears:

• Legal requirement

• understanding of the organization operational effect on the environment

• the review of audit of existing practice

• a review of history
 1. The proposal: a propel paper with outline plans of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000
will be needed to be put up to the top management.

2. Obtaining commitment of the top management: what is needed at this stage

is commitment to perform and an IER as rest is likely to follow. There is also
requirement of preliminary audit/review.

The proposal can be made covering the following aspects.

• Background

• What it means for the company

• Relationship with ISO 9000

• What are environmental issues

• How good or bad company appears to be

• The need for a preparatory review and auditory review

Action plan: An action plan of either standard could read as follows:

• Explanation

• List of initial steps to be taken

• Outline of all steps to certification

• Approximate time and resources

Implementation program

1. policy and commitment

2. detailed plan

3. organization

4. initial review

5. Implementation phase.