Developing an Efficient ISO 14001 Audit Checklist
ISO 14001 was developed to help organisations implement an efficient Environmental Management System (EMS) and decrease their negative impact on the environment. ISO 14001 is defined in a way that it can be applied to a range of different industries, whether that being hi-tech, automotive, aerospace, life sciences, consumer packaged goods or construction amongst many others. Any organisation that wants to increase resource efficiency, decrease waste, and drive down costs can use this standard.
An ISO 14001 audit checklist acts as a reference when auditing an ISO 14001 certified Environmental Management System (EMS) within an organisation.
ISO 14001 Audit
The ISO 14001 audit consists of an independent, organised, impartial assessment of an organisation, to validate if they are compliant with ISO 14001 and their internal processes and procedures. During an EMS audit, an ISO 14001 audit checklist is used to validate if an organisation or function is compliant. The checklist will consist of questions to ask during the audit; however, it can be deviated from if an issue is found where additional investigation is needed.
Developing an Efficient ISO 14001 Audit Checklist
The first component of an ISO 14001 internal audit checklist is evaluating the context of the organisation. It relates to assessing an organisation’s understanding of the internal and external issues affecting their ability to provide their products and services.
It is additionally essential for them to know the statutory and regulatory requirements related to the activities of the organisation.
This information creates the foundation for establishing environmental objectives. As an auditor, it might be worth investigating how the organisation has covered these elements and how they have used it to define objectives to continually improve their Environmental Management System.
The second element to consider when developing an effective ISO 14001 audit checklist, is how to evaluate the commitment of the senior leadership team in relation to the environmental management system. The auditor needs to assess the capability of the leadership team in delivering direction and means for the implementation and continual improvement of the Environmental Management System. Additionally, the auditor must evaluate the leadership communication related to the EMS both internally as well as externally.
The third element in this checklist is planning since an EMS cannot be realised or preserved effectively without proper planning. The auditor should try to find the presence of a well-prepared system for evaluating the effectiveness of the EMS. Likewise, the auditors should also check for plans in order to review the environmental management system as required. Furthermore, the auditor should look for plans designed to cope with emergencies and ensure that the organisation’s personnel are aware of them.
Fourth component ‘Support’ is critical, as it makes certain that the EMS has the required means and resources. At this point, here the main step is to decide what resources are necessary. This takes account of things such as workforce, monetary resources and equipment.
The fifth component of the audit checklist is related to operations. Some of the key elements to cover here are how the organisation has defined the lifecycle of their product or services and how that has been linked to their Environmental Aspects and Impacts Register and objectives.
Next element of an efficient ISO 14001 audit checklist is covering performance evaluation. To adhere to this element, organisations must demonstrate that their environmental performance is being observed, measured and analysed. The basic objective of this component is to support organisations in classifying any areas of improvement within the context of their EMS.
Conclusion
There are a lot of different approaches to how to conduct an audit, where to start and what works best for auditors to identify issues and weak links within a function. However, whatever the approach you take, a checklist is always beneficial to have as a reference during the audit.
If you need to develop a checklist for an internal audit of an EMS, then our Internal Audit Checklist ISO 14001 might be of interest to you.
Alternatively, if you are looking for documentation for a full management system, then you might be more interested in our Management System Packages which include a range of documents at a cost-effective price.
