Environmental Management Systems

Comparison between EMAS and ISO 14001

BS 7750 has become an element of historical reference through the issuance of ISO 14001. At present, the environmental management systems employed and acknowledged at European and international levels are based either on the Eco-Audit (EMAS) regulations or on the ISO 14001 norms. There are many similarities and differences between the 2 reference norms. We will briefly present them in the following table and chart.

Differences between ISO 14001 and EMAS
	ISO 14001	EMAS
Applicability	Worldwide	EU countries
Label	ISO 14001 certification (according to the standard)	“Eco-Audit” verification Adherence to the “Eco-Audit” norms
Objective	Continuous improvement of the management system	Continuous improvement of environmental performances (impacts)
External communication	Environmental policy	Environmental public reports
Applicable activities	All types of activities: industries, services, etc.	Industry
Scope	Entire organization	Industrial production area
Environmental initial analysis	Optional (not specifically required by the standard)	Compulsory. The environmental impact assessment is required in Appendix 1D.
Environmental audit	Auditing cycle (not mentioned in the standard)	The system auditing cycle covers 3 years.
Environmental Management System	Control of the documentation system Documentation system	Communication with the authorities

Evolution towards complex management systems: Hygiene-Security-Environment (HSE)

The principle of “continuous improvement of managerial performances” based on the “Deming circles” is applicable to all management systems. Its “parents” E. Deming and J. Juran conceptualized all data based on 4 successive stages (Plan-Do-Check-Act) capable of generating and maintaining an evolving spiral for any type of management systems. This kind of constructive flexibility allows the integration of several related systems into a unique structure. This is the case of the domains recently accepted as part of the managerial equation: quality, environment, hygiene and security.

Causes for the development of HSE systems

Starting with 1997, international financial organizations such as EBRD, World Bank, etc. have begun to require in their Terms of Reference that environmental audits also take into consideration the hygiene and security issues. Thus, they require audits of the HSE type whose results are employed in their decision-making processes related to loan grants, transfers of assets, etc.

During the past few years, a very paradoxical situation has occurred in the countries that pay great attention to environmental protection issues. Some companies are not only choosing to implement management systems whose development is not compulsory, they even go beyond in trying to implement complex systems for whose integral certification a regulatory framework has not been developed yet. It is the task of consulting companies to find appropriate solutions to solve this dead end.

One could wonder why things have developed in this direction. The answer comes straightforward: due to the potential issues at stake in the economic competition worldwide, which do not take into account the geographical barriers.

Compliant performance

This could be the slogan. But using what kind of tools?

Managerial excellence and clairvoyance.

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