ANSI-RAB National Accreditation Board (ANAB) and QSU Publishing Co. will conduct a detailed survey that will examine the costs, benefits and savings associated with registration to ISO 14001. The fourth in a series of surveys conducted by QSUP and Quality Systems Update since 1993, the survey will be the first to examine ISO 14001 registration. Robert H. King Jr., ANAB president, reports that the goal of the survey is to determine the value of formal environmental management systems, particularly ISO 14001, to a company’s bottom line. Although there is substantial anecdotal evidence that IS0 14001 registrations produce returns on investments, there’s little empirical data to back it up, King says.

“There are lots of reasons to put an ISO 14001 system in place,” he says. “It helps from an environmental standpoint, and if it’s properly put in place and used with management support, it’s our belief that it will have a positive effect on the bottom line. I think the survey will give us a real broad-based industry perspective.”

ANAB and QSUP will fund the project through a combination of advance sales, corporate sponsorships, grants and other potential sources. The survey will be aimed at organizations in the United States and possibly other countries.

 …