Quality Standards Update
by Paul Scicchitano
Walk, Don't Run to Registration
No one is clamoring for their suppliers
to seek ISO 14001 registration, at
least not in the United States.
Unless you've been doing business on the ringed planet for the past couple
of years, you probably are familiar with ISO 9000 by now.
There are more than 120,000 third-party registration certificates to the
international quality assurance requirements throughout the world, 11,000
of which are in the United States alone. About 100 countries have logged
certificates-from as far away as Iran, Zaire and Australia, according to
a recently released survey by Mobil Europe Ltd.
Few would argue that ISO 9000 registration is anything short of a phenomenon.
For many companies, both large and small, the requirements have brought
the first taste of a comprehensive quality approach to management. This
may explain ISO 9000's growing stature among purchasers and its distinction
as the best-selling set of standards in the history of the Geneva-based
International Organization for Standardization.
ISO recently published what many experts are heralding as the follow-up
to ISO 9000-the long-awaited ISO 14001 standard for environmental management
systems and a companion guidance document, ISO 14004.
Comparisons between the quality and environmental standards will be inevitable.
The major difference, according to some experts, is that ISO 14001 is based
on the Deming cycle, also called the plan-do-check-act, which is an improvement
cycle. ISO 9001, by contrast, deals with key processes that do not necessarily
constitute an improvement cycle.
ISO 14001 nevertheless shares common management system principles with ISO
9001, requiring companies to have a general policy providing the framework
for setting and reviewing environmental objectives and targets. Like ISO
9001, it also requires companies to perform a management review and have
procedures in place to address corrective and preventive actions and training.
Done properly, an environmental management system based on ISO 14001 will
provide assurances that companies comply with all relevant laws and regulations,
including prevention of pollution, and that they have a management system
to achieve their objectives and targets with respect to environmental management.
The system must be structured in such a way as to facilitate improvement.
If you haven't surmised already, there's one other big similarity to ISO
9000: Your company can get registered to it.
This, of course, comes as no small delight to firms whose fortunes rise
and fall on the number of management system audits they perform. Many of
the firms providing ISO 9000 registration services in the United States
also are expanding into the ISO 14000 arena. The same holds true for the
legions of ISO 9000 consultants and training organizations.
Many experts believe the publication of the environmental standards marks
the beginning of the next great management wave after ISO 9000. In my opinion,
it probably will take some time in the United States for companies to be
able to make a business case for registration of their environmental management
systems. There does not yet appear to be a strong business reason to seek
registration at the present time.
No one is clamoring for their suppliers to seek ISO 14001 registration,
at least not in the United States. And the Environmental Protection Agency
shows little inclination toward endorsing the concept of ISO 14001 registration
any time soon. It is far more likely that the EPA will continue to incorporate
ISO 14001 in its myriad of voluntary programs, and possibly even into some
of its criminal enforcement activities, says Mary C. McKiel, who is responsible
for coordinating EPA activities with respect to the ISO 14000 standards.
The private sector also appears to be noncommittal to ISO 14001 registration
at the present time. A recent survey of all ISO 9000 registrars operating
in North America finds that the overwhelming majority of firms estimate
less than 40 percent of their registered clients will seek registration
to ISO 14001.
Companies in other countries appear to be pursuing registration in greater
numbers. Regulators in a number of countries are expected to reference ISO
14001 in some fashion, either in environmental regulations or as an alternative
demonstration of conformance to environmental regulations.
One issue that will concern U.S. companies is the legal implications of
an ISO 14001 audit. Registrars appear to be in general agreement that regulatory
violations discovered during an ISO 14001 audit should be reported to the
client's management. But some registrars also say they can foresee circumstances
in which the findings of an ISO 14001 audit may be made public.
The best advice I've heard so far: Implement the principles of ISO 14000,
but hold off on registration until there's a clear benefit to doing so.
About the author
Paul Scicchitano is managing editor of Quality Systems Update and QSU's
Environmental Management Report, monthly newsletters devoted to ISO 9000,
QS-9000 and ISO 14000, published by Irwin Professional Publishing, 11150
Main St., Suite 403, Fairfax, VA 22030; telephone (703) 591-9008; fax (703)
591-0971; e-mail: isoeditor@aol.com.
