ISO 14001 2004 Environmental Management Definitions

		ISO 14001 DEFINITIONS
	Continual improvement	The term Continual improvement refers to an ongoing process of performance enhancement. In the context of this environmental standard, it means that you need to enhance your organization’s overall environmental performance by enhancing its environmental management system and by improving its ability to manage the environmental aspects of its activities, products, and services. Continual improvements can be achieved by carrying out internal audits, performing management reviews, analyzing data, and implementing corrective and preventive actions.
	Corrective actions	Corrective actions are steps that are taken to remove the causes of an existing nonconformity. Corrective actions address actual problems. In general, the corrective action process can be thought of as a problem solving process.
	Document	When information is placed on a medium it becomes a document. In this context, the term medium usually refers to paper. But it can also refer to electronic, magnetic, or optical disks. A set of documents is often referred to as documentation.
	Environment	The term environment refers to an organization’s natural and human surroundings. An organization’s environment extends from within the organization itself to the global system, and includes air, water, land, flora, fauna, as well as human beings.
	Environmental aspect	If an activity, product, or service interacts with the environment, it has an environmental aspect. But what exactly is an environmental aspect? An environmental aspect is a feature or characteristic of an activity, product, or service that affects or can affect the environment. In order to identify your environmental aspects you need to study how your organization’s activities, products, and services affect the environment. For each type of activity, product, or service you need to list your unique environmental aspects. However, you don’t have to worry about every environmental aspect. You only have to work on the most significant environmental aspects–those that have or could have a significant environmental impact. Furthermore, you do not have to work on all significant aspects, only those that you can actually influence or control.
	Environmental impact	An environmental impact is a change to the environment. Such change can be positive or negative. Environmental impacts are caused by environmental aspects. Your environmental aspects can have a direct and decisive impact on the environment or contribute only partially or indirectly to a larger environmental change.
	Environmental management system (EMS)	An organization’s environmental management system (EMS) is one part of a larger management system. The EMS part of this larger management system is used to establish an environmental policy and to manage the environmental aspects of an organization’s activities, products, and services. A management system is a network of interrelated elements. Elements include responsibilities, authorities, relationships, functions, processes, procedures, practices, and resources. A management system uses these elements to establish policies and objectives and to develop ways of applying these policies and achieving these objectives.
	Environmental objective	An environmental objective is a specific environmental goal. Your organization’s environmental objectives must be consistent with its environmental policy.
	Environmental performance	Environmental performance is all about how well an organization manages the environmental aspects of its activities, products, and services and the impact they have on the environment. Your organization’s environmental performance can be improved by reducing its negative environmental impact or increasing its positive environmental impact. In order to be able to determine how well environmental aspects are being managed, environmental performance should be measurable. You can measure your overall environmental performance by comparing your environmental management achievements against your environmental policy, objectives, targets, or any other suitable environmental performance requirements.
	Environmental policy	An environmental policy statement expresses a commitment to the implementation and maintenance of an organization’s environmental management system and the improvement of its overall environmental performance. An environmental policy should also emphasize the need to prevent pollution and to comply with all relevant legal and other requirements. In general, an environmental policy should be used to generate environmental objectives and targets, and should act as a general framework for action.
	Environmental target	An environmental target is a detailed performance requirement. Environmental targets are derived from environmental objectives and are used to achieve these objectives. Targets can apply to specific areas or to the organization as a whole.
	Interested party	An interested party is a person or group that has a stake in the environmental performance of an organization. Interested parties may be directly affected by the organization or actively concerned with its environmental performance.
	Internal audit	In the context of this standard, an internal audit is a systematic evidence gathering process that is carried out in order to evaluate how well an environmental management system meets a set of audit criteria established by your organization. Internal audits must be independent, objective, and impartial. According to section 4.5.5 of this standard, your internal audits should determine whether your environmental management system complies with the ISO 14001 standard and other planned arrangements. In addition, section 4.5.5 expects you to determine whether your environmental management system is properly implemented and maintained.
	Management system	A management system is a network of interrelated elements. Elements include responsibilities, authorities, relationships, activities, functions, processes, practices, procedures, and resources. A management system uses these elements to establish policies and objectives and to develop ways of applying these policies and achieving these objectives.
	Preventive action	Preventive actions are steps that are taken to remove the causes of potential nonconformities—ones that haven't yet occurred. In general, the preventive action process can be thought of as a risk analysis process.
	Prevention of pollution	To prevent pollution means to avoid, reduce, or control the creation, emission, or discharge of contaminants or waste materials. Pollution must be prevented in order to reduce adverse environmental impacts. Organizations use a wide variety of methods, techniques, practices, processes, products, and services to prevent pollution. These include the reduction or elimination of pollution at the source; the efficient use of resources, materials, and energy; the reuse, recovery, reclamation, and recycling of resources; the redesign of processes, products, and services; and the substitution of one type of energy source or substance for another cleaner energy source or substance.
	Procedure	A procedure is a way of carrying out a process or an activity. According to section 3.19, you do not have to document your procedures unless ISO 14001 2004 explicitly says you must do so. A documented procedure describes and controls a logically distinct process or activity, including the associated inputs and outputs. Documented procedures can be very general or very detailed, or anywhere in between. While a general procedure could take the form of a simple flow diagram, a detailed procedure could be a one page form or it could be several pages of text. A detailed documented procedure defines and controls the work that should be done, and explains how it should be done, who should do it, and under what circumstances. In addition, it often explains what authority and what responsibility has been allocated, which supplies and materials should be used, and which documents and records must be used to carry out the work.
	Record	A record is a document that contains objective evidence which shows how well activities are being performed or what kind of results are being achieved. It always documents what has happened in the past.

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