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ISO 14001:2004 vs. ISO 14001:2015

1. General Changes at the second Committee Draft Stage

The new standard:

Adopts high-level structure and terminology of Annex SL, a unified

guideline used for the development of all new ISO standards

Has been redrafted to increase clarity and accessibility, reducing room

for interpretation

Introduces two new clauses relating to the context of the

organization, which require the organization to determine the issues

and requirements that can impact on the planning of the quality

management system and can be used as an input into the

development of the quality management system. These clauses can

be found in sections 4.1 and 4.2.

Makes the adoption of a process approach in the implementation of a

quality management system more explicit, by including clause 4.4.2,

which specifies the requirements for the adoption of a process

approach

Replaces the term products by goods and services, in order to

remove the existing bias towards organizations dealing with physical

products. As a result, the new standard will be applicable for

organizations of any kind.

Does not contain a clause with specific requirements for preventive

action. ISO motivates this decision by arguing that prevention is the

task of the quality management system in its entirety, as opposed to a

specific subsection of it.

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2. Structural changes

Note: The new clauses in Section 4 require the organization to determine the issues and

requirements that can impact on the planning of the quality management system and can be used as

an input into the development of the quality system.

2004 2015

0. Introduction 0. Introduction

1. Scope 1. Scope

2. Normative references 2. Normative references

3. Terms and definitions 3. Terms and definitions

4. Environmental Management System 4. Context of the organization

4.1. Understanding the organization and

its context

4.2.

Understanding the needs and

expectations of interested parties

4.1. General requirements 4.3.

Determining the scope of the quality

management system

4.4. Quality Management System

10.2. Continual Improvement

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4.2. Environmental Policy 5.2. Environmental Policy

4.3. Planning 6. Planning

6.1. Actions to address risks and

opportunities

6.1.1. General

4.3.1. Environmental aspects 6.1.2.

Identification of environmental

hazards

6.1.4

Determining significant

environmental aspects and

organizational risks and

opportunities

4.3.2. Legal and other requirements 6.1.3 Determination of compliance

obligations

4.3.3. Objectives, targets and

programme(s) 6.2.

Environmental objectives and

planning to achieve them

6.2.1 Environmental objectives

6.2.2. Planning to achieve objectives

4.4. Implementation and operation (title

only)

7. Support (title only)

8. Operation (title only)

5. Leadership (title only)

4.4.1. Resources, roles, responsibility and

authority

7.1. Resources

5.3. Organizational roles, responsibilities

and authorities

5.1. Leadership and commitment

4.4.2. Competence, training and awareness 7.2. Competence

7.3. Awareness

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4.4.3. Communication 7.4. Communication (title only)

7.4.1. General

7.4.2. Internal communication

7.4.3. External communication and

reporting

4.4.4. Documentation 7.5. Documented information (title only)

7.5.1. General

4.4.5. Control of documentation 7.5.2. Creating and updating

7.5.3. Control of documented information

4.4.6. Operational control 8.1. Operational planning and control

8.2. Value chain control

4.4.7. Emergency preparedness and

response 8.3.

Emergency preparedness and

response

4.5. Checking (title only) 9. Performance evaluation (title only)

4.5.1. Monitoring and measurement 9.1.

Monitoring, measurement, analysis

and evaluation (title only)

9.1.1. General

4.5.2. Evaluation of compliance 9.1.2. Evaluation of compliance

4.5.3. Nonconformity, corrective action and

preventive action 10.1. Nonconformity and corrective action

4.5.4. Control of records 7.5.3. Control of documented information

4.5.5. Internal audit 9.2. Internal audit

4.6. Management review 9.3. Management review

10. Improvement (title only)

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The PDCA model in the structure of ISO 14001:2015

Just like the previous version of ISO 14001, the standard is

based upon the Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) cycle. This

model is clearly reflected in the structure of the standard, as

shown below. During the Planning phase, organizations

develop a systematic understanding of their impact upon the

environment and the expectations of the various stakeholders

in this regard, and they establish the objectives and processes

necessary to deliver results in accordance with the

organizations environmental policy. The Do-phase is the point at which organizations implement

these processes. During the Check-phase, organizations are required to monitor, measure and report

the results, and to verify whether the planned objectives have been met. From this evaluation,

further measures can be derived to improve results even further, which can be implemented in the

so-called Act-phase.

4. Context of the organization

4.1. Understanding the organization and its context

4.2. Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties

4.3. Determining the scope of the environmental management system

4.4. Environmental management system

5. Leadership

5.1. Leadership and commitment

5.2. Policy

5.3. Organizational roles, responsibilities and authorities

6. Planning

6.1. Actions to address risks and opportunities

6.1.1. General

6.1.2. Identification of environmental aspects

PLAN

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6.1.3. Determination of compliance obligations

6.1.4. Determining significant environmental aspects and organizational risks and opportunities

6.1.5 Planning to take action

6.2. Environmental objectives and planning to achieve them

6.2.1. Environmental objectives

6.2.2 Planning to achieve objectives

7. Support

7.1. Resources

7.2. Competence

7.3. Awareness

7.4. Communication

7.4.1. General

7.4.2. Internal communication

7.4.3. External communication and reporting

7.5. Documented Information

7.5.1. General

7.5.2. Creating and updating

7.5.3 Control of documented information

8. Operation

8.1. Operational planning and control

8.2. Value Chain planning and control

8.3. Emergency preparedness and response

9. Performance evaluation

9.1. Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation

DO

CHECK

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9.1.1. General

9.1.2. Evaluation of compliance

9.2. Internal Audit

9.3. Management review

10. Improvement

10.1. Nonconformity and corrective action

10.2. Continual Improvment

ACT