ISO 14001:2015
Environmental Performance Evaluation (ISO 14001 Clause 9.1)
How to measure, monitor, analyze, and evaluate your environmental performance.
Introduction
You can’t manage what you don’t measure. ISO 14001 requires you to determine what needs to be monitored and measured to evaluate your environmental performance.
What to Measure?
Focus on your Significant Environmental Aspects and Compliance Obligations.
- Operational Controls: Is the scrubber working? Is the waste stored correctly?
- Emissions: Concentration of pollutants in exhaust.
- Resource Use: Electricity (kWh), Water (m3), Gas (m3).
- Waste: Tons of landfill vs. tons recycled.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Good KPIs help you track progress towards objectives.
- Absolute: Total energy used (kWh).
- Relative: Energy per unit of production (kWh/widget). Relative indicators are often better because they account for changes in production volume.
Calibrated Equipment
If you use equipment to measure environmental data (e.g., pH meter, noise meter, flow meter), it must be calibrated or verified to ensure the data is reliable.
Evaluation
Don’t just collect data. Analyze it.
- Are we meeting our objectives?
- Are we compliant with the law?
- Are there trends indicating a problem?