The Verification/Certification Process

Environmental Management Systems (EMS)
Level 5

Introduction

Unit 7
The Verification/Certification Process

Certification is where external, or third party, auditors check and verify that the EMS meets certain requirements. The benefits of becoming certified to ISO 14001 or registered to EMAS, is that a company

Has proof that it has an effectively functioning EMS. Without certification, companies can only make claims.

The regular external audits (surveillance visits) are an incentive to keep improving environmental performance.

Companies have experienced many benefits such as improved markets and better relationships with regulators.

The decision to go for certification must be made by each company depending on what it wants out of the EMS. Simply going for certification is not necessarily a good thing. Organisations that focus too much of attaining the certificate are likely to miss out on the real benefits that an EMS can help deliver. Chasing certification for its own sake is really missing the point, as areas such as innovative management, cleaner production, enhanced project control and so on, can all fall by the wayside, resulting in missed opportunities for the company".

Quote from Mathias Gelber in the IEM Journal, Volume 5, Issue 4, Oct 1998. Mathias Gelber, independent EMS consultant who sits on the ISO Environmental Management Committee, TC 207.