MorganHill helps organizations implement scalable, practical, real-world continual improvement measures as required by ISO 14001.  An organization’s Environmental Management System (EMS) can be complex, layered with numerous processes, therefore, applying continual improvement measures can seem challenging, even daunting. Add to the fact that organizations differ greatly in terms of products and services throughout the massively large environmental sector, continual improvement can vary greatly in terms of complexity, execution, duration, and deliverables.

Per ISO 14001:2015, A.10.3, “Continual improvement -  The rate, extent and timescale of actions that support continual improvement are determined by  the organization. Environmental performance can be enhanced by applying the environmental  management system as a whole or improving one or more of its elements.”

Start with PDCA for Continual Improvement

The best avenue for developing continual improvement measures is adopting the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA).

• Plan: establish environmental objectives and processes necessary to deliver results in accordance  with the organization’s environmental policy.
  
  
• Do: implement the processes as planned.
  
  
• Check: monitor and measure processes against the environmental policy, including its commitments, environmental objectives and operating criteria, and report the results.
  
  
• Act: take actions to continually improve.

Industry Leading Continual Improvement Strategies

Examples of real-world measures that MorganHill has assisted organizations with in terms of meeting the requirements of ISO 14001 Section 10.3 for continual improvement:

• Environmental Performance Tracking: Establish a system to regularly monitor and track key environmental performance indicators (e.g., energy consumption, waste generation, water usage) to identify trends and areas for improvement.

• Regular Auditing and Compliance Checks: Conduct regular internal environmental audits to assess compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, identify areas of non-compliance, and implement corrective actions.

• Employee Training and Awareness Programs: Implement ongoing environmental training and awareness programs for employees to ensure they are knowledgeable about the organization's environmental objectives, targets, and best practices.

• Risk Assessment and Management: Continuously review and update the organization's environmental risk assessment to identify emerging risks and prioritize action plans to address them.

• Waste Reduction Initiatives: Set targets for reducing waste generation and implement waste reduction initiatives, such as recycling programs, waste segregation, and responsible disposal practices.

• Energy Efficiency Improvements: Identify opportunities to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption across operations, facilities, and processes.

• Water Conservation Efforts: Implement water conservation measures, such as optimizing water usage in manufacturing processes and improving water management practices.

• Supplier Engagement: Collaborate with suppliers to encourage sustainable practices in the supply chain, promoting the use of environmentally friendly materials and processes.

• Life Cycle Analysis: Conduct life cycle assessments of products and services to identify opportunities for reducing their environmental impact across their entire life cycle.

• Innovation and Technology Adoption: Stay updated with innovative technologies and practices that can help minimize environmental impact, and consider their implementation.

• Stakeholder Engagement: Engage with stakeholders, including employees, customers, regulators, and local communities, to gather feedback and insights for improving environmental practices.

• Feedback and Improvement Loops: Create mechanisms for employees to provide suggestions and feedback on environmental management practices, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

• Management Review and Goal Setting: Regularly review the organization's environmental performance, objectives, and targets, and set new goals to drive continuous improvement.

• Certification Body Feedback: Consider feedback from certification bodies during audits to identify areas where improvements can be made.

• Regular Reporting: Prepare regular reports on environmental performance and progress toward achieving objectives and targets, sharing this information with stakeholders.

Continual improvement is often a misunderstood concept within the world of ISO 14001. With MorganHill, we can help you get it right. Talk to us about our industry leading ISO 14001 solutions.

Additional services offered for ISO 14001 include scoping & gap assessments, remediation & implementation, along with performing internal audit functions. MorganHill also offers industry leading services for ISO 27001, 22301, 27701, 9001, and 45001.

Additionally, we offer a wide range of regulatory compliance services, along with other specialty services.  Furthermore, we offer world-class ISMS security documentation and other specialty documents for today’s growing cybersecurity and data privacy reporting requirements