ISO 14001 Clause 6.2 Environmental objectives

This article covers ISO 14001 clause 6.2 Environmental objectives and planning to achieve them. This clause is going to be broken down and turned into something you can all understand and implement in your own organization or industry. Keep on reading as I can show you just how easy this is!

Ok, let’s get started! Let’s take a look at what Clause 6.2 wants us to do. There are a couple of subclauses in 6.2 so I will break each of them down separately for you.

Subclause 6.2.1 Environmental objectives is all about the establishment of environmental objectives. And by the way, you can call them anything you want – objectives, goals, targets, KPIs – this is completely up to you. For consistency, I’ll use the term objectives throughout this video.

This subclause states that:

The organization shall establish environmental objectives at relevant functions and levels, taking into account the organization’s significant environmental aspects and associated compliance obligations and considering its risks and opportunities.

Out of the 3 Standards that I work with, I think this has got to be the clearest example of what the objectives should support. It is clearly saying that objectives are to be established based on what we identified as our significant environmental aspects – take a look at the article for clause 6.1.2 Environmental aspects to understand more about identifying your significant environmental aspects.

It also says to consider the compliance obligations that were identified as part of clause 6.1.3 Compliance obligations, so now that you know what your compliance obligations are, why not set some objectives to give it your best shot at complying with these obligations? And then finally also consider the businesses risks and opportunities.

How do we know what the risks and opportunities are? Easy! These would have been identified, as mentioned already in clauses 6.1.2 Environmental aspects and 6.1.3 Compliance obligations. We’ll also have an idea of other risks and opportunities from clauses 4.1 Understanding the organization and its context, 4.2 Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties, and 6.1 Actions to address risks and opportunities.

Also, when I read this, I see that these objectives aren’t just high-level corporate objectives or just operational objectives. These objectives are to be established at relevant functions and levels. So, you might start with the corporate environmental objectives and then they should filter down to each department or function in the business and even where they apply to the processes of the business.

So, as an example, if one of the company's environmental objectives is to 'have 100% of workers across all departments trained in the new environmental management system by November 30^th 2023', there would be several departments or functions that would also require objectives set to be able to meet this objective. Each department could then set its own objectives to ensure its team was trained by the November 30 deadline. Their objectives might be to 'train the Project Managers by September 30', 'train the Site Administrators by October 30' and then finally 'train the workers on project sites including contractors by November 30'.

Now, moving along in clause 6.2.1 it does state that:

The environmental objectives shall be:

a) consistent with the environmental policy

Well, look at that?! When we set our environmental objectives they need to somehow align with our intent and commitment that we documented in our policy. I would hope so! What a great way to ensure that our intent from our policy is met. Be sure to check out the article for clause 5.2 Environmental Policy if you need a refresher.

then it is stated:

b) be measurable (if practicable)

Another stroke of genius! Of course, when objectives are set you need to be able to measure them. It’s no good setting an objective and you’re not able to measure and monitor it. Make sure you collect the data and can generate the reports needed to track how well you are going in achieving your objectives. Otherwise, you don’t have a clue where you’re at. And then also to make your objectives measurable it’s important to have a timeframe. A timeframe that you want to achieve your objective by – just like in the example I used earlier with all training to be conducted by November 30^th. Then you know WHAT you want to achieve and by WHEN. I’m sure you’ve all heard of SMART goals. This helps you to set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely goals.

Right, then we move to:

c) monitored

This is handy of course. If you’re going to set objectives, you need to monitor them to see the extent to which you’re meeting them. Are you on track? If not, what can you do differently so that you can make changes in enough time to meet your objective by the set timeframe?

Then we move to:

d) communicated

This ties in nicely with clause 7.4 Communication where the clause requirements want you to determine what will be communicated, when to do this, how to do it and with whom. Well, you’ve got one right here – make sure the environmental objectives are communicated!

Then we have point:

e) updated as appropriate

Meaning as, or when the objectives do need to be updated as a result of a change in the business then do it. Objectives may not always stay the same. As the business changes, activities change, locations change, and tools and equipment change this will influence the objectives that have been set too.

The final requirement in the clause 6.2.1 is that:

The organization shall maintain documented information on the environmental                    objectives.

Ok, now that we understand what is needed now we know that these environmental objectives actually have to be documented. If you are implementing a system then you need to ensure that your measurable S.M.A.R.T objectives are documented because this is what an auditor will be looking for.

So, what does all of this normally look like when it’s documented? Normally what I see with the audit clients I visit is a table or matrix of some description. The objective is documented including what is to be achieved and by when – this could be in a single column or over a couple of columns, with the timeframe separated. Then there are additional columns that reference the strategy of what will be done – now this could be as simple as referencing a procedure or procedures. Other columns then might list who’s responsible and then the monitoring or measurement that will be conducted – which may reference different reports or statistics.

Ok, that’s a great start, we now have documented environmental objectives as well as a plan on how they will be achieved. Develop what works for you – keep it simple, real, and relevant to the scope of YOUR system and how you normally document within the business.

Now it’s time to figure out how these objectives can be achieved. This is where subclause 6.2.2 Planning actions to achieve environmental objectives comes into play.

This subclause states that:

When planning how to achieve its environmental objectives, the organization shall determine:

a) what will be done

b) what resources will be required

c) who will be responsible

d) when it will be completed

e) how the results will be evaluated, including indicators for monitoring progress toward achievement of its measurable environmental objectives (see 9.1.1)

I love this!

This means that the environmental objectives that we set, and document aren’t to sit on the shelf and gather dust, or they’re not to be pinned to the wall so everyone can walk past and just get a warm fuzzy feeling. Not at all!

You actually have to figure out what actions you are going to take to achieve the objectives, who is going to be responsible for these actions, and whether you need any other resources (such as people, knowledge, skills, equipment, training, and so on).

And we’ve already talked about setting a timeframe for these objectives as part of being measurable which aligns nicely with the requirement for determining when the objectives will be completed by. Now you just have to figure out how you will evaluate and monitor the results of the objectives to see how you are tracking with the objective set within the timeframe set.

And finally, the last statement in this clause is:

The organization shall consider how actions to achieve its environmental objectives can be integrated into the organization’s business processes.

This is one of my favourite statements in the Standards - that these actions to achieve the objectives will be integrated into the existing business processes. There shouldn’t be a separate corner of the office for the objectives and their actions – embed the actions in existing processes so the culture of ‘this is just how we do things around here’ is created.

Now that you have a better understanding of these requirements, it's time to take action and implement them in your own organization and ISO 14001 Environmental management systems.

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