Clauses of ISO 14001 | Environmental Management System ISO 14001

ISO 14001:2015 environmental management system standard consists of 10 clauses. The first three Clauses (1 to 3) provide a background to the standard, and seven main clauses (4 to 10) describe the ISO 14001 requirements.

Environmental Management System ISO 14001 is part of the management system used to manage environmental aspects, fulfill compliance obligations, address risks & opportunities, and improve environmental performance.

The current ISO 14001:2015 standard is based on the high-level structure (HLS) which is a common framework for all ISO management system standards such as  ISO 9001(Quality Management System), and ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health & Safety standard earlier known as OHSAS 18001.

Clause 1: Scope

Clause 2: Normative references

Clause 3: Terms and definitions 

• 3.1 Terms related to organization and leadership.
• 3.2 Terms related to planning
• 3.3 Terms related to support & operation
• 3.4 Terms related to performance evaluation and improvement.

Clauses of ISO 14001 | PDCA Model

The seven mandatory ISO 14001 clauses are: clauses 4 to 10.  All these clauses are arranged according to PDCA model.

Clause 4: Context of the organization

ISO 14001 clause 4 has four sub-clauses- 4.1,4.2,4.3, and 4.3

• 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

Clause 5: Leadership

ISO 14001 clause 5 has three sub-clauses- 5.1,5.2, and 5.3

• 5.1 Leadership and Commitment
• 5.2 Environmental policy
• 5.3 Organizational roles, responsibilities, and authorities

Clause 6: Planning

ISO 14001 clause 6 has two sub-clauses- 6.1 and 6.2

• 6.1 Actions to address risks and opportunities
  • 6.1.1 General
  • 6.1.2 Environmental aspects
  • 6.1.3 Compliance obligations
  • 6.1.4 Planning action
• 6.2 Environmental objectives and planning to achieve them
  • 6.2.1 Environmental objectives
  • 6.2.2 Planning actions to achieve environmental objectives

Clause 7: Support

ISO 14001 clause 7 has five sub-clauses- 7.1,7.2,7.3,7.4, and 7.5

• 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
• 7.5 Documented information
  • 7.5.1 General
  • 7.5.2 Creating and updating
  • 7.5.3 Control of Documented Information

Clause 8: Operation

ISO 14001 clause 8 has two sub-clause- 8.1 and 8.2

• 8.1 Operational planning and control
• 8.2 Emergency preparedness and response

Clause 9: Performance evaluation

ISO 14001 clause 9 has three sub-clause- 9.1,9.2, and 9.3

• 9.1 Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation
  • 9.1.1 General
  • 9.1.2 Evaluation of Compliance
• 9.2 Internal audit
  • 9.2.1 General
  • 9.2.2 Internal audit programme
• 9.3 Management review

Clause 10: Improvement

ISO 14001 clause 10 has three sub-clause- 10.1,10.2, and 10.3

• 10.1 General
• 10.2 Nonconformity and corrective actions
• 10.3 Continual improvement