What Questions Should There Be in Your ISO 14001 Readiness Review Checklist?

The global standard of the environmental management system, known as the ISO 14001, sets policies and criteria to build and maintain eco-friendly operations. Several business industries have mandated these standards due to the increasing impact of chemical and greenhouse residues on the environment and surrounding communities. The ISO 14001 certification is a complex procedure involving different analyses, audits, and reviews. One of them is a readiness review.

It is an independent system review, which allows the authority to better understand management system's preparedness. The readiness detection analysis is done through a review meeting with all the stakeholder departments participating. A detailed readiness checklist is prepared to review the performance of individual personnel. Therefore, the checklist plays a crucial role in the compliance process.

If the review meeting does not end on a productive note, the entire certification might get cancelled. For each clause of the ISO 14001, a set of questions should be formed and asked. The following blog will discuss this matter and list all crucial questions as well.

What Questions Should Be There in Your ISO 14001 Readiness Review Checklist?

Before creating the checklist, a thorough understanding of the clauses should be earned. Your readiness review questions should be based on the priority of each clause. Among the ten clauses, the readiness checklist questions will be based on Clause 4 to Clause 10.

Clause 4 - Context of the Organization

It refers to internal and external conditions and factors that directly and or indirectly affect the products and procedures. The implementation of the environmental management system is strongly driven by those factors. The following table is required on that basis.

Have you determined?	Ready	Almost ready	Work to do
The external issues and conditions affecting the process
Internal issues regarding the product, services, and size of the company and its knowledge
The interest stakeholder groups
The needs and priorities of the interested parties
Which of their requirements is a compliance obligation

Clause 5 - Leadership

Have the top management?	Ready	Almost ready	Work to do
Ensure an effective allocation of required resources
Supported and directed the parties that directly contribute
Taken responsibility for enhancing the effectiveness of the system
Established and communicated the policies and procedures
Supported different management roles
Ensured that the environmental management process aligned with the business objectives

 

Clause 6 - Planning

Has the planning process?	Ready	Almost ready	Work to do
Prioritized Clause 4
Responded to each risk and opportunity
Prioritized the life cycle perspective
Determined the compliance obligations
Developed processes and plans to address the significant risks

Clause 7 - Support

Have you determined?	Ready	Almost ready	Work to do
If enough resources have been allocated to fulfil all the requirements for an effective EMS
Whether the resources have been identified at the “planning” stage
If individual competency level has been determined
If the top management reviewed the resource management process for judging the adequacy

 

Clause 8 - Operations

Have you determined?	Ready	Almost ready	Work to do
The controls considering the fundamental life-cycle stages
If the established and implemented procedures are initiative-taking enough to respond to the emergencies

Clause 9 - Performance Evaluation

Have you determined?	Ready	Almost ready	Work to do
What needs must be measured and what will be the frequency
The frequency of the compliance evaluation
The maintenance of the organizational knowledge
If the management review has been conducted from time to time

 

Clause 10 - Continual Improvement

Have you checked?	Ready	Almost ready	Work to do
The occurrences of nonconformance
If proper steps have been taken to deal with the non-conformance
If the applied actions are appropriate and effective
If the organization is interested in improvising the suitability and efficacy of the modified EMS

These tables must be incorporated into every readiness review checklist to get the ISO 14001 certification. For better assistance, consider calling certified ISO consultants from reputable companies.

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Also Read: A Step-By-Step ISO Certification Renewal Process