CHAPTER 5: EMS AND ISO 14001

In the era of borderless trade, international standards are important for achieving
competitiveness and access to markets. Environmental management standards
such as ISO 14001 can be used as the fundamental reference. ISO14000
provides organizations the framework for managing environmental impacts.
International environmental standards are being developed for construction,
utilizing the principles of ISO9000 and ISO14000 series.

ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems – Specification with

guidance for use
 is an international standard which specifies the requirements of an
environmental management systems;
 it is intended as a framework applicable to all types and sizes of
organizations and to accommodate diverse geographical, cultural and
social conditions using the “PDCA” approach;
 the success of the system depends on commitment from all levels and
functions of the organization, especially from top management;
 enables an organization to establish and assess the effectiveness of
procedures, to develop an environmental policy and objectives, achieve
conformity with them, and demonstrate such conformity to others support
environmental protection and prevention of pollution.

5.1 Current Situation of Construction industry in Malaysia

In the near future, selection of contractors, especially for environmental sensitive
project will be based not only for the abilities of the contractors to complete the
project on time, within the specified cost and quality of works but also on their
environmental track records and the incorporation of environmental management
system in managing the project. Unfortunately, based on the year 2005 survey,
the number of ISO 14001 certified contractors among the 64,000 contractors
available in the country are extremely small.

The contractors who are competing for oversea projects will have to equip their
companies with ISO 14001 certification in order to increase the company’s
competitiveness in the global market. To be a world class player, the Malaysian
construction industry should strive for the highest standard of quality, safety and
environmental practices by fostering quality and environmentally-friendly culture.

5.1 Certification Process

A DIY ISO 14001 Certification Scheme is planned to equip the contractors with
the appropriate knowledge about the Environmental Management Systems
(EMS). This scheme involved two steps certification process given as the
following:
a) Training (Training Certificate)
b) Implementation (Implementation Certificate)
During the training process, there will be a short course to equip the contractors
with the appropriate knowledge about the EMS. At the end of the course, a
certificate will be given to these contractors. There will be a certain period
whereby this certificate will be expired. The contractors will either renew this
certificate by re-attend the training or go to the next step; by implementing what
they had been learned.
During the implementation process, contractors will be given a duration of 6
months to implement what they had learned. As part of their implementation, the
contractors have to prepare a report; summarise their implementation activity.
There will be a periodic assessment during their implementation basically to
make sure this contractors had implemented what they had been learned. This
contractor will be given another certificate by the end of the assessment. This
certificate will also be expired at certain period of time.
The certificates obtained will be useful as an evidence of their appropriate
knowledge and experience about the EMS at their construction site thus enhance
their corporate image to secure the future projects. However, they have to
obtained the ISO 14001 Certificate in order to compete with the other contractors
(those already had their ISO 14001 Certificate) or to secure the overseas
projects. The ISO certification process flowchart is given as the following:

ISO 14001 Certification Process Flowchart

Enquiry

Complete Questionnaire

Proposal

Confirm Application and Schedule

Document Review

Certification Assessment

Major Non-Conformance?

Recommendation for Registration

Certificate Awarded

Surveillance Assessment

Renewal Assessment.
(every 3 years once)
5.2Opportunities for improvement and cost saving

Continual improvement is a key to an effective environmental management

system. Continual improvement is accomplished through the achievement of
environmental objectives and target and the overall enhancement of the
environmental management system.

An organisation should continually evaluate its environmental performance and

the performance of its environmental management system processes to identify
opportunities for improvement. Top management should be involved directly in
this evaluation through the management review process.

Some useful sources of information for continual

improvement include:

a) Experience gained form corrective and preventive ac-

tions;
b) External benchmarking against best practices;
c) Intended or proposed changes applicable to legal re-
quirements and other requirements to which the or-
ganisation subscribes;
d) Results of environmental management system and
compliance audits;
e) Results of monitoring of key characteristics of opera-
tions;
f) Results of progress toward achieving objectives and
targets; and
g) Views of interested parties, including employees, cus-
tomers and suppliers.