The ISO 14001 certification is recommended for any business trying to actively reduce their environmental impact. It is suitable for businesses of any size and industry due to its generic nature.
Before you begin the process of getting certified, you’ll want to know if it’s worth it for your business. We’ve put together a list of benefits that ISO 14001 can bring to your organisation.
Legal compliance
Getting ISO 14001 certified ensures you are keeping up to date with legal regulation. Fines and bad press can devastate companies that don’t comply with regulations, so this ensures that you keep ahead of the game.
Increased reputation with consumers
More and more consumers are ‘going green’, with half of digital consumers saying environmental concerns impact their purchasing decisions. Getting ISO 14001 certified displays to your customer that you have an active commitment to reducing your environmental impact.
Competitive advantage
With the above in mind, the ISO 14001 certification can help set you apart from competitors, or help you keep up if they are already certified. This also holds true if your organisation is bidding for tender. With more and more businesses getting ISO 14001 certified (11,201 certificates were issued in 2018 in the United Kingdom alone), it’s important that your organisation doesn’t fall behind.
Reduce waste
The standard aims to reduce the amount of waste that organisations are producing. From the unnecessary running of machinery to a lack of training causing excess materials to be left, the standard aims to identify and mitigate all waste. By using more renewable energy sources and energy saving processes your company becomes more efficient as a result.
Reduce costs
Naturally an increase in inefficiency will lead to reduced costs of running your business. The cost of waste management should go down, just as the need for the processing and removal of waste to be lessened.
Reduced insurance costs
Some companies might find that getting certified in ISO 14001 will reduce insurance premiums. The certification proves your organisation is performing strong due diligence in managing their environmental impact, which means there is less chance of your being found liable for environmental negligence.
We believe that demonstrating a commitment to environmental sustainability is something all organisations should be doing in today’s society. Getting ISO 14001 certified is one way to achieve this.
