The ISO 14001 EMS Implementation Process and Its Implications: A Case Study of Central Japan

/ This study aims to investigate the ISO 14001 implementation process and its implications for regional environmental management. The region of Central Japan (known as Chubu in Japanese, which literally means center) was chosen for this case study. The study focuses on selected issues such as the: (1) trends and motives of private firms in the implementation of an ISO 14001-based environmental management system (EMS); (2) obstacles during system implementation; (3) role of the system in enhancing environmental performance within the certified organization; and (4) relation between the major stakeholders, local citizens, governments, and firms after adopting the system. To achieve these objectives, a questionnaire survey was mailed to all certified firms in the region. A 58% response was achieved overall. The results show that the main aims behind the adoption of ISO 14001 by firms in the Chubu region are to improve the environmental aspects within the enterprises and to enhance the employees' environmental awareness and capacity. The results have also shown that the ISO 14001-based EMS has had a great effect on a firm's environmental status as certified firms have claimed that natural resources such as fuel, water, and paper consumption have been more efficiently managed after adopting the system. Implementation of the system causes the firms to consider the role of the local people and the government in more effectively involving the local people in the firm's daily environmental activities. It also helps to enhance the environmental awareness among the local people. Adopting the system also promotes a better relation within the enterprises affiliated to the same group, such as more attention given by the parent firms (head offices) towards other firms working for the same group, or branches-mainly small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)-in the field of EMS. Finally, the results show that firms give serious consideration to their final products' impacts on the environment. In other words, attention is given to life cycle analysis (LCA) among certified firms.     

ISO14000系列环境管理国际标准概述

概述了ISO14000系列环境管理国际标准的内容、分类、特点及其作用。介绍了企业实施该系列标准所应采取的步骤和措施。该系列标准由环境管理体系、环境行为评价、生命周期评估、环境管理、产品标准中的环境因素等系列组成，可指导企业表现正确的环境行为，提升企业的竞争力。     

Application of life-cycle assessment to type III environmental declarations

The objective of this research is to develop a desirable type III environmental declaration format for the industrial consumer. A total of five different scenarios were chosen for the presentation of life-cycle assessment results in a format that meets the requirements of a type III environmental declaration. Life-cycle assessment of an electronic component was performed for this purpose. Environmentally significant impact categories and input/output items of a product system derived from the life-cycle assessment are presented in this format. Presenting these information concisely in a standardized format would accelerate the communication of environmental aspects of materials and components in a product supply chain. Thus the type III environmental declaration can be a useful instrument for the manufacturing of an ecoproduct.     

将ISO14000纳入建设项目环境保护管理程序

ＩＳＯ１４０００ 系列标准是关于环境管理方面的国际标准,本文就如何将其纳入我国的建设项目环境保护管理程序,使新建项目或改扩建项目从试运行阶段就由企业自身对其环境行为进行控制,实现企业环境管理由被动转为主动,从而提高我国的建设项目环境保护管理水平作了初步探讨．     

International Legal Instruments and Regional Environmental Protection

Efficient environmental protection requires global, as well as regional ecological strategies. During the last decade numerous attempts at regional and global environmental protection have been made. But industrial environmental protection is still, above all, a national matter. National emission limit values and international technological standards still neglect to a large extent the regional aspects of pollution prevention. Recent normative texts (international standards, European directives) can be seen as the first step to filling this gap. They represent different evolutionary stages on the way from merely technocentric to regionally integrated environmental protection. We investigate the potential of some of these normative texts to operationalise regional environmental strategies. For this purpose we will provide a framework for evaluation centred on the following questions: ? Is the installation/project/organisation perceived as part of its specific environment? ? Can local immission standards be developed on the basis of a functional classification of ecosystems? ? Are methods of integrated ecological evaluation supported? The framework will be applied to examine the European directives on Environmental Impact Assessment and Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control and two ISO (International Standardisation Organisation) standards on Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001 and 14004) with regard to basic requirements for operationalising integrated regional environmental protection.     

海洋大气氯离子监测方法——湿烛法与干片法对比研究

目的对比研究两种海洋大气氯离子监测方法。方法针对湿烛法与干片法各自的特点,在万宁试验站海洋平台、近海试验场、内试验场和不同离海距离的屋顶监测了两种方法多种条件下的氯离子沉降速率。采用成对数据的符号秩和检验法对比研究了湿润、透风、采样的方向性、氯离子污染程度对两种采样方法的监测结果的影响,采用皮尔逊积矩相关系数分析了气象因素对氯离子沉降速率的关系。结果湿润、透风、采样的方向性是重要的影响因素,氯离子污染程度越大的环境,其影响程度越大。结论诸多影响的综合结果导致了湿烛法监测的氯离子沉降速率高于干片法。     

Evaluation of environmental management resources (ISO 14001) at civil engineering construction worksites: a case study of the community of Madrid

In recent years, significant advances have been made in business organization and management. The growing demands of clients as well as the globalization of world markets are among the many factors that have led to the establishment of systems of quality control and environmental management as a competitive strategy for businesses. When compared to other professional sectors, the construction sector has been slower to respond to environmental problems and to adopt Environmental Management Systems (EMS). In the world today the ISO 14001 standard is currently the main frame of reference used by construction companies to implement this type of management system. This article presents the results of a general study regarding the evaluation of the application of the ISO 14001 standard at civil engineering construction worksites in the Community of Madrid (Spain), specifically pertaining to requirement 4.4.1, Resources, roles, responsibilities, and authority. According to requirement 4.4.1, company executives should appoint people responsible for implementing the EMS and also specify their responsibilities and functions. The personnel designated for supervising environmental work should also have sufficient authority to establish and maintain the EMS. The results obtained were the following: - EMS supervisors did not generally possess adequate training and solid experience in construction work and in the environment. Furthermore, supervisors were usually forced to combine their environmental work with other tasks, which made their job even more difficult. - Generally speaking, supervisors were not given sufficient authority and autonomy because productivity at the construction site had priority over environmental management. This was due to the fact that the company management did not have a respectful attitude toward the environment, nor was the management actively involved in the establishment of the EMS. - Insufficient resources were allocated to the Environmental Management Unit. As a result, the application of EMSs in construction projects often appeared to be more of a formality, which was merely a way of maintaining the certification of the Environmental Management System. It was more a means of meeting the requirements for submitting a tender to contracting organisms rather than an indicator of any real commitment to improving the environmental performance of construction companies.     

中图法(第四版)环境科学类目修改问题初探

中图法(第四版)自1999年出版以来,环境科学发生了突飞猛进的变化,因此应着手修改,建议如下:环境科学类目不应包括灾害及其防治,集中可持续发展类目并单列,生态保护类目应单列,增设循环经济类目,环境管理类目中增设ISO14000环境管理体系等等.     

浅谈ISO9001质量管理体系在福建地震流动前兆观测中的实施

ISO 9001质量管理体系是先进的质量管理模式,被广泛、成功地引入到许多行业及部门,将质量推向体系化管理,能为企事业乃至政府部门推进管理制度化、规范化和程序化,形成科学、合理、高效的行政体系,提供了科学方法和有效途径.本文在叙述了ISO 9001质量管理体系的基础上,以福建省地震流动前兆观测的产品质量控制为例论述了质量管理体系在地震流动前兆观测中的具体应用.通过实施质量管理体系,实现对生产过程的质量控制,不断地提高产品质量.     

Do integration difficulties influence management system integration levels?

The objective of this article is to empirically analyse whether there is a relationship between the difficulties found in the integration process and the level of system integration achieved.A sample of 362 organisations registered, at least, to both ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004, is examined. Structural equation modelling is applied to their responses to a mailed survey. Two different groups are studied depending on the number of management systems implemented: two systems for the first group and three for the second.The results demonstrate that organisations with three implemented management systems face difficulties in the integration process that affect the level of integration, while this relationship is not significant for those organisations with two management systems.This paper is one of the first studies focussing on integration difficulties and their effect on the level of integration achieved.