Rc 14001 – The New Environmental Management Standard

By Author: John Mills
Total Articles: 304
Comment this article

Formally, The Responsible Care-14001 environmental management system (EMS) was adopted in 2002, created jointly by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the Registrar Accreditation Board (RAB). RC14001 uses the ISO 14001 environmental management system (EMS) standard as a platform, adding health and safety and security issues to the management system's scope.
The RC14001 also incorporates certain care items that carry the burden related to mobility and supply chain management, product management and stakeholder involvement, all of which require managers to address risk and risk issues beyond the boundaries of their organization.
To conduct RC14001 audits report improvements in the following areas such as employee should take Online RC 14001 Auditor Training by organizations, purchasing controls for environmental, health, safety and security (EHSS) service providers and vendors, integration of EHSS goals and objective-setting processes, contractor qualification and selection, ...
... integrating internal auditing procedures, and coordination and management of the EHSS-related activities.
The RC-14001 combines the elements of a Responsible Care initiative with the standard ISO 14001. The new EMS is designed to help chemical companies and other organizations improve their environmental performance, match and validate environmental improvements, and extend their EMS to include health and safety, product management and communication systems.
Over the years, the Responsible Care program has expanded to include a range of issues such as health and safety, product management and public relations. Even the most ardent supporter of ISO 14001 should agree that their Responsible Care program is highly appreciated. With its ever-expanding range and good intentions, the real initiative is challenging its fans much wider and with more ambition than ISO 14001. For example, ISO 14001 does not impose health and safety requirements, leaving much of the product management up to the organization and requiring no environmental interaction in host communities.
First, the Responsible Care program is viewed by some outside the chemical industry as a set of fulfilling aspirations rather than a true management plan in the old "plan-do-check-act". Second, an unlawful examination of a corporate care system that is responsible for other members of the industry and public representatives, which does not have the freedom and legitimacy of an accredited body.
The Responsible Care Initiative and ISO 14001 actually have different capabilities. ISO 14001 focuses on environmental management and emphasizes certainty of certification. The Responsible Care program includes health, safety, community, customers and improving communications. By combining the two, companies achieve a strong, comprehensive measure that can produce good performance.
Under RC 14001, an organization can develop a single environmental, health and safety management system (EH&S) that simultaneously complies with both of these standards, while giving consumers and other stakeholders a greater challenge to be confident in their performance. To assist firms interested in following this new integrated system, this aligns each ISO 14001 system in accordance with the corresponding definition of the Responsible Care initiative. As a result, the RC 14001 offers a number of requirements that are unique to ISO 14001 only, including:

Extended process / impact assessment process.
Access to the host community is required.
Reporting of environmental performance to participants.
The necessary emphasis on issues of high suppliers and customers downstream.
Recruitment, training and review of contractors, carriers and other service providers.