ISO - 14001

4. CONTEXT OF THE ORGANIZATION

Identifying the factors affecting your company will guide you in setting up your system.

4.1 Understanding the Context of the Organization

In this step, the organization's environment and business context are examined. The context of the organization is understood by taking into account the sector in which the organization operates, legal requirements, stakeholders and other external factors.

Note: Internal and external issues are randomly sampled with a general approach, you need to customize and detail specific to the scope of your company.

4.2 Understanding the Needs and Expectations of Relevant Parties

Relevant parties that affect the operation of the company should be identified and the environmental needs and expectations of these parties should be determined.

The internal and external issues specified in Article 4.1 are guiding in the determination of the relevant parties.

For example, the environmental expectations of local communities, local governments, customers, suppliers and other interested parties should be taken into account.

4.3 Scope

The scope of the environmental management system should be determined and the areas over which your company has control over its environmental impacts should be defined. This scope should include the company's areas of activity, products and services, facilities and operations. In addition, elements that are outside the scope of the standard (if any) must be stated with their justifications.

4.4 Management System and Processes

The administrative, support and operational processes necessary to improve your company's environmental performance should be determined and defined in accordance with the ISO 14001 standard. These processes may be aimed at reducing environmental impacts, waste management, energy efficiency and achieving other environmental goals. Processes should be constantly reviewed and updated when necessary, based on continuous improvement principles.

5. LEADERSHIP

5.1 Leadership and Commitment

Top management must show leadership for the environmental management system to operate effectively. In this context:

• Environmental policy should be created in accordance with environmental strategies and processes should be determined in accordance with this policy.

• Senior management should encourage continuous improvement of environmental performance by adopting a risk and opportunity-based approach

5.2 Policy

A formal environmental policy should be established that includes the company's environmental goals and commitments. This policy is a fundamental document that guides and supports the environmental performance of the organization.

5.3 Duties, Powers and Responsibilities

Top management must determine the duties, authorities and responsibilities for the effective functioning of the environmental management system. In this context:

• An organizational chart should be prepared and duties, authorities and responsibilities should be defined for each position.

• Deputizing positions for critical positions should be determined and business continuity should be ensured.

6. PLANNING

6.1 Risk and Opportunity Identification Activities

Your company should plan to identify environmental risks and identify opportunities. These activities evaluate factors in the organization's internal and external environment and identify potential hazards and opportunities that may affect environmental performance.

6.1.1 General

General principles and procedures of the environmental risk and opportunity identification process are determined. In this context, details such as the methods, responsibilities, resources and timing of the process to be used to identify risks and opportunities are determined.

6.1.2 Environmental dimensions

The organization evaluates the environmental impacts of its activities and determines their environmental dimensions. In this process, environmental aspects such as air and water pollution, energy use, and waste management are taken into account and their effects on the organization are evaluated.

6.1.3 Compliance obligations

The organization determines environmental legal requirements and other applicable requirements. In this context, compliance obligations such as environmental legislation, regulations, standards and customer requirements are reviewed and the organization's compliance with these requirements is evaluated.

6.1.4 Planning activity

The organization develops action plans in line with the identified risks and opportunities. These plans may include measures to reduce or eliminate risks and strategies to seize opportunities and create value. Planning activities include allocating resources, scheduling, and determining responsibilities.

6.2 Environmental Objectives and Planning to Achieve Them

6.2.1 Environmental Purposes

These are targets set to improve environmental performance. These goals may be aimed at reducing environmental impacts, conserving natural resources, or promoting sustainability principles. Environmental objectives are determined in line with the organization's environmental policy and strategies.

6.2.2 Planning Activities to Achieve Environmental Objectives

Necessary activities are planned to achieve the company's determined environmental objectives. This planning process includes strategies, programs and projects to be followed to achieve environmental goals. In addition, the resources, duration and responsibilities of these activities are also planned. These activities are effectively implemented and monitored to continuously improve environmental performance.

7. SUPPORT

7.1 resources

The resources needed to fulfill the environmental management system requirements are determined, provided and maintained. These resources may include human resources, infrastructure, work environment and financial resources.

7.2 Sufficiency

Your company must determine the qualifications of the personnel working within the Environmental Management System and ensure these qualifications.

In addition, if necessary, the company should plan the necessary training to provide new competencies to its personnel.

The competencies required for each personnel included in the environmental management system should be determined, and personnel with these competencies should be preferred when recruiting personnel.

In case the determined competencies are missing or new qualifications are needed, the necessary training opportunities must be provided to the personnel to provide them with new competencies.

7.3 Awareness

It must ensure that all personnel working within the Environmental Management system are aware of the following:

a) Environmental policy,

b) Environmental targets

c) Contributions to EMS effectiveness,

d) Impacts that will occur as a result of not fulfilling EMS requirements

Orientation training can be given to newly hired personnel about the company's general management systems and the processes they will work in, and management systems awareness training can be given to all personnel regularly every year. Records of the training provided should be kept.

7.4 Communication

It is necessary to give clear answers to the following items by determining the internal and external communication methods in your company. This includes information sharing among staff, communication with customers, suppliers and other interested parties.

7.4.1 General

The general communication strategy and procedures regarding the organization's environmental management system are determined.

7.4.2 Internal Communication

Communication processes and channels within the organization ensure that information regarding the environmental management system is effectively communicated among personnel.

7.4.3 External Communication

Communication processes and channels with stakeholders outside the organization ensure that information about the environmental management system is effectively communicated with customers, suppliers, the public and other stakeholders.

7.5 Documented Information

Defines, creates, updates and maintains documented information regarding the environmental management system. This information may include procedures, instructions, policies, records and other documents.

An in-house document format can be prepared (using logo, letterhead, standard writing format and standard templates).

In addition, for each document, a document number and document name should be given according to the management determined within the company.

Prepared documents should be used after being reviewed and implemented by a competent personnel,

In addition, all documents must contain preparer and approver information.

In addition to preparing the documents, accessibility of the documents to the relevant persons and confidentiality of the necessary documents must be ensured.

8. OPERATION

8.1 Operational planning and control

It carries out operational planning and control activities to achieve the objectives determined within the scope of the environmental management system. These activities aim to improve environmental performance, such as reducing environmental impacts, waste management, energy efficiency and control of environmental risks. The operational planning and control process includes steps such as allocating the resources necessary to achieve the determined goals, determining and monitoring operational processes and taking necessary corrective measures.

8.2 Emergency preparedness and response

It is necessary to be prepared for environmental emergencies and take the necessary precautions to deal with these situations effectively. Emergency preparedness activities include assessing environmental risks and hazards, developing emergency plans, training personnel, and conducting emergency drills. The aim of this process is to prevent environmental pollution, protect human health and minimize environmental impacts.

9. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

9.1 Monitoring, Measurement, Analysis and Evaluation

The organization continuously monitors, measures, analyzes and evaluates environmental management system performance. This process includes steps such as collecting environmental performance data, assessing the fulfillment of established objectives and legal requirements, analyzing environmental impacts, and identifying opportunities for improving performance.

9.1.1 General

General principles and procedures of the monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation process are determined. In this context, details such as the frequency of monitoring and measurement activities, methods used, data collection and record keeping procedures are determined.

9.1.2 Assessment of conformity

The organization evaluates compliance with environmental legal requirements and other applicable requirements. This assessment process involves ensuring the organization understands environmental legal requirements, monitors compliance status, and takes corrective action when necessary.

9.2 Internal Audit

By preparing the internal audit process, the internal audit and its conditions can be described.

While preparing the process, care should be taken to ensure that the internal audit is carried out by competent persons at least once a year.

The following factors are necessary regarding internal audit in your company

Planning, creating, implementing and maintaining the internal audit program, which also describes frequency, methods and responsibilities. (Critical processes should be given priority in the program)

• Defining the audit criteria and scope for each audit,

• Selection of auditors and conduct of audits to ensure impartiality and objectivity,

• Ensuring that audit results are reported to the appropriate management level

• Preserving written information that constitutes evidence of the audit program(s) and audit results.

9.3 Management Review

Top management periodically reviews the effectiveness and suitability of the environmental management system. These review meetings include assessing environmental performance, reviewing policies and objectives, evaluating internal and external factors, and identifying improvement opportunities.

10. IMPROVEMENT

10.2 Nonconformity and Corrective Action

For the detected non-conformity, a non-conformity report should be prepared and the root cause should be determined first, the root cause should be identified and corrective action should be planned to prevent the recurrence of the non-conformity. If the non-conformity occurs in other departments or other areas, it is checked, all necessary corrections are made and the non-conformity report is closed after the actions to prevent recurrence are completed. The closed report must be approved by an authorized personnel.

10.2 CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

The organization must continuously improve the suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of its quality management system.

The organization should consider the results of the analysis and evaluation and the outputs of the management review to determine whether needs or opportunities exist to be addressed as part of continuous improvement.

Nonconformities should be monitored and corrective actions should be planned, risks should be identified and activities aimed at eliminating/reducing them should be identified and opportunities for improvement should be planned.

Process performances should be constantly monitored and performance evaluated to check whether the desired performances are achieved in the processes. If the desired performance is not detected from the processes, remedial action should be planned for the processes.