ISO 14000 communication
1. General guidance — Communication
An organization should establish, implement and maintain procedures for communicating internally and externally on its environmental policy, performance or other information, based on its own needs and the needs of interested parties. Interested parties can include, for example, neighbours, non-governmental organizations, customers, contractors, suppliers, investors, emergency services and regulators.
The purposes and benefits of such communication can include
a) demonstrating the organization’s commitment and efforts to improve environmental performance, as well as the results of such efforts,
b) raising awareness and encouraging dialogue about the organization’s environmental policy, environmental performance and other relevant achievements,
c) receiving, considering and responding to questions, concerns or other inputs, and
d) promoting continual improvement of environmental performance.
2. Internal and external communication
Examples of information to be communicated include
a) general information about the organization,
b) management statement if applicable,
c) environmental policy, objectives and targets,
d) environmental management processes (including employee and interested party involvement),
e) the organization’s commitments to continual improvement and prevention of pollution,
f) information related to environmental aspects of products and services, conveyed through for example
environmental labels and declarations,
g) information on the organization’s environmental performance including trends (e.g. waste reduction, product stewardship, past performance),
h) the organization’s compliance with legal and other requirements to which the organization subscribes, and corrective actions taken in response to identified instances of noncompliance,
i) supplementary information in reports, such as glossaries,
j) financial information such as cost savings or investments in environmental projects,
k) potential strategies to improve an organization’s environmental performance, l) information related to environmental incidents, and
m) sources for further information, such as contact person(s) or websites.
For both internal and external environmental communication, it is important to remember that — information should be understandable and adequately explained,
— information should be traceable,
— the organization should present an accurate picture of its performance,
— if possible, information should be presented in comparable forms (e.g. similar units of measurement).
3. Communication processes
An organization should take into account its nature and size, its significant environmental aspects and the nature and needs of its interested parties when establishing a communications program.
An organization should consider the following process steps:
a) gather information, or make inquiries including from interested parties;
b) determine the target audience(s) and information or dialogue needs;
c) select information relevant to the audience’s interests;
d) decide on the information to be communicated to the target audience(s);
e) determine which methods are appropriate for communication;
f) evaluate and periodically determine the effectiveness of the communications process.
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