ISO 14.000 CERTIFICATION AND THE GREENING OF CONSTRUCTION IN AN EMERGING ECONOMY Plinio Cabrera*, PhD, MSc, Ing.Agr. ABSTRACT. This short paper describes the self-assessment side-work performed to accompany the multi-sites ISO 14001 certification process of a medium-sized multinational EPC construction company, with 400 employees and headquarters in Venezuela. The certification work was carried out by a team (**) of two (2) members, with external support on particular areas such as legislation and operational control. The follow up self-assessment was accomplished by a closely supervised Intern. The certification core team activities included, from start to finish: a gap analysis, project planning, team training, documentation such as manuals, procedures and work instructions, flowcharts, forms and records, an external legal audit, an operations external audit, the final certification audit, a post audit action plan and the reception of the certificate. The scope of the ISO 14001 certificate included 7 sites in 5 countries, took one year of effective work, cost about US$ 8,000 and ended successfully. Key Words: ISO 14001, Certification, Integrated Management, Construction, EPC, Sustainability. INTRODUCTION. During the execution of an in house project for the ISO 14001 multi-sites certification of a medium sized EPC Construction Company headquartered in Venezuela, a complementary and simultaneous self-assessment work was carried out in order to detect deviations, structure insightful reflections on the process and identify opportunities for improvement of the company environmental management system. Details of that part of the work are presented in Cabeza (2016). METHOD. During the certification process, a closely supervised Intern monitored the work carried out by the ISO 14001 team, in order to evaluate the degree of fulfilment of the initial scope. The methodology included a review of literature and a compliance examination of the ISO 14001 standard by the system been implemented, focusing on three areas of the organization: a) management, b) core operations and c) support activities. A legal compliance assessment matrix was developed to verify that the organization fulfils the requirements set by legislation and the ISO 14.001 standard. A supplementary questionnaire was applied to a sample of the personnel to explore the level of in house knowledge and awareness about the ISO 14001 standard and about the company environmental objectives, goals and programs. The level of environmental sustainability of the business was also estimated, applying the criteria of Dyllick & Muff (2015) and a set of recommendations to improve the company environmental management system were developed. RESULTS. During the self-assessment side-work, it was possible to identify that the activities carried out during the whole certification process covered gap analysis, project planning, team training, documentation (manual, procedures, work instructions, flowcharts, forms and records), external legal audit, external operations audit; the certification audit, the post audit action plan and the reception of the ISO 14001 certificate. A follow up audit is foreseen for the next year. It was found that the company made a notable effort to implement the ISO 14.001 standard, that the system was adjusted to the requirements, the staff was well aware of the environmental management system and that the company is in the process of becoming sustainable. Finally, it was found that, during the certification audit it was detected that two non-conformities appeared in one of the Company projects, related to hazardous wastes with potential to affect safety and the environment, but it was
also verified that both non-conformities were swiftly corrected, allowing the ISO certification process to reach a successful completion. DISCUSIÓN. The ISO 14001 work described in this paper included the multisite certification of 7 sites in 5 countries, was executed by 2 professionals in 1 year of effective work and cost about US$ 8,000. Despite the stringent conditions of an emergent economy, the self-assessment side-work showed the ISO 14.001 certification process was carried out within the time, quality and cost constrains set out from the beginning. They compare favorably to international benchmarks for similar processes. For instance, Corbet and Kirsch (2000) reported duration of “up to 12 months” and a cost of “10,000 or more dollars, depending of the size of the company”. Hemenway (1996) reported costs in the range of 12,000 to 15,000 dollars for companies from 100 to 200 employees and more recent information (ISO9000 Store, 2015) sets the cost of certification for companies of similar size, between 5,000 and 20,000 dollars. For the immediate future, in order to achieve the objective of becoming an environmentally responsible company with high levels of sustainability, the company will have to reinforce the implementation of the system providing extensive training and making strictly follow up and audit of its operations. BIBLIOGRAPHY. Cabeza, Felixmar (2016) “Internship Report: Evaluación del cumplimiento de la norma ISO 14001 en la empresa Pentech Ingenieros 0.5 CA”. Dyllick, T. and Muff, K. (2016).” Clarifying the meaning of sustainable business. Introducing a typology from business-as-usual to true business sustainability”. Organization & Environment, June 2016; vol. 29, 2: pp. 156-174. Hemenway, Caroline (1996) “10 Things You http://www.qualitydigest.com/oct/iso14000.html
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Sebastianelli, R., Nabil, T. and Iacocca K. (2015) "Improving the quality of environmental management: impact on shareholder value", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, (2015) Vol. 32, 1: pp. 53 – 80. The ISO9000 / ISO14000 Store (2015) “How Much Does ISO 9001 Certification Cost?” https://goo.gl/M2qmYL __________________________________________________
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Dr. Plinio Cabrera is expert in Environmental Planning, EIA and ISO14000. Lives in Venezuela and at present works in the main office of Pentech Ingenieros. For contact: plinio.cabrera@gmail.com (**) The ISO 14001 certification tasks described in this paper were carried out as part of a larger in-house project with a team of 8 professionals (4 full-time, 4 part-time) in charge of the Triple Certification of the company: ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OSHA 18001. That work was executed 1 and 1/2 years and at a cost of 20,000 dollars. (***) First Published in: http://tasraspao.blogspot.com/2016/11/iso-14000-certification-and-greening-of.html