Partner Insight: Laurie Wood, sector lead for sustainability at BSI, discusses how standards can support your sustainability goals, and how you can identify which standards are best suited to your needs to become more sustainable
The UK government's aim is to reach net zero emissions by 2050. While large firms are required to publish climate transition plans in the UK, smaller companies will also be feeling the pressure to change the way they operate too.
This is because the SMEs make a significant contribution to larger organisation's Scope 3 emissions. And sooner or later, they will need to provide data on their own sustainability credentials.
There are many sustainability certification and verification schemes out there, which has led to a confusing market.
ISO management system standards provide a framework to ensure your company meets sustainability goals on time, and on budget. But it can often be hard to understand what is involved and even where to start.
What is a standard?
Put simply, a standard is an agreed way of doing something. Standards set out a best practice framework designed to make things better, safer and more efficient, and they are applicable to any type of organisation.
All standards have sort of six key elements to them; leadership, planning, support and resources, performance evaluation, and improvement.
Standards can be used to improve nearly every aspect of your business, including safety, quality, sustainability, productivity, business continuity and lots more.
How do I know what's right for me?
There are lots of different standards available. Indeed, BSI – the world's first national standards body – has helped shape over 80,000 best practice standards and guidelines.
When selecting a standard to implement, take a risk-based approach to identify the areas, activities and processes which have the biggest impact, and require the highest level of control.
For example, a telecommunications company may be concerned about its carbon footprint, or its information security, or the health and safety of its installation workers – and each concern will have a unique standard relevant to that area. Fortunately, since 2015 all ISO management system standards follow the same high-level structure. So if you have one, you are well on your way to getting another.
The best known and most widely adopted environmental management system is ISO 14001, which is a great place to start. Equally ISO 50001 Energy Management system helps organizations become more resilient against energy consumption and availability.
ISO 14001, the traditional environmental management system, does not address energy consumption specifically, however an organisation's energy use continues to have an impact on the environment which is why we often see these standards implemented together.
My final recommendation in this brief article would be ISO 14064-1 which is carbon footprint verification. Sometimes organizations can make a significant impact on their CO2 emissions very, very quickly. But without knowing what your carbon footprint actually is backed up with third party verification to confirm it is accurate, it's difficult to set credible reduction targets.
What happens next?
Once a business has implemented a standard, lots of businesses also seek formal certification from an organization such as BSI. This third-party certification gives your stakeholders the confidence that you are working to a formal management system and the subject to ongoing audits to ensure that the system is being maintained.
Choosing a certification partner who is formally accredited by a National Accreditation body, such as UKAS, is also key. This means they themselves have been independently assessed for competence and performance capability, providing complete confidence to you and your customers that your certificates are both credible and impartial.
Getting certified is just the beginning of your standards journey. Once you're certified, you'll have the skills and knowledge to continue building on the improvements, protecting your reputation and data, and reaping the rewards well into the future.
Learn more about how BSI can help you take the first steps in your sustainability journey today: Find out more
Laurie Wood is sector lead for sustainability at BSI.
This article is sponsored by BSI.
