CHICAGO — Most ofthe ISO 14001 certificateholders that are respondingto a landmark US nationalsurvey, report a relativelyquick payback time on theirinvestment.

The preliminary find-ings of the study, which isbeing conducted by theANSI-ASQ NationalAccreditation Board LLC(ANAB) and QSU PublishingCompany (QSUP) in coopera-tion with the University ofPennsylvania’s prestigiousWharton Risk Management andDecision Processes Center, were releasedhere at a March meeting of the NationalAssociation of Manufacturers.

“Very broadly looking at it from theinflow and the outflow, it looks like theyare getting a reasonable payback, a rela-tively quick payback,” acknowledgesPeter J. Schmeidler, a Wharton seniorresearch fellow, who is leading theresearch effort.

“We’re expecting the results of thesurvey may show not just an economicpayback for ISO 14001 but that they willalso build a complete business case forcompanies to become certified to ISO14001 and put the US in a better position

in relation to the rest of the world withrespect to environmental managementsystems,” explains Robert H. King, Jr.,president of ANAB.

Customers Expect ISO 14001The preliminary findings also indi-

cate that most of the respondents havebeen compelled to seek certification bytheir customer base or in response to acorporate mandate.

The research team began contactingISO 14001 certificates holders in theUnited States to ascertain the costs, ben-efits and savings associated withaccredited, third-party certification in

Slight Dip in North AmericanCertificates 5

Korea and Mexico Share AuditFindings with US, JapaneseAustralian and CanadianAccreditors 9

Pentagon ‘Very Close’ to Full Compliance with EMSMandate 11

ISO 14001 Forum:Simple Secrets to Success 17

PreliminaryFindings Point to Green for ISO14001 Certification

The Journal for ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, RC14001 and Environmental Professionals � Volume 11, Number 1 � 2006

(See PRELIMINARY on page 14)

Haitao Yin of Wharton presents preliminaryfindings of the ISO 14001 survey to the National

Association of Manufacturers in Chicago.

14 ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS UPDATE Volume 11, Number 1 � 2006

late February. As of press time, some 412 respondents hadvisited a special web site that has been set up to collect data,but not all completed the survey instrument, which hastaken some respondents as little as 15 minutes and others aslong as 45 minutes.

Additional responses are still being collected andresearchers also plan to begin contacting potential respon-dents by telephone in the near future to encourageadditional certificate holders to participate. All but one of the

Big Ten Registrars for North America have cooperated inmaking client information available.

The fourth in a series of surveys conducted by QSUPand Quality Systems Update (QSU) since 1993, the currentinitiative is likely to result in a book and/or CD-ROM by theend of the year.

The present survey is the first to look specifically at ISO14001, which was first published in September 1996 andrevised in November 2004. In addition, the survey hopes to

Preliminary(Continued from cover)

(See PRELIMINARY on page 15)

capture data on RC14001, a sector-specific interpretationthat combines ISO 14001 requirements with the chemicalindustry’s Responsible Care® program.

Positive Environmental PerformanceHaitao Yin, a Wharton doctoral candidate, who has

been culling through the responses, says that the early datashows a direct positive correlation between the environmen-tal performance of certified facilities and the environmentalaspects they target as part of their ISO 14001 implementa-tion.

“If you really select one environmental aspect as yourEMS goal, you really will do better on this aspect,” Yinobserves.

Conversely, companies that do not tie a particular envi-ronmental aspect to an EMS goal do not reportimprovement in those areas merely from the presence of anenvironmental management system based on ISO 14001.

“To some extent you get what you put into your ISO14001 certification program,” adds Paul Scicchitano, presi-dent and publisher of QSU Publishing. “Our surveyconfirms the importance of doing a thorough job up front inidentifying environmental aspects and targeting them forimprovement. This exercise, unlike any other, leads to thebottom-line sorts of benefits that organizations expect fromtheir certification investment.”

Surprisingly, most respondents indicated that the costof implementing ISO 14001 and becoming certified was$50,000 or less while reporting roughly equivalent savingsover the first two years. Consequently, many organizationsare experiencing a two-year financial payback and someorganizations may even be experiencing a one-year return.

Impressive Internal GainsThe internal gains, however, appear to be the most

impressive findings, according to Yin.“In terms of internal benefits it’s huge,” says Yin. “By

doing ISO certification, the firm successfully raised upemployee awareness, management awareness and manage-ment involvement in environmental affairs.”

Moreover, the internal benefits appear to extend fur-ther. “Our survey shows ISO certification successfully

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Registration costs can varywidely depending on a numberof variables, including whethercompanies use their system as

a springboard for advancedquality practices, whether theyincorporate audit findings into

training and whether topmanagement applies data tofind solutions to problems.

(See PRELIMINARY on page 16)

Volume 11, Number 1 � 2006 ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS UPDATE 15

16 ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS UPDATE Volume 11, Number 1 � 2006

streamlines a facility’s management system,” he says. “This isa long-term thing. It’s not only this year’s benefit. It’s nextyear’s benefit and probably into the future.”

As a group, ISO 14001 certificate holders also appear tobe achieving a better relationship with regulatory agencies asa result of their implementations.

“They think of ISO 14001 certification as one way toshow their environmental consciousness to the govern-ment,” says Yin, adding that this was also one of the majorreasons cited for attaining certification.

Barriers Not SignificantThe main barrier to implementing ISO 14001 appears

to be document maintenance, but no single barrier appearedto pose a significant obstacle for respondents, according tothe preliminary findings. Similarly, companies reported nosignificant barriers in maintaining their certifications.

“It seemed like the people didn’t feel there were signifi-cant barriers to maintaining certification,” according toSchmeidler.

The last survey, released in the final days of 1999, foundtotal average costs associated with ISO 9000 certification tobe approximately $156,000, down from $187,000 in 1996and $245,200 at the time of the first survey in 1993.

Other SurveysThe first survey was conducted with Deloitte & Touche

while QSU partnered with Dun and Bradstreet InformationServices on the second survey and Plexus Corp. on the third.The last survey drew responses from 1,150 respondents rep-resenting nearly 4,000 certificate holders in the United Statesand Canada. The 1999 effort resulted in a 301-page surveyanalysis and CD-ROM published by McGraw-Hill (nowpublished by QSUP).

Each of the previous surveys turned up both positiveand negative findings with respect to quality managementsystem certification. Registration costs can vary widelydepending on a number of variables, including whethercompanies use their system as a springboard for advanced

quality practices, whether they incorporate audit findingsinto training and whether top management applies data tofind solutions to problems.

The US accreditation body for management systems,ANAB, accredits certification bodies (CBs) for ISO 9001quality management systems (QMS) and ISO 14001 envi-ronmental management systems (EMS) as well as a numberof industry-specific requirements. ANAB is a member of theInternational Accreditation Forum (IAF) and a signatory ofthe IAF multilateral cooperative arrangements (MLAs) forQMS and EMS programs.

Through the IAF MLAs and a Multilateral CooperativeAccreditation Arrangement, ANAB cooperates with otheraccreditation bodies around the world to provide value to itsaccredited certification bodies and their clients, ensuringthat accredited certificates are recognized nationally andinternationally. The global conformity assessment systemensures confidence and reduces risk for customers engagingin trade worldwide.

From its headquarters located near Washington, DC,QSUP publishes authoritative journals, books and softwareon management systems, including Quality Systems Update(QSU), Environmental Systems Update (ESU),WhosRegistered.com Global and WhoIsTraining.com.

Respondents of the ISO 14001 survey will receive a six-month complimentary subscription to ESU, the journal forISO 14001 professionals. In addition, they may request a freecopy of the book, Ford and ISO 14001, written by TimO’Brien, then the Director of the Environmental QualityOffice of the Ford Motor Company. Everyone who com-pletes the survey will also be entered in a drawing to win a$250 shopping certificate for use on Amazon.com.

“I’m pleased with the results to date,” adds King. “I’veenjoyed the partnership that we’ve had with QSUP andWharton. It’s allowed us to stay at arm’s length from devel-oping and conducting the survey.” �

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