Energy Management Systems (EnMS)
ISO 50001 provides a framework of requirements for organisations to:
All recently updated versions of ISO standards have a common structure of 10 sections enabling any business, working to an ISO standard anywhere in the world, to show evidence of:
1–3 – The Scope of your EnMS including normative references, terms & definitions
4 – Understanding the context of your organisation including recognising the needs and expectations of interested parties including potential organisational effects on climate change
5 – Leadership and worker participation
6 – Planning of business activities including addressing risks and opportunities and setting objectives that are S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measureable, achievable, realistic and time-based) that have relevance at all levels of the business meaning each employee understands how their job supports meeting the Energy Management Objectives
7 – Providing support to enable those activities
8 – Operating your business to achieve the EnMS
9 – Evaluating performance through feedback, internal auditing and management review
10 – Improvement!
Businesses should adopt a “Plan, Do, Check, Act” process approach that can be explained as:
Plan – Your management manual, procedures, work instructions etc.
Do – The actual work you do
Check – How do you monitor, measure, obtain feedback and assess objectives
Act – Management review activities assess performance and act to improve
This “PDCA” cycle leads to continual improvement and can be summarised as follows:
Certification to the ISO 50001 standard ensures that your organisation improves its energy performance through making better use of its energy-intensive assets. Improved energy performance can provide rapid benefits for an organisation by maximizing its use of energy sources and energy-related assets, reducing both cost and consumption. ISO 50001 is used by large and small organisations all over the world. Its benefits can take many forms. For some, it is about reducing the environmental impact and enhancing reputation; for others, the aim is to drive down costs and improve competitiveness.
A healthy energy management system should demonstrate you are reducing energy consumption, environmental impact and increasing profitability. It specifies requirements for management practices that are important to obtain improved energy performance. ISO 50001 does not fix targets for improving energy performance, which is left up to the user organisation or regulatory authorities. This means that any organisation, regardless of its current level of energy performance, can implement ISO 50001 to establish a baseline and improve on it at its own rate.
To implement ISO 14001:2015 successfully, your organisation should:
Section 1 – set a scope for how this will work within your unique business
Section 3 – review, understand and plan for the additional and specific energy management terms and definitions
Section 4.4 (context of the organisation) – requires you to establish, implement, maintain and continually improved an energy management system;
Section 6 (planning) – requires you to consider at:
Section 7 (resources) 7.4 – are staff able to comment on performance of the EnMS?
Section 8 (operation) – requires you to consider at:
Section 9 (performance evaluation) 9.1.2 – how is evaluation of compliance with legal and other requirements affecting the EnMS planned and documented?
You may be starting from scratch or you may have an existing (possibly already integrated) Management System. Your first consideration should be a “Gap-Analysis” where you acquire a copy of the standard, study every section and detail and identify areas where there is work to be done to comply with the standards requirements. You then create an action plan involving a logical sequence of activities including setting timescales for completion, responsibilities within your organisation and identifying resources needed – summarised as “What, When, Who and How”.
You would normally then run with the EnMS for a period and carry out a full internal audit to check everything is in place and the system is working effectively within your business.
Once you feel you are ready for assessment you can call QSS in to conduct your initial assessment audit. We will spend, depending on the complexity of your business, at least the best part of one day initially auditing the EnMS against the standard and your documented procedures. This may or may not reveal nonconformities that will have to be addressed and corrected (as applicable) before you are deemed as compliant. Once you are deemed as being compliant QSS will issue a certificate providing third-party independent confirmation that you meet the requirements of ISO 50001. After initial certification, QSS would re-audit you annually to confirm you continue to meet the requirements of the standard.
You need to first purchase a copy of the standard (QSS are an authorised BSI standards distributor and can save you money on the cost of the standard if ordered through QSS) and then budget costs for implementing the standard within your business prior to initial assessment. You may wish to do this yourselves or you may engage an appropriately qualified and experienced independent consultant who can quote to assist you through the preparation process.
QSS can then on request and subject to application review, complete your initial assessment and set up an annual surveillance cycle.
Costs for this can be obtained by contacting David Woodhouse, QSS General Manager at:
Quality Service Standards Ltd.,
Unit 3, The Progression Centre, Mark Road,
Hemel Hempstead, HP2 7DW
T: +44 (0)1923 699840
E: admin@qssonline.co.uk
© Quality Service Standards Ltd. Registered in England & Wales, No. 03804633. Registered Address: Unit 3, The Progression Centre, Mark Road, Hemel Hempstead, HP2 7DW.
