COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA _ DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

ISO 14000 AND YOUR BUSINESS

What is ISO 14000?

ISO is the International Organization for Standardization based in Geneva, Switzerland. Composed of 92 countries, the purpose of the organization is to develop a common set of manufacturing, trade and communication standards. ISO 14000 is a series of international environmental standards for developing and evaluating environmental management systems. The standards are not technical guidelines or limits but require the development of an Environmental Management System (EMS)within your company that contains the following three core components:

_ Commitment to pollution prevention

_ Commitment to compliance with legislation and regulations

_ Commitment to continuous environmental improvement

The standards promote the integration of cost, efficiency, productivity and environmental performance as parts of the same decision-making process. Once the EMS is implemented, companies can become ISO 14000-certified through a review conducted by an external organization.

Why ISO 14000?

ISO 14000 developed out of the concern for the growing number of different local and national environmental standards and regulations. Many of these requirements were viewed as potential barriers to trade. ISO 14000 is an effort to level the playing field in terms of barriers to trade and competition.

How does ISO 14000 Affect You?

ISO 14000 is designed to have the marketplace drive the requirements for proper environmental management. The standards are predicted to become the dominant EMS standard domestically and world-wide. Just as with the ISO 9000 quality management systems standard, for which thousands of facilities have obtained third-party certification, ISO 14000 is expected to become a condition of doing business in many key industrial sectors and regions of the world. While the 14000 standard will not have the force of law, companies will have to be ISO 14000-certified as a prerequisite for doing business in many countries. Even if you do not market directly overseas, selling to another vendor who does may still require you to comply. Similarly, in domestic markets, companies can require their suppliers to become certified as a condition for future business.

Why Start Now?

_ Cost savings as a result of improving efficiency of processes and reducing waste.

_ Achieving certification requires significant internal commitment and resources. By getting a head start and receiving certification early, your company can gain preferred supplier status.

ISO 14000 is expected to develop and grow in the marketplace similar to the way in which ISO 9000, a series of Total Quality Management Standards, developed and continues to grow. The European community requires ISO 9000 certification for some types of products which usually have special requirements for safety or reliability. Many U.S. companies have integrated ISO 9000 quality requirements into their operations and certified companies continue to pass the requirements through to their suppliers. Within the next couple of years, the major automobile manufactures will require subcontractors to be ISO 9000 complaint. In Pennsylvania, approximately 400 companies are ISO 9000 certified and others are working to receive certification.

$$ SUCCESS STORY- ISO 9000

Oberg Industries, a world leader in carbide dies and stamped metal parts, headquartered in Freeport, PA, began a corporate initiative in 1995 to implement ISO 9000 Quality Systems Standards for two reasons:

_ to increase value to its customers by producing products within an approved quality system.

_ to act as a `glue' in pulling together quality activities under one internationally recognized quality system.

Two of its seven divisions were approved in 1995, one of which is the Oberg Stamping & Technology Center in Sarver, PA. The ISO 9000 process was a successful accomplishment for the Sarver division:

"Implementing ISO 9000 forced us to look at elements of our processes that otherwise would not have been reviewed until a problem occurred." Oberg's ISO 9000 activities resulted in a variety of improvements, including:

_ implemented a process which catches a customer's ordering error prior to release for production;

_ upgrading the gage and inspection equipment calibration system so that "what took days now takes hours;"

_ improving the labeling and handling of resalable scrap material, thus preventing the mixing of different metals and improving profit from their sale;

_ providing better product and process information to production personnel;

_ aligning all personnel under a quality policy so everyone understands individual roles and the team effort that is necessary to ensure continuous improvement.

$$ Working towards Success-ISO 14000

Lucent Technologies, formerly AT&T's Microelectronics Division, has committed to seek certification for the ISO 14000 environmental management system (EMS) standard at all of its 13 worldwide manufacturing facilities. Lucent plans to use several of its facilities as test sites for regulatory relief programs as a result of their ISO participation. The Allentown facility will serve as the company's first test site by participating in EPA's Project XL Program. The program is a pilot initiative of the agency's to develop more flexible monitoring and reporting requirements for companies that demonstrate superior environmental performance through adoption of ISO 14000. Allentown's ISO 14000- registered EMS will serve as a framework for identifying flexible and effective monitoring protocols that will be incorporated into the facility's environmental permits. Allentown envisions the following components as part of the EMS:

_ Involving the community in the development of the EMS;

_ Identifying environmental aspects of all processes and reviewing all operations;

_ Establishing measurable objectives;

_ Establishing procedures for monitoring and measuring performance;

_ Implementing water pollution prevention programs.

The information obtained as part of the EMS is expected to meet the needs of EPA and other regulatory agencies to simplify and speed up the permit application process, as well as the monitoring process, for ongoing permit compliance.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Tom Ridge, Governor

Department of Environmental Protection

James M. Seif, Secretary

0130-FS-DEP1985 3/96

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