UK-managed ISO committee for environmental management systems standards wins prestigious international award
14 September 2016
ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, has awarded its prestigious Lawrence D. Eicher Leadership Award to the UK-led committee responsible for developing environment management systems standards, including ISO 14001 – the world’s most popular environmental management standard.
The award, named after the former ISO Secretary General, recognizes the significant contribution and superior performance of an ISO technical committee or subcommitteeto the development of ISO Standards. This year, the winning committee (ISO/TC 207/SC 1 Environmental Management Systems) was rewarded for its innovative approach in supporting its members and promoting its work externally.
In particular, the committee was honoured for developing a continual improvement survey of ISO 14001 and ISO 14004 users, which fed into the revision processes of both standards, and also its communications plan which included the development of a dedicated SC1 website and use of social media. The judges further acknowledged that the membership of SC1 was among the highest of any ISO committee or sub-committee, with a wide range of stakeholders and strong participation from developing countries.
BSI, the UK’s national standards body, holds the secretariat to ISO/TC 207/SC 1 which also has a UK Chair. The Award is therefore a double triumph for the UK, who last received the accolade in 2004. Commenting on the announcement, Richard Taylor, BSI’s Director of Standards Market Development, said: “In its long history, BSI has always taken a global lead in standards development, and we continue to champion innovation and inclusivity as the cornerstones of that process. We are therefore delighted that SC1, whose secretariat has been UK-run since it was established in 1993, should receive such a prestigious award.”
Dr Anne-Marie Warris, chair of ISO/TC 207/SC 1 Environmental Management Systems, added: “This award recognises the significant contribution that all members, liaison organizations, working group leaders and experts in SC1 have made to the success of SC1 and in support of its standards. The future success of SC1 is built on a set of pillars namely: everyone’s contribution is critical, including the committed leadership of working groups; the essential elements of communication and transparency, as well as support for and the involvement of developing countries.”
The Award was presented to BSI’s Richard Taylor on Monday 12 September as part of the ISO General Assembly in Beijing.
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Notes to Editors:
About the Lawrence D Eicher Award:
The Lawrence D Eicher Award recognizes the significant contribution and superior performance of an ISO technical committee or sub-committee to the development of international standards. It rewards the use of innovative and efficient processes and solutions that ensure the provision of excellent services, and provides an opportunity to publicize and share best practice among ISO committees
First awarded in 2003, this award is named in honour of ISO's late Secretary General whose 16-year tenure at ISO (1986-2002) saw the organization evolve from an institution with a predominantly technological focus to a market-oriented organization whose standards are increasingly recognized as bringing wider social and economic benefits, in addition to solutions to technical problems.
About ISO/TC 207/SC 1 Environmental Management Systems:
ISO/TC 207/SC 1 is an ISO subcommittee whose Secretariat is held by BSI. It has responsibility for a number of ISO standards of which ISO 14001, the environmental management system standard, is the most well-known. Its public website https://committee.iso.org/tc207sc1 provides information to users on matter related to ISO 14001 as well as other standard developments in ISO/TC 207/SC 1 portfolio. The scope of ISO/TC 207/SC 1 is ‘Standardization in the field of environmental management systems to support the achievement of sustainability’. Its Mission Statement is to ‘Develop and maintain standards in the field of environmental management systems that meet stakeholder needs, are market based and support sustainability.’ Its Vision Statement is:
- ‘We are recognized as the world leader in the development of environmental management system standards that supports sustainability.
- Our standards are recognized nationally and internationally by users and other stakeholders as the EMS standards of choice.’
The chair of ISO/TC 207/SC 1 is Dr Anne-Marie Warris of the UK, and its vice-chair is Mr Noer Wardojo of Indonesia.
ISO 14001 helps organisation to focus on identification and management of both their environmental aspects and impacts and the effect of the environment on their operations. It helps organizations to support the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals.
