ISO 14001. Theoretical gap analysis and guidance for obtaining of the operational gap analysis in companies

No company today can allow to have non-controlled environmental impacts if it wants to be a part of the sustainable business. As the risk for keeping the environmental reputation of a company in the sustainable society is rising it can be understood from where the initiative for revising of a tool used worldwide for the Environmental Management has gained its importance. Many companies in the world today have ISO14001 as their tool for controlling their Environmental Management. As the second revision of the standard has been done in September 2015 it is therefore of huge importance to understand the right guidance to follow in order to obtain the transition and to stay compliant with ISO. The main source for my work was the literature published as well as communication with experts working in the field of Environmental Management in order to prioritize the changes in the right way and thus obtain a good theoretical base and guidance for companies who need to do the transition. The goal of this study was to give a broad picture on what stands behind the ISO14001 and how understanding the history of ISO14001 and the ISO organization itself together combined with the conclusions made by experts can make a very thorough base for obtaining the operational GAP Analysis and thus make the transition easier to understand and implement. We must never forget that without looking back and understanding of the true needs for the changes we can never benefit from their implementation in the right way. The first step should always be to obtain a thorough theoretical GAP Analysis and in that way obtain the right questions to obtain the operational GAP Analysis meaning the incorporating of the changes in the company’s Environmental Management System.