Hi vbaskar20,
For understanding ISO 14000, you must know what ISO is.
What is ISO?
ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 156 countries, with one member per country and a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, coordinating the system.
ISO is a non-governmental organization; its members are not national government delegations as in the United Nations system. However, ISO holds a special position bridging the public and private sectors. Many member institutes are part of their countries' governmental structures or are government-mandated, while others originate from the private sector through national industry association partnerships.
Therefore, ISO functions as a bridging organization where consensus can be reached on solutions meeting both business requirements and broader societal needs, including stakeholder groups like consumers and users.
What ISO's name means?
The name "International Organization for Standardization" would have different abbreviations in various languages ("IOS" in English, "OIN" in French for Organisation internationale de normalisation). To maintain consistency, a word derived from the Greek "isos," meaning "equal," was chosen. Consequently, regardless of the language or country, the organization is always referred to as ISO.
ISO 14000
The ISO 14000 family primarily focuses on "environmental management," addressing minimizing the environmental impact of an organization's activities and achieving continual improvement in environmental performance. While most ISO standards are specific to products, materials, or processes, the ISO 14000 standards, known as "generic management system standards," have gained global recognition.
"Generic" implies that these standards are applicable to organizations of any size, regardless of their product or service, industry sector, or organizational type, be it a business enterprise, public administration, or government department.
OHSAS
Occupational Health & Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) is essential for maintaining a healthy and safe environment in manufacturing units.
I have limited knowledge about OHSAS. Can anyone provide more insight on this topic?
Thanks,
dsv