7.3 Awareness [ISO 14001 Procedure]

All employees and those who work on behalf of the organization must be made aware of:

1. The EMS policies
2. Relevant EMS objectives
3. Their contribution to the effectiveness of the EMS
4. Benefits of improved performance
5. The implications of not conforming to EMS requirements

Awareness Training

Awareness training is intended to provide an overview of the organization’s environmental policy, objectives and targets, and overall EMS.

Who Should Attend Awareness Training?

The requirements for awareness training apply to all employees (internal and external) including those whose work may cause significant environmental impacts or safety risks.

Mandatory — Awareness Training

Your organization must ‘establish and maintain procedures to make its employees and members at each relevant function and level aware of’:

• The importance of conformance with the policy and the EMS procedures and requirements
• The actual and the potential significant impacts and risks of the activities, products, and/or services
• The benefits of improved personal performance
• The employees’ roles and responsibilities in achieving conformance with the policies and the EMS procedures
• The employees’ roles and responsibilities with the emergency preparedness and response requirements
• The potential consequences of departure from specified operating procedures

Optional / Additional — Awareness Training

Your awareness training may also include additional elements that address:

• The organization’s objectives and targets
• The employees’ actions to minimize/eliminate impacts and risks and how each employee can contribute
• The importance of compliance with operational and regulatory requirements
• The overall improvement of the organization’s EMS performance and the potential financial return
• The importance to interested parties

Training Methods

Training does not need to follow the traditional format of long classroom sessions.

Training may be offline or online. Video streaming training is becoming more and more popular.

Other methods to promote and reinforce the EMS awareness training include apps, online quizzes, email questionaires, posters, newsletters and informational meetings.