Bite-sized EMSs
The first accreditation of a scheme which enables small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to implement an EMS in stages has been granted by the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS). It is known as the Acorn scheme.
According to Jane Beaumont, UKAS director of accreditation: ‘BS 8555 is particularly designed for SMEs which might find the standard requirements of the full ISO 14001 EMS certification difficult to tackle in one go. The standard was supported in its initial development by large organizations that wished to improve their own environmental management by addressing that of their suppliers. These larger organizations decided that not all suppliers would need full ISO 14001 certification but that, based on evaluation of risk, some suppliers could be required or encouraged to achieve a lower level such as one of the phases of BS 8555.’
The BS 8555 standard is a stepped approach to ISO 14001 EMSs. Participants can choose to enter at any of phases one to five but assessment at any phase will require conformance to all lower phases. The accreditation standard for the Acorn scheme is ISO/IEC 17020 (inspection) because assessment will not be of a full management system but a snapshot of conformance with the achievement criteria in BS 8555.
For further information visit www.ukas.com
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