NCBJ Hosts Stakeholder Awareness Forum July 31

The National Certification Body of Jamaica (NCBJ) will be hosting a Stakeholder Awareness Forum for the ISO 14001:2015 Draft International Standard (DIS) on Thursday, July 31.

The NCBJ has been hosting stakeholder awareness fora, as most of the standards are due for review.

Feedback from all stakeholders, locally and internationally, is required by the International Organization for Standards (ISO) in order to effectively review the standards, having considered all concerns and suggestions highlighted.

The forum will be held at the Bureau of Standards Jamaica Multipurpose Facility, in Kingston.

Speaking with JIS News, Manager of NCBJ, Jacqueline Scott-Brown, informed that  the ISO 14001 standard is a widespread benchmark for thousands of organisations around the world that want to communicate to the public and their stakeholders that they are environmentally responsible.

“In Jamaica it is no different, even though we are smaller. We have approximately 13 organisations that are certified to this Environment Management System standard. Multi-national organisations in Jamaica (companies that own or control production or services facilities in one or more countries other than the home country) demand this certification,” she said.

Mrs. Scott-Brown also highlighted that the NCBJ wants greater awareness of this Environmental Management System (EMS) in the island.

“The new standard is to be released in 2015. It was last reviewed in 2004 and is now due to be re-examined, as since then a lot has changed; the environment has worsened, so we need to look at the sustainability factors. Some of the environmental issues we now face result from our poor practices that do not take into account the impact on the environment,” she explained.

Meanwhile, Assistant Operations Officer, NCBJ, Georgette Bolton-Smith, said  the awareness forum will provide information that will assist certified companies to transition from ISO 14001:2004 to ISO 14001:2015 EMS.

“The forum will emphasise how the changes to the standard will make the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and EMS programmes more responsive to environmental trends,” she noted.

“We are encouraging all stakeholders – ISO 14001:2004 Certified companies, Consultants, Quality Assurance Professionals and others – to attend the forum, as suggestions and concerns regarding changes made to the standard will be communicated to the International Organization for Standards,” Mrs. Bolton-Smith said.