Synesis, yachting specialist in the French Riviera, launches IsoYacht. A brand new concept, made specifically for yachts, which allows assistance and guidance up until the obtainment of the distinguished environmental ISO 14001 international certification. Yacht owners, generally very concerned about their image...

   An ISO 14001 certified yacht is the best credential you can get to proove the world your commitment to the protection of our seas and apart from that it has the following benefits:

- A passport to all MPA (Marine Protected Areas)
- A better risk management allowing renegotiation of insurance policy
- A management tool for responsible crew
- A better market overall value of your yacht

   ISO 14001 is an internationally accepted standard that sets out how you can go about putting in place an effective Environmental Management System (EMS). The standard is designed to address the delicate balance between maintaining profitability and reducing environmental impact; with the commitment of your entire organization, it can enable you to achieve both objectives.

What’s in ISO 14001:

•    General requirements
•    Environmental policy
•    Planning implementation and operation
•    Checking and corrective action
•    Management review

   This means you can identify aspects of your yacht that impact the environment and understand those environmental laws that are relevant to your situation. The next step is to produce objectives for improvement and a management programme to achieve them, with regular reviews for continual improvement.

   Who is it relevant to?

   Environmental impact is becoming an increasingly important issue across the globe, with pressure to minimize that impact coming from a number of sources: local and national governments, regulators, trade associations, customers, employees and shareholders. Social pressures are also building up from the growing array of interested parties, such as consumer, environmental and minority non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia and neighbours.

   Certifying your yacht environmental management system to ISO 14001 means that a third party, such as ISOYACHT, has assessed that it meets the requirements set out in the standard.

Certification to ISO 14001 allows you to:

•    Demonstrate a commitment to achieving legal and regulatory compliance to regulators and government
•    Demonstrate your environmental commitment to stakeholders
•    Demonstrate an innovative and forward thinking approach to customers and prospective employees
•    Increase your access to new customers and business partners
•    Better manage your environmental risks, now and in the future
•    Potentially reduce public liability insurance costs
•    Enhance your reputation

Steps to certification

   Implementing a management system of any kind is a significant undertaking for any organization. However, there are some common tools you can use and a common process to follow during implementation and the route towards certification.
These build on the requirements of ISO 14001 by breaking down the requirements into manageable steps:
 

1. Choose the standard
Initially you should read ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management Systems

2. Develop your environmental policy
Your environmental policy will state your commitment to compliance with legal and regulatory demands, continual improvement and the prevention of pollution. You should make this policy available to your customers and the public.

3. Review and produce objectives
At this stage you should identify the elements of your business that impact on the environment, establish access to relevant environmental legislation and regulations and produce objectives and targets for environmental improvement and a management programme to achieve them.

4. Training
Once you have assembled a team and agreed your strategy it’s crucial to get understanding and involvement from the top down.

5. Implementation and assessment
The initial registration to ISO 14001 involves a two-stage assessment process, including a document review and a site visit.

6. Certification and beyond
Once the assessment has been successfully completed, the certificate is valid for three years, and your assessor will visit you regularly to help you make sure you remain compliant, and support you in the continual improvement of your systems.

More info at ISOYACHT website

Watch the ISO14001 video here