ISO 14001:2015 - Understanding context with related risks and opportunities - a South African construction industry perspective
Abstract
ISO 14001-based Environmental Management System (EMS), according to extant literature, is the world’s most widely used voluntary environmental management tool. The 2015 version of the ISO 14001 standard introduces a new requirement, "understanding context of the organisation". The aim of this study was to explore context with related risks and opportunities to provide the understanding, from the perspective of the South African construction industry. Three objectives were set in pursuit of the overall aim of this study: (1) To understand ISO 14001:2015-based EMS and its role in contributing to sustainability within the construction industry. (2) To explore and select the methods for determining context. (3) To establish the context of one specific South African construction organisation by determining organisation issues (internal and external) and the needs of relevant interested parties. Literature review was used to achieve objective (1) and (2). Objective (3) was pursued using the methods selected from objective (2). The results from the literature review and application of methods outlined above were synthesised. With regard to objective (1), the literature review shows that since ISO 14001 standard can be applied to any organisation or industry, the construction industry organisations, or any industry for that matter, should not be treated in any special way, the only difference lies in the organisational factors or "context". Additionally, the construction industry has been reported to lag behind in delivering on sustainability expectations, mainly due to contextual factors. The literature review also shows that ISO 14001-based EMS has an important role in contributing to sustainability in construction. In fact, the internal motivations which are known to drive their adoption can be strategically harnessed to drive more substantive environmental performance results (sustainability). As for objective (2), this study acknowledges the well-known lack of a universally agreed method for determining context and shows what could be considered an effective process for understanding context. With respect to objective (3), one key finding is that the context determined at higher levels of the organisations will not always be entirely applicable at the lower levels and so context should also be determined at the relevant organisational levels and functions, consistent with extant knowledge. In addition, contrary to the extensive literature suggesting that organisations are more motivated by internal factors to adopt the ISO-based EMS, this study reveals that the construction firm in focus will have to deal with - and balance both external and internal issues. Existing literature indicates that the balancing act should be based on risks and opportunities, which are rooted in the elements of context. Lastly, drawing on the overall outcomes and the experiences gained, this study suggests the promotion of the view that since organisational issues cannot exist in a vacuum, the entities (interested parties or stakeholders) related to those issues could be looked at as the conduits through whom the organisations can engage with those organisational issues. Thus, understanding context of the organisation, articulated in this study and contemplated in the ISO 14001:2015 standard, essentially comes down to effectively understanding stakeholder matters.