ISO 14000 Standards: Quality Analysis

The terms Quality Management (QM) and Environmental Management (EM) are used as a synonym for a long period and were beneficial for companies. The ISO 14000 Standards are the part of quality management. These series are set of standards to provide a comprehensive approach to business organisations and manage their impacts on the environment. It specifies the need for environmental management and balance between declared policies and objectives of environmental protection. It also helps to meet law-induced regulations. The cognizance about environmental protection is accountability of the management and it has indirectly controlled by the emergence of the ISO 14000 series. The International Standards Organization (ISO) establishes a close cooperation

It includes environmental auditing ISO 14010, 14011 and 14012; environmental labels and declarations ISO 14020, 14021 and 14024; environmental performance evaluation ISO 14031; life cycle assessment ISO14040, 14041, 14042 and 14043; and the inclusion of environmental aspects in product ISO 14060 (Christopher S. Decker 2003). ISO 14001 is an Environmental Management System standard that has structured to be applicable to virtually any industrial producer. It examines the following main categories of environmental management process: (1) establishment of an environmental policy, (2) environmental planning, (3) policy implementation and operation, (4) monitoring and corrective action programs, and (5) Management review. It provides a basic structure for industrial firms to improve their environmental performance through the establishment of environmental goals, implementation of a plan for achieving those goals, monitoring progress, and corrective action. In developing countries, ISO 14001 is in the developmental stage but it has created awareness among many industrial entities throughout the developed and developing countries (Vastag & Melnyk, 2002); (S. Banerjee 2007). ISO 14000 accompanied by all U.S. companies and implied for the ink, pigment and paper industries. Major companies of

S. Banerjee (2007) considered environmental management system (EMS) as an integrated part of firms as it would protect in emergencies. Although for Indian, industries are tough to follow the continuous improvement process of EMS. They examined the existing practices as regards environmental management with specific reference to a select set of steel industries in India, where ISO 14000 is not only an internal tool for environmental management but also necessary for sustainable stakeholder satisfaction (S. Banerjee 2007).

The volumes of literature for ISO14000 in Indian respect are very less. Moreover, in selected industry and industrial area, no work published earlier. The circumstance demands, extensive exploratory works for the enrichment of the industrial EMS practice in Durgapur and sustainable