Management system guidance
8.0 Operation
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8.1 Operational planning and control
Clause 8.1 requires your organization to establish, implement, control and maintain the process(es) it needs to meet EMS requirements and to carry out the actions planned under Clause 6 – that is, the actions for significant environmental aspects, compliance obligations, risks and opportunities (6.1.5) and environmental objectives (6.2.2). This is done by setting operating criteria for those processes and controlling them in line with the criteria. Controls can include engineering controls and procedures, can follow a hierarchy (e.g. elimination, substitution, administrative) and can be used singly or in combination.
What changed in ISO 14001:2026
The core requirements are the same as in ISO 14001:2015, with the following changes:
- Externally provided processes, products and services: the term “outsourced processes” has gone. Your organization must now ensure that externally provided process(es), products or services relevant to the intended outcomes of the EMS are controlled or influenced, and the type and extent of that control or influence must be defined within the EMS.
- Documented information: the process(es) for 8.1 must be “available as documented information” to the extent needed for confidence that they are carried out as planned (previously “maintain and retain”).
- Annex A.8.1 now gives much fuller guidance on choosing operational control methods and on deciding the degree of control over external providers.
- Changes: control of planned changes and review of unintended changes remains in 8.1, but should now be read with the new clause 6.3 Planning of changes.
Operating criteria and controls
All operational activities associated with significant environmental aspects and compliance obligations should be identified and managed in a way that conforms to your environmental policy and commitments. The type and extent of control depend on the nature of the operation, its significant aspects, compliance obligations and risks and opportunities. Methods can be used individually or together, for example:
- Designing processes to prevent or minimize adverse environmental impacts;
- Engineering controls such as bunding, interceptors, abatement equipment or automatic shut-offs;
- Using competent personnel (see 7.2);
- Performing processes in a specified way, e.g. work instructions, checklists, permits to work;
- Monitoring or measuring processes to check results (see 9.1.1);
- Deciding how much documented information is needed.
Operating criteria should be clear and checkable – for example a discharge limit, a maximum storage quantity, a waste segregation rule or a maintenance frequency. There should be a process for developing work instructions that set out standard practice for routine tasks, and a process for identifying and controlling non-routine tasks so that environmental requirements are still met.
Changes
Planned changes must be controlled, and unintended changes reviewed for their consequences, with action taken to mitigate any adverse effects as necessary. Examples include new equipment, a change of raw material or chemical, altered shift patterns or an unplanned process deviation. Evaluate and record evidence of how planned and unintended changes were handled.
Externally provided processes, products and services
Your organization’s ability to exert control or influence over external providers can range from direct control (e.g. a contractor working on your site under your procedures) to limited or no influence (e.g. a sole supplier of a utility). Decide the degree of control based on factors such as the provider’s competence, your own technical competence to set and assess controls, the importance of the product or service to your EMS outcomes, how far control is shared, and whether your normal procurement process is sufficient. Typical controls include specifying environmental requirements in purchase orders, evaluating providers’ qualifications and performance history, pre-job briefings or training, requiring documentation such as waste transfer notes, and audits or oversight. Auditors will be alert to highly polluting processes being moved to external providers with the intention of taking them out of the EMS.
Life cycle perspective
Some of your organization’s significant environmental impacts can occur after products and services leave your control. Consistent with a life cycle perspective, your organization must:
- Establish controls, as appropriate, so that environmental requirements are addressed in design and development of products and services, considering each life cycle stage;
- Determine environmental requirements for procurement of products and services, as appropriate;
- Communicate relevant environmental requirements to external providers, including contractors;
- Consider the need to provide information about potential significant environmental impacts arising when its products and services are transported or delivered, used, treated at end of life and finally disposed of.
Ensure that those responsible for each stage of the life cycle, for example procurement, design, logistics, operations, sales and after-sales, are represented in identifying and evaluating environmental aspects (see 6.1.2); a workshop works well. Where significant aspects relate to other life cycle stages, they can be managed through operational controls and environmental objectives.
You should seek and record evidence that your organization has established, implemented and maintained the processes needed to meet EMS requirements and the actions planned in Clause 6; that operating criteria have been set and processes are controlled in accordance with them; that planned changes are controlled and unintended changes reviewed; that the type and extent of control or influence over relevant externally provided processes, products and services is defined and applied; that life cycle requirements for design, procurement, communication to external providers and product information have been addressed; and that the process(es) are available as documented information to the extent needed. Check a sample of controls at the point of use and confirm that the actions taken to address risks and opportunities are verifiable at process level and have been evaluated for effectiveness.
More information on PDCA
Planning
Context
Planning
Support
Doing
Support
Operations
Checking
Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation
Acting
Improvement
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