ISO 14001:2015 · clause 8.1
Your environmental footprint does not stop at the gate. Neither does the system.
ISO 14001 requires you to control outsourced processes, build environmental requirements into procurement and communicate them to external providers. All three must be evidenced.
The standard works with a life cycle perspective: not only your own activities but upstream and downstream stages too, as far as you can control or influence them. That pulls suppliers, contractors and waste handlers into scope.
Audits rarely raise this through the environmental policy. They raise it through practice: which environmental requirements actually appear in orders and contracts, how is compliance verified, and where is that recorded?
Where findings arise
- Outsourced processes such as surface treatment, transport or waste disposal without documented control.
- Environmental requirements that live in the policy but not in purchase orders.
- Disposal records that exist but are not attributed.
- Contractors on site without evidence of instruction.
What the standard requires
- 8.1
- Outsourced processes must be controlled or influenced; the type and extent of control must be defined.
- 8.1
- Determine environmental requirements for the procurement of products and services.
- 8.1
- Communicate relevant requirements to external providers, contractors included.
- 6.1.2
- Determine environmental aspects from a life cycle perspective – including those arising at suppliers.
- 9.1
- Monitor and evaluate performance, including the effectiveness of controls over third parties.
How SCRM covers it
Requirements per supplier class
Environmental conditions defined once, then applied to the right group automatically.
Evidence with validity
Disposal records, certificates and declarations with expiry instead of a binder.
Contractors on site
Instructions and clearances documented, with recall dates.
Evaluation with an environmental criterion
Environmental performance as its own criterion, comparable across the portfolio.
Frequently asked
Does a transport provider count as an outsourced process?
Usually yes, once it contributes to your environmental aspects. Whether you can control or only influence them decides the depth – not whether they are covered.
Is putting requirements in our terms enough?
That is communication, not control. You must also verify compliance on a risk basis and record the result.
We hold ISO 9001 and 14001. Two supplier lists?
Not needed. Both ask about the same external providers with different criteria. One record, two views.