A Methodology to Develop the Integration of the Environmental Management System with Other Standardized Management Systems

Traditionally the global management system of an organization is frequently split into a number of individual management systems that are defined and implemented according to specific management systems standards (MSSs) as well as managed independently. The individual implementation of MSSs is an option that leads to several inefficiencies and sub-optimization of the global management system of an organization. As referred by ISO [1] the interested parties’ requirements increase. A more effective and efficient option for an organization is to integrate, into an integrated management system (IMS), the implementation and management of requirements of multiple MSSs. Certain difficulties are associated to the structuring process, implementation, verification, evaluation, improvement and progressive development of an IMS in the organizations. Several scholars have proposed various theoretical approaches regarding the integration of individual management systems (MSs) leading to the conclusion that there is not a common practice for all organizations as they encompass different characteristics. This paper aims to present and justify a designed methodology to be used by organizations to support the integration of various MSs. Among them are highlighted: the Environmental Management System (EMS) according ISO 14001 [2], the Quality Management System (QMS) according ISO 9001 [3], and the Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OH & SMS) according OHSAS 18001 [4]. The methodology was designed in the context of a Portuguese company, on sequence of an organizational diagnosis and a research that was performed through a questionnaire. The strategy and the research methods took into consideration the case study.

[1]  Dorin Maier,et al.  Establishing the basis for Development of an Organization by Adopting the Integrated Management Systems: Comparative Study of Various Models and Concepts of Integration☆ , 2014 .

[2]  Wen-Hsien Tsai,et al.  Selecting management systems for sustainable development in SMEs: A novel hybrid model based on DEMATEL, ANP, and ZOGP , 2009, Expert Syst. Appl..

[3]  M. Bhasi,et al.  A study on the impact of management system certification on safety management , 2011 .

[4]  Roger Frost,et al.  International Organization for Standardization (ISO) , 2004 .

[5]  Jan B. Jonker,et al.  Integration of standardized management systems: Searching for a recipe and ingredients , 2003 .

[6]  Georg Disterer,et al.  ISO/IEC 27000, 27001 and 27002 for Information Security Management , 2013 .

[7]  Gilberto Santos,et al.  The main benefits associated with health and safety management systems certification in Portuguese small and medium enterprises post quality management system certification , 2013 .

[8]  Kazuhiro Esaki.  General Frame Work of New TQM Based on the ISO/IEC25000 Series of Standard , 2013 .

[9]  Anne Marsden,et al.  International Organization for Standardization , 2014 .

[10]  G. Santos,et al.  A generic model for integration of Quality, Environment and Safety Management Systems , 2014 .

[11]  Martí Casadesús,et al.  How integrated are environmental, quality and other standardized management systems? An empirical study ☆ , 2009 .

[12]  G. Santos,et al.  Certification and integration of management systems: the experience of Portuguese small and medium enterprises , 2011 .

[13]  G. Santos,et al.  Integrated management systems – quality, environment and health and safety: motivations, benefits, difficulties and critical success factors , 2012 .

[14]  Muhammad Asif,et al.  Meta‐management of integration of management systems , 2010 .

[15]  Ferreira,et al.  Integration of Individualized Management Systems （MSs） as an Aggregating Factor of Sustainable Value for Organizations An Overview Through a Review of the Literature , 2014 .

[16]  Hosny Hamdy,et al.  An Empirical Evaluation of the ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems for Certified Work Organizations in Kuwait as Benchmarked against Analogous Swedish Organizations , 2013 .

[17]  Claus-Heinrich Daub,et al.  Enabling sustainable management through a new multi‐disciplinary concept of customer satisfaction , 2005 .

[18]  Gilberto Santos,et al.  Certification and Integration of Environment with Quality and Safety - A Path to Sustained Success , 2012 .

[19]  Researcher Lise Granerud,et al.  Organisational learning and continuous improvement of health and safety in certified manufacturers , 2011 .

[20]  S. C. Laroiya,et al.  Integrated management systems in Indian manufacturing organizations , 2010 .

[21]  Jonathan Jingsheng Shi,et al.  A synergetic model for implementing an integrated management system: an empirical study in China , 2007 .

[22]  Leonard Steinborn,et al.  International Organization for Standardization ISO/IEC 17025 General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories , 2004 .

[23]  M. Casadesus,et al.  Integration of standardized environmental and quality management systems audits , 2011 .

[24]  Gilberto Santos,et al.  Conception of a flexible integrator and lean model for integrated management systems , 2014 .

[25]  P. Sampaio,et al.  Different perspectives on management systems integration , 2014 .

[26]  Tine Herreborg Jørgensen,et al.  Towards more sustainable management systems: through life cycle management and integration , 2008 .

[27]  Martí Casadesús,et al.  Implementing environmental with other standardized management systems: Scope, sequence, time and integration , 2009 .

[28]  Martí Casadesús,et al.  Implementing integrated management systems in chemical firms , 2013 .

[29]  O. Oliveira.  Guidelines for the integration of certifiable management systems in industrial companies , 2013 .

[30]  Wenbin Wang,et al.  Sustainability Embedded Organizational Diagnostic Model , 2014 .

[31]  Chi Ming Tam,et al.  An empirical examination of benefits from implementing integrated management systems (IMS) , 2011 .

[32]  R. Salomone.  Integrated management systems: experiences in Italian organizations , 2008 .