Tavares Group Blog

Is your organization managing your “other” requirements?

The start of a New Year always offers an opportunity to commit to new goals. This year, why not commit to managing your organization’s “other” requirements more effectively? Unlike legal requirements, “other” requirements can include the growing number of large companies imposing sustainability demands on their suppliers, such as additional greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting and submitting proof of certification to ISO 14001. For organizations that are producing parts or products for multiple clients, identifying and then managing these additional supply chain requirements can be a daunting task.

Unfortunately, unlike clearly articulated legislative requirements, evaluating compliance for “other” requirements can be more difficult if they have not all been fully identified. For organizations which are ISO 14001 certified, this can pose a serious problem and result in non-conformities.

While Section 4.3.2 of ISO 14001 requires organizations to identify “other” requirements, Section 4.5.2.2 specifically requires organizations to evaluate their compliance with them. All too often the identification, management and evaluation of compliance of “other” requirements is given less attention as compared to their legal counterparts, resulting in a potential non-conformity.

Together with Kuzuka Ltd., Tavares Group Consulting Inc. has recently worked on a project to manage this exact issue for an automotive supplier client. The end result of this project was an easy to use audit protocol identifying the “other” requirements of over two dozen of our client’s major auto maker customers. This audit protocol will allow our client to demonstrate compliance with Sections 4.3.2 and 4.5.2.2 of ISO 14001, thereby reducing the risk of non-conformity. Using this audit protocol, the client now has a single tool to evaluate their compliance to their “other” requirements by answering a series of questions organized into the following categories:

• Management System Implementation
• Reporting
• Energy Consumption
• GHG and ODS
• Air Quality and Noise
• Chemicals and Substances of Concern
• Water Consumption and Discharge
• Waste Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Product Design and Life Cycle Impacts
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Quality
• Safety
• Training

In addition to this unique project which included the identification of legal and “other” requirements and the development of an audit protocol, Tavares Group Consulting also conducts management system and compliance audits that identify areas which need improvement in order to ensure readiness for third party audits. Also, consider visiting our website to learn more about our quarterly newsletter service which provides an overview of municipal, provincial and federal legislations updates relevant to your organization.