Environmental Management Systems / ISO 14001
As a responsible corporate citizen, General Motors is dedicated to protecting human health, natural resources, and the global environment in line with its environmental principles, combining legal compliance with sound business practices.
In 1999, GM leadership required that all manufacturing facilities worldwide be certified to the ISO 14001 (or equivalent) Environmental Management Standard by the end of 2001. GM redesigned its global environmental management system (EMS) model around the ANSI/ISO 14001: 1996 Environmental Management System standard. Although ISO 14001-based, the GM EMS includes several additional requirements that place increased emphasis on environmental performance and cost reduction activities. These elements give our global facilities a common framework to help understand how their activities interact with the environment and to ultimately improve management of these activities.
Global implementation of our EMS required all employees at every location to be trained on their environmental responsibilities. The GM systems enable planning, measuring, and improving environmental performance through all areas of manufacturing facilities. The company controls and minimizes environmental impacts by managing plant activities, products, and services.
Each GM plant has an environmental policy that:
- Is appropriate to the nature, scale, and environmental impacts of the organization
- Includes a commitment to continual improvement and pollution prevention
- Includes a commitment to comply with relevant environmental regulations and requirements
- Provides the framework for setting and reviewing environmental objectives
- Is documented, implemented, and maintained and communicated to all employees, and
- is available to the public.
All new GM plants are required to implement an Environmental Management System 24 months after the start of production or the date of acquisition. The EMS must be certified to ISO 14001 using a third-party registrar.
