ISO 9001 Certification Benefits for Startup Businesses

Checklist to Ensure Conformity – ISO 14001 Standard

The globally known ISO 14001 Certification is for Environmental Management Systems (EMS). Achieving it helps organizations set standard practices and measures for handling their environmental concerns.

The framework of the EMS under ISO 14001 provides organizations with a definite approach to managing their impacts, promoting environmental policies and objectives, involving stakeholders’ participation, and continually improving their environmental performance.

We have provided a simple checklist to help you achieve the environmental certification. Tickling off each fact can help your organization conform to the standard.

Checklist to Ensure Conformity of Your EMS with ISO 14001

These are the top requirements your organization should meet to achieve conformance with the ISO 14001 standard and get certified.

1. Document the environmental procedure in detail.
2. Setting up a definite environmental policy and communicating it to everyone in the business.
3. Checking or periodic auditing of business processes to ensure environmental impacts are eventually reduced.
4. Recording all the environmental aspects and impacts, from mild to severe ones.
5. Setting up targets or objectives of environmental management after analyzing the impacts.
6. Performing management reviews of the implemented environmental procedures to ensure their effectiveness in delivering the targets.
7. Gathering Customers/Stakeholders’ complaints about environmental issues and deciding actions to resolve them.
8. Implement a register from compliance where all relevant environmental legislation and obligations of your organization must be noted.
9. Providing necessary training to employees about the document environmental management procedures and reviewing their performance.
10. Performing audits by external agencies to ensure compliance with ISO 14001 requirements and implement corrective actions for non-conformity.

Key Takeaway

Many organizations face challenges while implementing the EMS and achieving the ISO 14001 certification. The certification is instituted as a part of your management strategy, which encompasses all business areas and helps to check the environmental impacts.

As a result, meeting the compliance of the EMS with all requirements of the ISO 14001 might leave you confused. Therefore, you need to follow this checklist of 10 steps to prevent any failure in your EMS and assure conformity to the ISO 14001 standard.

ISO 27001 Certification in Pakistan

The ISO 27001 Certification in Pakistan demonstrates an organization’s commitment to continuously improving, developing, and protecting information asset/sensitive data by implementing appropriate risk assessments, policies, and controls.

A company that is ISO 27001 certified is a sign to trust. They have an Information Security Management System (ISMS) in place. ISO 27001 is acknowledged by clients, suppliers, stakeholders, and others.

Pakistan’s ISO 27001 Certification is a competitive advantage, and It shows other businesses that can trust you to manage valuable intellectual property and third-party data assets. This certification opens up new opportunities and protects your company against risk.

Steps Involved in Obtaining the ISO 27001 Certification in Pakistan

1). Create a Team

First, appoint an ISMS lead to achieve ISO 27001 certification. They should have solid Information Security knowledge and be able to direct or give orders to other managers.

2). Make the Implementation Plan

The project team will use the mandate of the implementation group to create a more detailed outline for their information security objectives, plan and risk register. It also includes creating high-level policies that ensure ISMSs are:

• Roles and Responsibilities
• These Rules are for its Continual Improvement
• Increase Awareness Through Internal & External Communication

3). Get Started with ISMS

After establishing the plan, you can choose which continuous improvement method to use.

4). Definition of ISMS Scope

You will next need to gain a better understanding of the ISMS framework. It is essential to determine your ISMS’s size and reach in daily operations. It means you must know all about your Organization to ensure that your ISMS meets your requirements. It is the most crucial step of the process. It includes identifying the location of information.

5). Identify Your Security Foundation

A security baseline is a minimum activity required to operate securely. You can establish your security baseline using the information you have gathered from your ISO 27001 Risk Assessment.

6). Develop a Process to Manage Risk

Your prioritized threats influence nearly all aspects of your security system. Therefore, risk management is essential for any organization that implements ISO 27001 Standard. This Standard gives organizations the ability to create their risk management processes. Common approaches focus on assessing the risks to assets and identifying specific dangers in particular scenarios.

7). Make a Plan to Manage Risk

The creation of Security Controls is necessary to protect your Organization’s information assets. It will be required to allow staff to use and interact with them. You should ensure that they are aware of and comply with information security requirements. You will also need to establish a process to determine, review, and maintain the competencies required to achieve your ISMS goals.

8). Measurement, Monitoring, and Review

Risk Monitoring should be performed at least once a year. First, a review identifies criteria that align with the objectives set out in the project directive. Next, quantitative analysis refers to a standard method that assigns numbers to things you measure.

9). Certificate Your Organization

After the ISMS has been established, you might want to apply for ISO 27001 certification. In this case, You will need to prepare to undergo an external audit. Two stages are required for certification audits.

An initial audit will determine if the ISMS was developed following ISO 27001 requirements. If the auditor is satisfied with the results, they will investigate deeper. After the audit is complete, the Organization is awarded an ISO 27001 certificate.

ISO 50001 Standard – Why You Need It?

With the world’s energy resources and reserves being used excessively, ISO (International Organization for Standardization) came forth with the ISO 50001 energy management system, which helps organizations to manage their energy resources, reduce their uses, and save on costs.

The ISO 50001 standard acts as a framework or set of guidelines for organizations to implement an effective energy management system (EnMS).

This standard applies to any organization, regardless of its size or type of business, and provides them with an opportunity to save energy costs and drive sustainability.

Here are some obvious persuasive reasons why you should embrace the ISO 50001 energy management standard for your business:

• Finds the risk associated with energy supply and manage them
• Measure and evaluate the use of different energy resources in your business across different processor areas and find ways to optimize the use.
• Implements practices to raise the overall efficiency of your processes and reduce energy consumption and costs.
• Measures areas where carbon emissions are high and adopt practices to reduce them, meeting government targets.
• Demonstrates your credibility and environmental sustainability and earns potential tender opportunities in the international markets.
• Continually seeks to improve your energy management practices or EnMS and leave a positive impact on the environment.
• Strengthens your competitiveness in the industry and prevents any vulnerabilities that occur due to energy price fluctuations or the supply of energy sources.

Key Takeaway

Implementing the ISO 50001 energy management system helps organizations manage their energy uses and costs and confers credibility for their effective energy management practices. In other words, an additional value is placed on an organization certified with ISO 50001.

As they can demonstrate the sustainability of their energy resources to their present supplier partners, investors, or customers, it can open up a door for more contracts or opportunities from other local/informational businesses. There is a potential competitive advantage in the market for a company that gets certified with energy management standards.

ISO 14001 Certification – Why Businesses Should Consider It?

With rising concerns about climate exhaustion of natural resources, different international authorities and public interest bodies emphasize the need for organizations to have an appropriate ISO 14001 Certification to minimize their environmental issues.

ISO 14001 certification is the specific certification issued by ISO for businesses to implement an EMS complying with best practices and regulations for environmental impact management. It helps them ensure that a greener approach is achieved in every sphere of their business and that there is an effective management system to improve their environmental protection services continually.

Need for Environmental Management

Societal expectations for sustainable development, transparency, and accountability have evolved;

• With increasingly stringent legislation
• Growing pressures on the environment from pollution
• Inefficient use of resources
• Improper waste management
• Climate change
• Degradation of ecosystems and 
• loss of biodiversity

5 Business Related Advantages of the ISO 14001 Certification

Apart from addressing the worrisome environmental concerns of businesses, the ISO 14001 standard can provide some other remarkable benefits. These benefits can help to gain a competitive advantage. Here are a few to consider:

1). Reduced Costs

Having a proper environmental management approach means using renewable energy alternatives, ensuring less use of materials, and controlling the number of waste. All these contribute to cost savings.

2). Improved Corporate Image

In achieving compliance with an international standard, your organization is benchmarked for sustainability and environmental protection in the industry. This can attract more clients or business contracts because everyone is looking to partner with greener businesses.

3). Compliance with Legislation

The ISO 14001 standard incorporates all basic environmental regulations of national governments and local authorities. By achieving the certification, your organization can demonstrate its compliance with environmental legislation.

4). Reduction in Insurance Premiums

With an EMS, your organization has fewer risks of having environmental trouble or negligence and is liable to penalties.

5). Define CSR

Today, many businesses need CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) to show their commitment to broader social and public concerns. Achieving ISO 14001 Standard helps them to cover a more general aspect of their CSR.

Key Takeaway

Achieving the ISO 14001 Certification helps organizations of all types and sizes to contribute towards environmental protection with specific practices and regulations implemented by an EMS.

Besides enabling them to have a consistent management system for handling environmental issues and achieving sustainability, it helps them have tremendous success with other achievements like cost efficiency, compliance with legislation, and improved reputation.

5 Energy Advantages of Your Business – ISO 50001

ISO 50001 makes good business sense as energy costs are a significant portion of an organization’s budget. ISO 50001 is the International Standard for Energy Management Systems. ISO 50001 brings a variety of advantages to any organization. Therefore, a systematic focus on energy management is expected to reduce costs through optimum use of resources and waste reduction. It can also lead to increased production, Improved energy performance, higher profits, and reduced impacts due to rising energy prices.

The advantages of ISO 50001 are as follows:

1). Reduce Greenhouse Gases

Your company will be contributing to reducing greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases cause global warming – a sudden rise in temperature that negatively affects the environment.

2). Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC)

An ISO 50001 management system helps you comply with the CRC and more regulations!

3). Create Awareness of Roles in the Workplace

ISO 50001 allows every employee within your organization to be aware of their role in energy management.

4). Decrease Energy Bills

You shall reduce energy bills and increase company savings by managing your energy consumption.

5). Public Opinion

Implementing an ISO 50001 management system can improve your public image. Your business is more likely to be seen as sensible and responsible because you are energy efficient.

Everything You Need to Know – ISO 27001 Certification

ISO 27001 Certification is a holistic approach to securing corporate information assets’ confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA).

It consists of policies, procedures, and other controls involving people, processes, and technology. Informed by regular information security risk assessments, an ISMS is an efficient, risk-based, and technology-neutral approach to keeping your information assets secure.

The 3 Principles of Information Security Management System

1). Confidentiality

This aspect ensures providing access to crucial information only to authorized persons.

2). Integrity

It refers to giving rights to edit crucial information only to specified persons.

3). Availability

Authorized persons must have timely access to crucial information.

Essential Requirements of ISO 27001 Certification

• Information Security Policies
• Organization of Information Security
• Human Resource Security
• Asset Management
• Access Control
• Cryptography
• Physical & Environmental Security
• Operations Security
• Communications Security
• System acquisition, development, and maintenance
• Supplier relationships
• Security Incident Management
• Business Continuity Management
• Compliance

Benefits of Being ISO 27001 Certified

Protect Your Data, Wherever It Is – Protect all forms of information, whether digital, hardcopy or in the cloud.

Reduce Information Security Cost: Implement only the security controls you need, helping you get the most from the budget.

Increase Your Attack Resilience: Increase your organization’s resilience to cyber-attacks.

Improve Company Culture: ISO 27001 encompasses people, processes, and technology, ensuring staff understands risks and embraces security as part of their everyday working practices.

Meet Contractual Obligations: Certification demonstrates your organization’s commitment to data security, providing a valuable credential.

Respond to Evolving Security Threats: Constantly adapt to changes both in the environment and inside the organization.

Validity of ISO 27001 Certification

The validity for the ISO 27001 certification is 3 years. During this period, the organization’s senior management must conduct internal reviews and evaluations of the ISMS.