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

Manuel Ferreira Rebelo^1*, Gilberto Santos^1,2, Rui Silva¹

¹CLEGI, Lusíada University, Vila Nova de Famalic ão, Portugal.
²College of Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave, Barcelos, Portugal.

DOI: 10.4236/cweee.2014.34018                

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Integrated Management Systems (IMS), Environmental Management System (EMS), Quality Management System (QMS), Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OH & SMS)

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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