UKAS moves to strengthen EMS accreditation

摘要

Strong criticism from several stakeholders, including the Environment Department (DEFRA) and the Environment Agency, have prompted the UK Accreditation Service to revamp its operations for accrediting environmental management systems (EMSs). UKAS pledged at the EMS National Forum last December to respond to stakeholder criticism that it has not been sufficiently robust in its oversight of bodies accredited to award certificates to the international environmental management standard IS014001 and the EU's EMAS scheme (ENDS Report 347, pp 3-4). Six months on, the organisation has made several changes but remains under pressure from stakeholders including DEFRA to speed up the process. In a recent letter to UKAS, DEFRA welcomes the organisation's commitment to improving the accreditation process. It says: "From a Government perspective this is a priority approach which we would like to see established quickly to provide a sound platform for policy."