ABSTRACT

Many companyies realize that a single management standard to deal with quality, environmental and health and safety would be both cost effective and much more efficient. The results of the Rio +5 summit have indicated that there has been very little progress on reducing environmental impacts and implementing Sustainable Development. Several key issues identified at the summit were: the growing presence of toxic chemicals in the environment; a growing scarcity of fresh water and the accompanying loss of productive farmland; the continued destruction of forest; growing marine pollution and its accompanying reduction in viable fisheries; and the increase in global warming from heat trapping gases such as carbon dioxide. Although the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Standards have not really taken hold in the United States, there are a few “signs” which may lead one to speculate on its progress. Representatives from the automakers have cited increasing environmental regulations as the reason for the speculation.