This step is relevant to sections 4.1.a), 4.2.1, 4.2.2 and 4.7 of the ISO 50001-2011 standard.
ISO 50001 defines continual improvement as a recurring process that results in improvement of both energy performance and the energy management system (EnMS). This process begins during initial implementation and continues throughout the life of your EnMS. Involvement by top management, executing the action item outputs of management review, and maintenance and updating of the system are critical to the ongoing success and continual improvement of your EnMS.
Continual improvement in energy performance relies on your organization’s ability to effectively use its EnMS to make informed energy management decisions based on data analyses, identify and evaluate energy opportunities, manage the significant energy uses, and set and achieve energy objectives and targets using energy management action plans.
How to do it
There are two primary tasks associated with ensuring continual improvement:
5.3.1 Execute management review action items and other improvement actions
It is ultimately top management that is responsible for ensuring continual improvement in energy performance and the EnMS over time. Based on the energy performance data and other information presented during management review, top management makes decisions regarding the adequacy, suitability, and effectiveness of the energy management system (EnMS). These decisions are intended to lead to actions which result in the continual improvement of both energy performance and the EnMS. For every decision, your organization needs to determine what actions need to be taken, who is responsible for the actions, when the actions are to be completed, and how follow up is performed to ensure completion and effectiveness of those actions. This is a continual process as these decisions and related actions effectively start the Plan-Do-Check-Act continual improvement cycle over.
Adjustments and modifications to the EnMS are made as your organization’s energy situation and energy management needs change over time. These changes typically lead to new improvement actions. As significant energy uses (SEUs) are brought under control and energy objectives, targets and action plans are achieved, your organization uses it energy planning (“PLAN”) processes to:
identify and bring new or additional SEUs under control,
evaluate and select other energy opportunities for implementation, and
establish new or additional energy objectives, targets and action plans for improvements in energy performance.
To support continual improvement, the implementation and operation (“DO”) processes of the EnMS such as competency, training, awareness, communication and operational, procurement and design controls are utilized to ensure that energy savings achieved by the action plans are sustained for the long term. And, the benefits of the “CHECK” and “ACT” processes of the EnMS become more tangible as the EnMS becomes more proactive and less reactive, and therefore more effective.
5.3.2 Ensure the updating and maintenance of the EnMS
Maintenance of the EnMS means that the system is kept up to date; and that it is adjusted and modified as appropriate in response to key changes in or to the organization. If the EnMS is not properly maintained and top management is not involved, then improvement cannot be the continual (and cultural) process that it is intended to be.
Many organizations that have implemented and maintained long-standing certified quality and/or environmental management systems have indicated that the real challenge of continual improvement-based management systems is maintaining them over time as they are steadily and more fully integrated into daily operations and business practices—becoming truly a matter of how the organization conducts its business every day. In other words, the real challenge is cultural change within the organization.
Successful cultural change relies on clear and strong, system-based connections between and within the processes of the EnMS and the operations of the organization. Imagine a “spider web”. For example, if training and communication are not properly maintained, then when significant energy uses change, there will be no connections to ensure that personnel are aware of the newly identified significant energy uses and understand how it impacts their responsibilities and actions.
These “system connections” have to be maintained in order for the system of energy management to function as a whole (think “systems perspective” or “systems thinking”). The value of updating is that it strengthens the connections that are critical to the success of the EnMS such as:
Maintaining the alignment of energy management with organizational priorities,
Integrating energy management into business processes,
Ensuring current information and data to support informed decision-making, and
Demonstrating management commitment.
The Checklist for Updating the EnMS helps you consider the areas within your EnMS that may need updating when a change is made.
When developing and implementing your EnMS, build maintenance of the system into the implementation process. The EnMS is not just “established, documented and implemented,” but also “maintained, and continually improved.” In addition, pay particular attention to the elements of the EnMS that have specific requirements related to “regular or periodic reviews,” “regular review and updating as needed,” “updating at planned intervals,” and “conducting at planned intervals.”
Keeping the EnMS updated also helps ensure that current and relevant information is generated so that status, progress, successes and failures are known and appropriate actions can be taken. This information supports decision-making, especially as related to any needed mid-course corrections.
Resources & Examples
This resource can help you define the updating processes for your EnMS to ensure you consider the areas within your EnMS that may need updating when a change is made.
The following resources provide information needed to understand EnMS documentation and make decisions on what documents and records are needed for your EnMS.
The following resource is designed primarily for organizations that plan to seek third-party certification to ISO 50001-2011. It helps you understand how to check and use your EnMS records to demonstrate the implementation of the system (you are doing what you say), and the effectiveness of the system in generating the intended results (what you are doing is working).
