Imagine the most effective way of making ISO 14000 succeed. Environmental Management Systems seldom work when imposed on organizations, yet they can flourish when allowed to grow from within the organizational structure. The first step along this path is the performance of an accurate self assessment. The best systems are those that become a flexible tool that can be used by the organization. It should reflect its current strengths, systems and operation.

The role of the self assessment in achieving this balance should be to determine where those strengths exist and to identify what opportunities and barriers need to be addressed. The implementation of an EMS usually proceed much more quickly and at substantially reduced costs when the self assessment phase is properly addressed. Self assessments should be conducted early in the process and then frequently repeated throughout the implementation.