In ISO 50001:2018 clauses 7.2 and 7.3 are devoted to competence and awareness. The significance of competence and awareness is one of the pillar for organization to grow and if there is no foundation to this pillar than, it doesn’t matter how superior your processes and documentation are. If employees within your organization aren’t aware of what exists, then it will be malfunctioning of EnMS.
Where to begin?
Awareness doesn’t mean that it is mandatory to know every word of ISO 50001 but at the same time it doesn’t mean that no one even reads a standard. Everyone within company should be aware of what is ISO 50001, Why it is important and How it will help our company. Well, the first step towards implementation of EnMS is Awareness training. Which itself satisfy awareness and competence requirement of ISO 50001.
How to Comply with requirements of Awareness & Competence?
Following are some of the suggestions for one’s who are maintaining EnMS and also for those who are in the journey towards accreditation on how to meet requirements of clause 7.2 and 7.3.
- Conducting 10-minute meeting to update on daily goals before start of the day.
- Visual display of results on performance of EnMS.
- Evaluate competence while appraisal or you can make & share a questionnaire to test personnel understanding.
- Sharing periodic circulars on mails like DO’s and Don’ts of not meeting requirement of EnMS.
- Conduct training like on new technology or energy efficient practices to adopt.
After assessing competence and awareness now it is up to you to what extent measures are to be taken to reach your satisfactory level. Also, ensure to record evidence of the training and communication done for competence and awareness.
To make sure that competence and awareness are at a satisfactory level during an audit process, then you will need to provide evidence of the work you have done to facilitate this, as mentioned above. Providing the auditor with documented evidence as discussed previously is vital, but a good auditor will quickly evaluate your workforce’s knowledge and the significance they attach to the ISO 50001 process itself simply while talking with them during the audit. Therefore, it is imperative that you provide the direction and understanding to ensure that the employees are educated and focused on the important aspects of the EnMS. Given that knowing some of the fundamental starting point like: objectives, expectations, and requirements of the standard, without competence and awareness there will be no continual improvement which in turn leads to non-compliance to requirement of clause 10.2.