ISO 50001— From Implementation to Integration

Abstract

In March 2014, New Gold’s New Afton Mine, located in British
Columbia, Canada, became North America’s first mine to be Interna-
tional Standardization Organization (ISO) 50001 certified. This was in
addition to several energy performance improvement initiatives, opti-
mizing an energy management information system and an ISO 50001
surveillance audit in November of the same year. These improvements
made 2014 a remarkable year for energy management at New Afton
mine. We then asked ourselves, “We that are ISO 50001 certified, what
is next?”
To help answer this, the consultant who assisted the mine with
the ISO 50001 implementation was asked his opinion about energy
management at New Afton. He concluded that while energy man-
agement absolutely needed to continue to be driven and managed
by the mine’s energy specialist, the success of the program remained
dependent on his actions. This was not the desired outcome, nor the
understood intent of the standard. To ensure that the success of the
program was not dependent on any one person, a “Phase II” plan
was developed to more fully integrate energy management into the
systems and culture of the organization. This article details the les-
sons learned and benefits realized from the integration of ISO 50001.
It examines how to move from “Implementation to Integration.”