This environmental aspects and impacts procedure can assist your business comply with AS/NZS ISO 14001, Environmental Management Systems clauses:
The procedure can assist you and your organization to develop and identify environmental aspects and impacts with products, services and activities.
An AS/NZS ISO 14001 environmental aspects and impacts procedure defines a process that is used to identify, assess, and control the environmental aspects and impacts of an organization’s activities, products, and services. It is a key element of an environmental management system, to outline the methodology for identifying environmental aspects relating to operations and for the determination of related impacts that may have actual or potential impacts on the environment.
An environmental aspects and impacts procedure should be tailored to its specific products, services, and activities. The procedure should be designed to identify, assess and control the organization’s environmental aspects and impacts and enable the organization to comply with applicable environmental laws and regulations, including any state specific environmental performance requirements.
With any good business, there is a need for a systematic and logical approach to analysing environmental aspects and impacts.
The framework for evaluating aspects and impacts of a project, product, or process can be divided into five main steps:
1. Defining the scope.
2. Identifying the environmental aspects and impacts.
3. Analysing the environmental aspects and impacts and any related emergencies.
4. Deciding on controls for the environmental management system to enable aspects and impacts to be effectively managed.
5. Monitoring and reviewing the effectiveness of the controls.
New business activities should be assessed as to whether adverse or beneficial, to ensure that any changes to processes and operations do not result in adverse environmental impacts.
On occasions, where management does not have a degree of control or influence over information about significant environmental aspects, details should be recorded in the aspect and impact register or another document for management’s review.
All an organization’s activities must be considered when identifying actual and potential environmental aspects and impacts, for example:
General Types of Environmental Aspects and Impacts
Note: When identifying aspects and impacts, top management should consider all modes of operation (e.g. start-up, shutdown and emergency operations, etc.) which might introduce additional environmental aspects and impacts into the processes.
The assessment of the severity of an environmental aspect should drive management’s attention and support the planning for impact risk mitigation.
An assessment methodology should assign a rating to the identified aspect. This assessment can be comprised of the following five elements:
1. Legal Requirements.
2. Relevance to company policy.
3. Interested party concerns.
4. Potential to prevent pollution.
5. Potential to impact the environment.
This 13-page environmental aspects and impacts procedure will assist you and your organization to develop and identify environmental aspects and impacts with products, services and activities with consideration to:
