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 document how to identify environmental aspects and impacts with products, services and activities.
An 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 that interacts or can interact with business operations.
The procedure should be designed to identify, assess, and control the organization’s aspects and impacts and ensure that the organization complies with applicable environmental laws and regulations.
With any good business, there is a need for a systematic and logical approach to analysing an organization’s 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 impacts and aspects and any related emergencies.
4. Deciding on controls for the environmental aspects and impacts.
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 a significant aspect, details should be recorded in the aspect and impact register or another document for management’s review.
All the organisations’ 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:
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 document how to identify environmental aspects and impacts with products, services and activities with consideration to:
