Copyright 2001. The Solution Foundry. All rights reserved. WELCOME TO ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS 101.

Copyright 2001. The Solution Foundry. All rights reserved.

WELCOME TOENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS 101


LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Upon Completion of this Training, you Will be able to:– Define Environmental Aspects and Impacts and Give Examples of

Both

– Describe What ISO 14001 Requires with Respect to Environmental Aspects

– Identify Environmental Aspects Associated with your Organization’s Activities, Products and Services

– Evaluate and Prioritize your Environmental Aspects


WHAT IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECT?• ISO 14001 Defines Environmental Aspect as

• Aspects can be further defined as:– Controlled– Influenced– Significant– Non-significant– Positive

element of an organization's activities, products or services that can interact with the environment


TYPES OF ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS• Environmental Aspects Include:

– Air emissions– Waste generation and management– Releases to water– Contamination of land– Consumption of energy and natural resources (e.g., water,

coal, natural gas, fuel oil, etc.)– Local and community issues (noise, odors, aesthetic

conditions)– Positive aspects of operations on the environment (i.e.,

tree planting, recycling, etc.)


WHAT CAUSES ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS?

• Adverse Environmental Aspects are the unwanted byproducts or consequences of an organization’s Activities, Products and Services


WHAT IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT?

• ISO 14001 Defines Environmental Impact as:

• Environmental Impacts are the effects of your Environmental Aspects

any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from an organization's environmental activities, products or services


EXAMPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS• Environmental Impacts can Include:

– Local air pollution

– Global air pollution

– Adverse impact to employee health

– Degradation of local water quality

– Depletion of natural resources

– Impairment of property

– Degradation of flora and fauna

– Noise pollution


HOW DO ACTIVITIES, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, ASPECTS AND IMPACTS RELATE?

ACTIVITIES, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS


WHAT DOES ISO 14001 REQUIRE?ISO 14001 – 4.3.1 Requires that you:• Establish and maintain a procedure for identifying

environmental aspects, which:– You can control

– Over which you can be expected to exert influence

• Determine which aspects do/may have a significant impact on the environment

• Consider “significant aspects” when setting objectives and targets

• Keep your aspects current


STOP AND REVIEW!• Environmental Aspects:

– Are the means in which your organization interacts with the environment

– Can be:• Controlled or influenced• Adverse or positive• Significant or non-significant

– Stem from your organization’s activities, products and services

– Do/can result in Environmental Impacts

• ISO 14001 requires that you identify, evaluate and manage significant environmental aspects


USE THE 5-STEP ASPECTS PROCESS MODEL

Step 2Identify your

Environmental Aspects

Step 3Evaluate your


Step 4Prioritize your


Step 5Update your


Step 1Identify your Activities,Products and Services

5-STEPASPECTSPROCESSMODEL


STEP 1 – IDENTIFY ACTIVITIES, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

• Determine the scope of your evaluation (directly controlled versus influenced)

• Compile an inventory of your organization’s activities, products and services that can interact with the environment

• Consider– Manufacturing processes (e.g., calcination, precipitation)– Products– Internal support services (e.g., maintenance, WWTP)– Services provided (e.g., transportation)– Contract services procured (e.g., asbestos removal)– Legacy issues (e.g., contamination, ongoing remediation)


STEP 2 – IDENTIFY ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS

• Select the categories of environmental aspects that you will identify (e.g., air, water, waste, etc.)

• Determine the level at which aspects will be identified (site, department, area)

• Review the inputs and outputs associated with each identified activity, product or service to identify the environmental aspects

REMEMBER – ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS ARE THOSE ELEMENTS THAT CAN IMPACT THE ENVIRONMENT, INCLUDING HUMAN (WORKER) HEALTH


STEP 2 – IDENTIFY ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS

• Examples of input aspects include: energy consumption, water consumption, etc.

• Examples of output aspects include: air emissions, waste streams, water discharges, chemical releases, etc.

• A process model can be an effective means to accomplish the inputs-outputs analysis

• Compile your identified aspects into an inventory


LocationDepartment

ProcessEquipment ID

Chemical Release

Waste Generation

Air Emissions

Water Discharges

Land Mgmt. (contamination)

Toxic Substances (worker exposure, product use)

Labor

Raw Matls

Energy

Water

Product Output

Location Mgmt. (odors, noise,aesthetics)

Environmental OutputsInputs

Recyclables

ACTIVITY, PRODUCTOR SERVICE


STEP 3 – EVALUATE ASPECTS

• The next step is evaluating and prioritizing aspects based on their actual or potential environmental impact

• This can be accomplished through “instincts”, risk matrices, algorithims, etc.

• The key is to define what key items to consider in evaluating aspects and factor them into the decision process

• The result are your Significant Aspects



• “Impact Factors” that many companies consider include:– Severity of environmental impact– Likelihood of environmental impact– Potential for employee exposure– Potential Liability– Legal Concerns– Etc.



• Once you have identified, inventoried and evaluated your aspects, you can assign significance

• Aspects that do or may have a significant environmental impact, based on your impact factors should be considered significant

• Aspects that do not have a significant environmental impact are not significant

• Once again, some companies set numerical thresholds, some companies use their instincts


STEP 4 – PRIORITIZE ASPECTS

• Significant aspects should be prioritized• Priorities can be assigned based on:

– Impact scoring– Risk– Technological, operational and financial

limitations– Community good will– Etc.


STEP 5 – UPDATE ASPECTS

• Update your aspects– Integrate aspects identification/evaluation into

new process/chemical reviews– Update aspects periodically to reflect site

changes– Review aspects at least annually to ensure that

your results continue to reflect site conditions

Copyright 2001. The Solution Foundry. All rights reserved. WELCOME TO ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS 101.

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Transcript of Copyright 2001. The Solution Foundry. All rights reserved. WELCOME TO ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS 101.