ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS & ISO 14001

On-Site Implementation Guide

On-site Implementation Guide for Environmental Management Systems and ISO 14001
Contents
What is the intent of ISO 14001? .......................................................................... 3 Key Steps to Developing and Implementing Environmental Management Systems (EMS) ..................................................................................................... 4 Identify the Sites Environmental Aspects ......................................................... 4 Identify the Environmental Impacts ................................................................... 5 Risk Assessment............................................................................................... 6 Controls............................................................................................................. 6 Develop Objectives and Targets ....................................................................... 7 Develop work instructions ................................................................................. 7 Measure and Monitor ........................................................................................ 8 Maintenance and calibration ............................................................................... 8 Internal Audits / Checklists................................................................................ 8 Perform a training needs analysis..................................................................... 9 Management Review ........................................................................................ 9 Aspects and Impacts Register ............................................................................ 10 Objectives and Targets Template ....................................................................... 13

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What is the intent of ISO 14001?

The ISO 14000 series standards are about identifying and managing an organisations environmental risks. In the long term, environmental management has a significant role in strategic business planning, taking into account the local and global constraints of human enterprise. The overriding goal of the ISO 14001 environmental standard is to establish an objective verifiable system which aims to improve environmental performance. This manual has been designed to assist Managers and Site Supervisors in developing a site specific environmental plan.

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Key Steps to Developing and Implementing Environmental Management Systems (EMS)

Identify the Sites Environmental Aspects
An Environmental Aspect is any activity, product or service which interacts with the environment, for example:

waste disposal vacuuming scrubbing / polishing chemical storage

To help Managers and Site Supervisors begin this process, a sample list of aspects have been started on page 9. Modify this list to include as many different activities as can be identified for your workplace. This will become the sites Aspects and Impacts Register. (At this stage, leave the Impacts, Risk Assessment and Control columns blank.) All emergency situations such as fire, flood or accidental release/spillage must also be considered. Your site / client may already have an Emergency Management Plan, if so; check that this includes responding to emergencies such as chemical spills and that emergency site maps note where chemicals are stored. If not, consult with them to get these included.

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Identify the Environmental Impacts

An Environmental Impact is the actual change to the environment caused by the aspects you have just identified. This change could be global, regional or local. Some examples of impacts include:

Air Pollution Waterways Pollution Pollution of Soil Pollution of Groundwater Noise Odour Forest and Natural Resource Depletion

For example:
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECT (OR RISK/ISSUE) ASSOCIATED IMPACT

Power Usage (power grid) Lighting Air-conditioning Tools and equipment (trade) Office equipment (ie computer) Internal Transport/Traffic Scrubbers etc

Air emissions Use of non renewable resources Air emissions Use of non renewable resources Noise pollution Dust Increase in traffic flows Air emissions Use of non renewable resources Noise pollution Dust Increase in traffic flows

External Transport/Traffic Goods delivery Waste Removal

Refer back to the Aspects and Impacts Register on page 9. Identify as many impacts as you can for each of the aspects / activities that are listed. Assess which of the aspects can be directly controlled and which can only be influenced. (At this stage, leave the Risk Assessment and Control columns blank.)

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Risk Assessment
Conduct a Risk Assessment for each of the Impacts to determine priorities and assist with allocation of resources. There are many risk assessment tools available to assist with this process, here is just one example:

For each aspect / impact that has been identified, assess the frequency of occurrence, the importance to the business, any legal relevance and the possible environmental impact using the scoring system as indicated for each heading. Frequency of Occurrence
4 3 2 1 Daily frequently Monthly not regular Yearly Occasionally

Importance to Business
4 3 2 1 Very important Important Normal Routine

Legal Relevance
8 Legally binding 6 Business requirements 4 Voluntary initiative 2 No requirement

Environmental Impact
12 Long term 9 Moderate or medium 6 Short term or light 3 Insignificant

Total score

13

Each of the scores is then added to give a total score which assists to prioritise time and resources for all of the identified impacts. Record each score in the Risk Assessment column of the register.

Controls
Determine Controls for those aspects (activities) with the highest scores first and work through to those aspects carrying least risk. The Aspects which may only be Influenced will require a different approach. Consider ways in which suppliers and external companies can be influenced to make change. Examples of controls have been included in the register. Modify and add to these controls to suit the activities of your site. Remember, this is an ongoing process. The Aspects and Impacts Register needs to be reviewed at least annually to identify any new aspects or impacts and allow for any changes to the organisations operations.

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Develop Objectives and Targets

Once the Environmental Aspects and Impacts Register has been completed, this becomes the primary tool to determine what a sites Objectives and Targets will be. The most important thing to remember about setting Objectives and Targets is that they must be realistic and measurable. This is a very difficult stage in the process for most cleaning companies as virtually all sites are controlled by the client and are frequented by many people. Most businesses wanting to establish environmental objectives and targets would use invoices from providers such as power companies to measure their performance. This is not possible for cleaning companies. For this reason, measuring performance for some targets may need to be subjective, however, try to avoid this where possible. An example objective might be: reduce waste to landfill by 10% within the next 12 months To assist Managers and Site Supervisors, a template has been created on page 12. For each target set, complete the last column detailing how you will measure performance. The Objectives and Targets must be a documented set of goals which is periodically reviewed (at least annually) by top management to determine:

Is the organisation meeting its objectives and targets? Are the processes that have been implemented to achieve these objectives and targets effective? Do the Objectives and Targets need to be altered?

Develop work instructions

Objectives and targets should be incorporated within all safe working procedures and processes. For the sample objective regarding waste to landfill, the work procedure for waste disposal needs to instruct personnel in how to achieve this. An example: All rubbish must be placed in the appropriate bin which has been provided - all cardboard and paper to the green bin, all food (except for any food which may contain meat) and garden scraps to the blue bin, all plastics to the yellow bin and all other rubbish to the red bin. By segregating waste in this manner, each time waste is collected for removal the amounts in each bin can be estimated and recorded. This provides management with measurements against their objectives and targets. This process may also be included as part of internal audits and checklists.

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Measure and Monitor

Once Objectives and Targets have been established, the organisation needs to monitor and measure its performance in relation to these targets as well as ensuring all legal requirements are being met. This may include:

Monitoring stock control to ensure that limits are not exceeded Measuring noise

Maintenance and calibration

It is imperative that all measurement and monitoring is as accurate as possible. For this reason, it is a requirement of ISO 14001 that any equipment used for measuring, timing or weighing within your sites activities be regularly calibrated. Note: Calibration of equipment for sound monitoring is usually conducted by the manufacturer at set intervals. Records of all maintenance and calibration must be kept.

Internal Audits / Checklists

Internal audits must be conducted periodically across the whole scope of the organisations activities and across each of the elements within ISO 14001. Review all of your checklists to ensure that they include the environmental factors that you have identified within your Environmental Aspects and Impacts Register. For example: Do checklists include the decibel rating of plant? (Note: should be less than 85 decibels or controls such as PPE need to be implemented) Another good method is to ensure different staff complete checklists each time, this way it is more likely that different things will be observed. Check the level of understanding of staff by including some simple questions within checklists, such as Describe the purpose of this procedure.

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Perform a training needs analysis

Check the following:

Are people inducted and trained according to our EMS? Are people trained to use equipment required as part of our EMS (for example monitoring equipment)? Are people aware of the legal requirements that we must adhere to? (For Example, reporting requirements to authorities in the event of a major spill). Are people aware of the permit conditions pertaining to our operations? (For example; under the Dangerous Goods Safety Act 2004, an organisation may be limited to a certain volume of hazardous materials and if it exceeds that volume, may have to post placarding)

Management Review
One of the key features of any International Standard is continual improvement. In order to achieve this effectively, management need to periodically review the sites progress with respect to its: Aspects and Impact Register Has the organisation identified all of its aspects and impacts? Has the organisation changed any of its operations since the register was last reviewed? Objectives and Targets Are we meeting them? Do we need to increase or decrease them? Do we need to add more? Legislation Have there been any changes to legislation that may affect the organisation? Are we compliant with current legislation? Internal Reports How are we tracking? What do we need to focus on? Do we have sufficient resources to achieve requirements? Corrective Actions Have any corrective actions been raised? If so, are they being dealt with effectively? Feedback What feedback have we received from interested parties both internal and external? Has the feedback been positive or negative? Training Have we achieved all of our training requirements to date? Does any new legislation require us to provide further training or licensing?

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Aspects and Impacts Register

Aspect / Activity General Activities
Where possible order materials: Consumables Use of non-renewable resources Control made from recycled products from suppliers that use minimal packaging and/or packaging that is recyclable or reuseable consider frequency of ordering and storage space order bulk where possible to reduce the impact caused by transportation of products recycle and reuse products plastic storage containers

Impact

Control / Influence

Risk Rating

Controls

Disconnect plant and equipment when not in use (unless re-charging) Air emissions Power usage Use of non-renewable resources Control Turn off lights wherever practical Where practicable, turn off office equipment (copiers, printers, computers and monitors) when not in use, do not leave on stand-by Include power conservation in training material for all staff Establish a waste management system that identifies what can be re-used and what can be recycled Land pollution Waste disposal Water pollution Air pollution Control Ensure receptacles for recycling are provided Determine the frequency of waste removal give consideration to peak demands, transport emissions and the potential fire hazard of accumulated materials Ensure no chemical solutions are disposed of via storm water drains Identify which chemical solutions may be disposed of via sewerage systems and which need to be managed differently Include waste management in training material for all staff Noise Dust Scrubbing / Polishing Use of non-renewable resources Vibration Control

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Aspect / Activity

Impact
Noise Dust

Control / Influence

Risk Rating

Controls

Vacuuming

Use of non-renewable resources Vibration Land pollution

Control

Chemical use

Water pollution

Control

Land pollution Chemical storage Water pollution Use of non-renewable resources Dusting Dust Control Can damp dusting be used as a substitute? Control

Electric Vs petrol Petrol Vs diesel Use of non-renewable resources Air emissions Life cycle of the product how long will it last. Natural fibre cleaning cloths may be considered more environmentally friendly, but will it last as long as a synthetic one?) Influence Does the supplier have an environmental management system? What packaging is used for transporting this plant / equipment? Can it be purchased in bulk? What components can be recycled once the plant / equipment is superseded? Air emissions Use of non-renewable resources Internal traffic Noise pollution Dust Increase in traffic flows Control Assess frequency of plant use and schedule to achieve optimal efficiency Schedule at a time likely to have minimal other traffic Ensure that the plant / equipment used is appropriate to the task Ensure that all plant and equipment purchased generate the least noise, vibration and pollution (within the companys budget constraints) Ensure that filters are cleaned / replaced no less frequently than manufacturers recommendations

Purchasing of plant / equipment

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Aspect / Activity

Impact
Air emissions Use of non-renewable resources

Control / Influence

Risk Rating

Controls

Where practicable: Influence Use suppliers that use environmentally considerate transport means. This may include, regular maintenance, diesel Vs petrol, use of one supplier to deliver multiple goods, order in bulk to reduce delivery frequency

External traffic

Noise pollution Dust Increase in traffic flows

Emergency Activities
Test and tag Regular maintenance and pre-start checks Fire Effective and appropriate fire fighting equipment available Training Emergency response plan Evacuation drills Appropriate bunding for chemicals Ensure that all chemicals, plant and equipment are securely stored when not in use Flood Training Emergency response plan Evacuation drills Bunding and drip trays Accidental spills / releases Spill kits Training Emergency response plan

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Site Specific Objectives and Targets Template

Impact Noise Target Target Date How can we verify this?

Dust

Use of non-renewable sources

Land pollution

Water Pollution

Air Pollution

Traffic Flow

Waste to landfill

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