Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology

Department of Materials Engineering and Technology

College of Engineering and Technology

ENVIRONMENTAL
MANAGEMENT SYTEM
(EMS)

Submitted by:
Jecel A. Apao
Kinah Mae S. Colita
Krissa Marie M. Ybañez

Submitted to:
Engr. Algen S. Secula

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in EM 153 (Mine Environmental Management)

February 20, 2019

I. Environmental Management System

I.A Definition:

Environmental management system (EMS)

-refers to the management of an organization's environmental programs in a comprehensive, systematic,
planned and documented manner. It includes the organizational structure, planning and resources for
developing, implementing and maintaining policy for environmental protection.
-is a set of processes and practices that enable an organization to reduce its environmental impacts and increase
its operating efficiency.
- provides the requirements for an organization’s structure, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and
resources for environmental management that institutionalizes, in the organization, the responsible corporate
environmental management (Bansal & Bogner, 2002), such that a firm can reduce its negative environmental
impact while improving management control (Nishitani, 2009).

- The aim of the EMS is to embed environmental management into the operational management of an
organization through the introduction of a systematic approach to assess and control impacts on the
environment. The aim is to avoid, reduce or control the creation, emission, discharge of any type of pollution or
waste (Standards Australia/New Zealand 2004).

I.B Purpose:

• Manage and improve its environmental performance (managing negative impacts) and helping to increase resource
efficiency (e.g. cutting waste and energy use);

• Comply with environmental laws and regulations;

• Generate financial savings through well-managed use of resources and efficient practices; and

• Improve its standing and reputation with staff, client companies, partner organisations and wider stakeholders;

• Adapt to a changing environment (either its operations or its products/services).

I.C Application of EMS to the Environment:

 In context of increasing constraints in terms of environmental performance, EMS was developed to define a
range of innovative practices not only to meet regulatory requirements, but also to signal their commitment
to the environment,
 Provides a systematic way of managing an organization’s environmental affairs. The EMS helps to develop,
implement, manage, coordinate and monitor environmental policies.
 Enhance regulatory compliance. By not being compliant, companies may face fines, government
intervention or may not be able to operate.
 Serves as a tool, or process, to improve environmental performance and information mainly "design,
pollution control and waste minimization, training, reporting to top management, and the setting of goals"
 Gives order and consistency for organizations to address environmental concerns through the allocation of
resources, assignment of responsibility and ongoing evaluation of practices, procedures and processes
 Addresses the environmental impact of an organization's activities and establishes goals and procedures that
will improve the impact it has on the environment and human health.
I.D Methodology:

PDCA Cycle

Plan: Establish objectives and processes required

Prior to implementing ISO 14001, an initial review or gap analysis of the organization's processes and products
is recommended, to assist in identifying all elements of the current operation and, if possible, future operations
that may interact with the environment termed "environmental aspects. Environmental aspects can include both
direct, such as those used during manufacturing, and indirect, such as raw materials. This review assists the
organization in establishing their environmental objectives, goals, and targets (which should ideally be
measurable); helps with the development of control and management procedures and processes; and serves to
highlight any relevant legal requirement, which can then be built into the policy.
Do: Implement the processes
During this stage, the organization identifies the resources required and works out those members of the
organization responsible for the EMS' implementation and control This includes establishing procedures and
processes, although only one documented procedure is specifically related to operational control. Other
procedures are required to foster better management control over elements such as documentation control,
emergency preparedness and response, and the education of employees, to ensure that they can competently
implement the necessary processes and record results. Communication and participation across all levels of the
organization, especially top management, is a vital part of the implementation phase, with the effectiveness of
the EMS being dependent on active involvement from all employees.
Check: Measure and monitor the processes and report results
During the "check" stage, performance is monitored and periodically measured to ensure that the organization's
environmental targets and objectives are being met. In addition, internal audits are conducted at planned
intervals to ascertain whether the EMS meets the user's expectations and whether the processes and procedures
are being adequately maintained and monitored.
Act: Take action to improve performance of EMS based on results
After the checking stage, a management review is conducted to ensure that the objectives of the EMS are being
met, the extent to which they are being met, and that communications are being appropriately managed.
Additionally, the review evaluates changing circumstances, such as legal requirements, in order to make
recommendations for further improvement of the system. These recommendations are incorporated through
continual improvement: plans are renewed or new plans are made, and the EMS moves forward.

II. ISO 14001

II.A Definition

ISO 14000 is a series of international standards on environmental management. One of the series of standards is
ISO 14001, an internationally accepted specification for an Environmental Management System (EMS). It
specifies requirements for establishing an environmental policy, determining the environmental aspects and
impacts, planning the environmental objectives and targets, implementation and operation of programmes to
meet them, checking, corrective action and management review. Compliance to environmental regulation is also
an element that is addressed in the standard.
Another commonly known document within the series is ISO 14004 which provides guidelines on the
development and implementation of an EMS.
ISO 14001 is used by large and small organizations across the world to reduce environmental impacts. It’s an
excellent framework to help implement an environmental management system (EMS) which helps
organizations reduce their impact while growing their business – ultimately achieving sustainable success. It’s
suitable for businesses of all sizes, in any industry, and it’s designed to be really flexible so you can make it
work for the needs of your business, building resilience and commercial success while reducing impact on the
environment

II.B History

Environmental management systems are relatively modern developments, and have only come about with the
increased global concern for the state of the earth that has emerged in the last few decades.

The ISO 14001 standard has its roots in these early developments. Environmental issues first became a
mainstream popular and political concern in the 1960s, and the first global United Nations conference on the
Human environment took place in 1972.

The conceptual birthplace of the ISO 14001 standard was the Rio De Janeiro Earth summit, held in 1992 in
Brazil. The United Nations convened to address the impacts of business and organisations on the natural world,
and to scrutinise industrial production methods with a view to reducing damage to the Earth’s environment.

As a result of these talks, the first standard for environmental management systems was born in the form of the
British standard BS 7750. This was later to become the ISO 14001 standard, which was developed by the
International Organization for Standardization in 1996.

The 1996 incarnation of ISO 14001 consisted of a series of standards for environmental management systems
within organisations.

Eight years later in 2004, a revised version of ISO 14001 was released. This new version contained numerous
improvements designed to improve clarity and streamline the guidelines. It was released alongside the new ISO
9000 standard, which was a move intended to allow businesses to integrate ISO 14000 environmental standards
with the general quality management systems standards set out in the ISO 9000 series.

The Growth of the ISO 14001 Series

The evolution of the standard can be understood by following the trail described below:

1. 1973 – The core principles that would eventually influence the ISO 14000 framework were created and an
action plan drafted
2. 1992 – This saw the consolidation of the BS 7750 standard
3. 1992 – In the same year the Rio Declaration was made
4. 1993 – Experts from different backgrounds formed a committee charged with developing the ISO 14000
framework
5. 1996 – ISO 14001 is launched
6. 2004 – ISO 14001 is updated
7. 2015 – ISO 14001 is updated to its current form and re-introduced at the same time as the new ISO
9001:2015 standard. Many of the principles remain the same as the 2004 version, with a new requirement for
risks and opportunities introduced. The requirement for mandatory procedures has also been removed leaving
business capable of determining the boundaries of their own management system.
Since the introduction of ISO 14001 it has been adopted by thousands of businesses in many countries around
the world. More improvements are in the pipeline, and the standard is expected to continually evolve in order to
help businesses minimise their impact on the natural world as environmental issues continue to rapidly develop.

II.C Content/Key Requirements

Clause 1: Scope. This clause relates to the scope or coverage of the standard to help organizations achieve the
intended outcomes of its EMS.

Clause 2: Normative reference. There are no normative references, for example other additional requirements in
other standards, that have to be considered. The clause is retained in order to maintain the same numbering
scheme as all the other management system standards.

Clause 3: Terms and definitions. At first sight, the listing of terms and definitions seems confusing as they are
not in alphabetical order. Instead, the approach stipulated by ISO is that terms and definitions are in the order
that they appear in the standard. An organization will also need to identify the ‘interested parties’ relevant to
their EMS and their needs. These could include customers, communities, suppliers and non-government
organizations and may change over time. Finally, the last requirement is to establish, implement, maintain and
continually improve the EMS in accordance with the requirements of the standard.

Clause 5: Leadership This clause is all about the role of “top management” which is the person or group of
people who directs and controls the organization at the highest level. The purpose is to demonstrate leadership
and commitment by integrating environmental management into business processes. Top management must
demonstrate a greater involvement in the management system and need to establish the environmental policy,
which can include commitments specific to an organization’s context beyond those directly required, such as
the ‘protection of the environment’. There is greater focus on top management to commit to continual
improvement of the EMS. Communication is key and top management have a responsibility to ensure the EMS
is made available, communicated, maintained and understood by all parties. Finally, top management need to
assign relevant responsibilities and authorities, highlighting two particular roles concerning EMS conformance
to ISO 14001 and reporting on EMS performance.

Clause 4: Context of the organization. This is a new clause that establishes the context of the EMS and how the
business strategy supports this. ‘Context of the organization’ is the clause that underpins the rest of the standard.
It gives an organization the opportunity to identify and understand the factors and parties that can affect, either
positively or negatively, the EMS. Firstly, the organization will need to determine external and internal issues
that are relevant to its purpose i.e. what are the relevant issues, both inside and out, that have an impact on or
affect its ability to achieve the intended outcome(s) of the EMS. Importantly, issues should include not only
environmental conditions that the organization affects but also those that it is affected by.

Clause 6: Planning. This clause focuses on how an organization plans actions to address both risks and
opportunities which have been identified in Clause 4. It focuses the organization on the development and use of
a planning process, rather than a procedure to address both a range of factors and the risk associated with such
factors. Consideration of risks needs to be proportionate to the potential impact they may have, and
opportunities could include substitute raw materials for example. For the first time, there is an explicit reference
to abnormal and emergency situations. Even more importantly, the reference to a consideration of a life cycle
perspective and the clause notes highlights that significant aspects can give rise to risks that are both beneficial
and adverse. Another key area of this clause is the need to establish measureable environmental objectives.
Finally this clause covers what is referred to as “planning of changes”. This has to be done in a systematic
manner. Organizations should consider identifying who is involved, when changes are to take place and the
potential consequences of change.

Clause 7: Support. This clause is all about the execution of the plans and processes that enable an organization
to meet their EMS. Simply expressed, this is a very powerful requirement covering all EMS resource needs.
Organizations will need to determine the necessary competence of people doing work that, under its control,
affects its environmental performance, its ability to fulfil its compliance obligations and ensure they receive the
appropriate training. In addition, organizations need to ensure that all people doing work under the
organization’s control are aware of the environmental policy, how their work may impact this and implications
of not conforming to the EMS. Finally, there are the requirements for ‘documented information’ which relate to
the creation, updating and control of specific data.

Clause 8: Operation. This clause deals with the execution of the plans and processes that enable the organization
to meet their environmental objectives. There are specific requirements that relate to the control or influence
exercised over outsourced processes and the requirement to consider certain operational aspects ‘consistent with
a life cycle perspective’. This means giving serious consideration to how actual or potential environmental
impacts happening upstream and downstream of an organization’s site-based operations are influenced or
(where possible) controlled.

Finally, the clause also covers the procurement of products and services, as well as controls to ensure that
environmental requirements relating to design, delivery, use and end-of-life treatment of an organization’s
products and services are considered at an appropriate stage.

Clause 9: Performance Evaluation. This is all about measuring and evaluating your EMS to ensure that it is
effective and it helps you to continually improve. You will need to consider what should be measured, the
methods employed and when data should be analyzed and reported on. As a general recommendation,
organizations should determine what information they need to evaluate environmental performance and
effectiveness. Internal audits will need to be carried out, and there are certain “audit criteria” that are defined to
ensure that the results of these audits are reported to relevant management. Finally, management reviews will
need to be carried out and “documented information” must be kept as evidence.

Clause 10: Improvement. This clause requires organizations to determine and identify opportunities for
continual improvement of the EMS. The requirement for continual improvement has been extended to ensure
that the suitability and adequacy of the EMS—as well as its effectiveness— are considered in the light of
enhanced environmental performance. There are some actions that are required that cover handling of corrective
actions. Firstly organizations need to react to the nonconformities and take action. Secondly they need to
identify whether similar nonconformities exist or could potentially occur. This clause requires organizations to
determine and identify opportunities for continual improvement of the EMS. There is a requirement to actively
look out for opportunities to improve processes, products or services; particularly with future customer
requirements in mind.

II.D Benefits of Implementing ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems

 Waste Reduction

-measures taken to generate less waste will lead to reduced product, material handling and waste disposal costs
that can be ploughed back into the business
 Regulatory and Industry Compliance

-a framework for continuous improvement of the organization’s environmental performance and an improved
ability to comply with regulatory requirements

 Increasing your competitive edge

-a strong environmental image can help to attract environmentally conscious customers and in this, expand
market share

 Savings

-increased efficiency and better use of energy and raw materials will invariably lead to savings and a more
profitable business

 Inspiring trust in your business

-improved corporate image among regulators, customers and the public

 Increased Awareness

-increased awareness and environmentally conscious actions will lead to betterment of the environment for the
community and the nation at large.

III. ISO 14001 EMS in the Philippines (Mining Companies)

"ISO 14001 is one way of saying responsible mining." - DENR Secretary Gina Lopez

(Released last 2016)

The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines listed the following companies as fully compliant:

 Benguet Corporation
 Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company
 Philex Mining Corporation
 Oceana Gold Philippines, Incorporated
 Benguet Corporation
 Nickel Mines, Incorporated
 Eramen Minerals, Incorporated
 Rio Tuba Nickel Mines Corporation
 Filminera Resources Corporation
 Greenstone Resources Corporation
 Carmen Copper Corporation
 Hinatuan Mining Corporation (Tagana-an)
 Marc Ventures Mining & Development Corporation
 Taganito Mining Corporation
 Cagdianao Mining Corporation
 Hinatuan Mining Corporation
  Nickel Asia Corporation

Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Leo L. Jasareno said that out of the 42 operating metals mines, only
30% of the mining companies have fully complied while others are going through the process.

Chamber members still undergoing certification are:

o LNL Archipelago Minerals, Inc.

o Berong Nickel Corporation
o Apex Mining Co., Inc.
o TVI Res. Dev. Inc./Minimax Mineral Explo. Corp.
o CTP Construction & Mining Corp. (Adlay & Dahican)
o Pacific Nickel Phils., Inc.
o Platinum Group Metals Corporation
o Philsaga Mining Corporation

Failure to obtain certification means suspension of the mining company’s environmental compliance
certificate (ECC) and non-issuance of ore transport (OTP) and/or mineral ore export permits (MOEP). The lack
of these permits effectively bars the firm from transporting and exporting its mineral ores.
REFERENCES:

2017,January.Learn About Environmental Management Systems. Retrieved from

https://www.epa.gov/ems/learn-about-environmental-management-systems#what-is-an-EMS

2018,October.Environmental Management System. Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_management_system

2017,November.ISO 14000. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_14000

2018.Environmental-ISO 14001:2015. Retrieved from

http://www.nevilleclarke.com/philippines/ISO_14001_Environmental_Management/

2018,July.ISO 14001 History. Retrieved from https://www.jrconsultants.co.uk/iso-14001-history/