Auditing
Environmental Performance
Ever tightening legislative controls combined with an increasing requirement to be able to provide answers to questions raised by interested third parties (customers, shareholders, funding institutes), has resulted in companies needing to take a close look at the way in which they manage environmental issues on their sites and to provide evidence of their commitment to environmental management.
Whether you are intending to attain a formal environmental management standard eg ISO14001 or EMAS, or develop an 'in-house' management system, you will need to address the following key stages
- identify baseline environmental conditions on site
- assess environmental risks/impacts associated with site activities
- identify actions to be taken to reduce risk/impact
- establish an environmental management framework
- set an environmental action plan
- monitor progress
- audit
- review.
HASTAM has developed an environmental auditing package which has proved a useful tool in fulfilling the above requirements. CHASE EME (Environmental Management Evaluation) has recently been launched by HASTAM. Based on the original Environment Audit, which was developed in conjunction with Cookson Group plc, the questions have been fully revised to take into account changes in legislation and practice, including ISO 14001.
Use of CHASE EME where there has been no preliminary assessment of environmental performance allows strengths and weaknesses to be identified and furthermore, provides a basis for the establishment of an action plan. Having completed the baseline review, the continued use of CHASE over a period of time allows an assessment to be made of an organisation's improvement in its environmental performance score. Answering of additional questions to ISO 14001 allows comparison of performance with the international standard.
CHASE software gives you full control over the evaluation content thus enabling the questions to be fine-tuned to match your organisation - you measure your performance against your own standards, which may well be considerably higher than those required by legislation.
Typical CHASE EME Questions
Question 1.2.1
Have all critical tasks associated with potential risks to the environment been identified and documented?
Guidance
All activities consist of a number of identifiable tasks. Those tasks which have the potential to cause adverse environmental impact, particularly if the task is performed in haste, carelessly or using inadequate equipment, are known as critical tasks. A knowledge of those critical tasks is vital to ensure a high standard of environmental protection
Question 1.3.1
Do you identify relevant legal requirements associated with all of your operations?
Guidance
The collation of data on legal requirements should include a description of the site activities which apply to a particular statute. Legal requirements associated with the following activities should be addressed:
- emissions to atmosphere
- discharges to surface and groundwater
- storage
- handling & disposal of materials (raw & wastes)
- energy usage
- impacts on natural habitats etc.
Question 3.3.4
Are all bulk storage facilities regularly inspected and tested?
Guidance
There should be regular inspections and tests of the storage facilities to ensure that they are fit for their purpose and meet required specifications. There should be written procedures and clear allocation of responsibilities for all inspections and tests. There must be formal procedures for recording the results of all checks, inspections and tests of storage facilities and the corrective actions that are taken on the basis of the findings.
HASTAM has a team of Registered Environmental Auditors who would be pleased to help you identify a programme for measuring your environmental performance. Our auditors are happy to undertake all of the work on your behalf, providing an independent assessment of your performance, or to guide your managers, enabling them to undertake the assessments themselves. Tailored audits can be prepared for future use.
