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distribution and use; reuse and recycling potential and product disposal and associated wastes. The impact can be assessed using LCA, risk assessment or other appropriate methods, provided that the method is appropriate to the product or service and the data is available for conducting the assessment.
Product standards use the following three strategies to protect the environment:
(i) Resource conservation: This focuses on preventing depletion of resources. Renewable resources can be replenished, if managed carefully. Non-renewable resources present different challenges. Recycling and waste minimisation are the two means that can be used to preserve these resources and to extend them as much as possible.
(ii) Pollution prevention: This utilises strategies such as source reduction and material substitution to reduce emissions into the environment. Pollution prevention can result in numerous financial benefits, including lower cleanup and disposal costs, reduced costs for pollution control equipment and its operation, insurance savings and many others.
(iii) Design for environmental impacts: This is established by
conducting failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA).
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ISO 14001 is what is implemented in companies. We will discus this in Subsections 7.3.1 to 7.3.3.
7.2.4 EMS specification standards: ISO 14001
This standard is the core of the ISO 14000 series. ISO 14001 presents the elements of a EMS that organisations are required to conform with, if they seek third-party certification. As mentioned previously, ISO 14001 is the only standard in the ISO 14000 series intended to be used for third-party certification. All the other standards in the series are intended as guidance only. In
LEARNING ACTIVITY 7.
State the difference between ISO 14001 and other standards in ISO 14000 series of standards. Note : a) Write your answer in the space given below. b) Check your answer with the one given at the end of this Unit.
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proactive management and total employee involvement. ISO 14001 urges employees to define their environmental roles from the bottom up and requires the support of senior management. It is a comprehensive framework that contains core elements for managing an organisation's processes and activities to identify significant environmental aspects the organisation can control, and over which it can be expected to have an influence. Any organisation or facility or organisation of any size anywhere in the world can use the standard.
An EMS conforming to ISO 14001 contains the following elements:
An environmental policy supported by senior management. Identification of environmental aspects and significant impacts. Identification of legal and other requirements. Environmental goals, objectives and targets that support the policy. An environmental management programme. Definition of roles, responsibilities and authorities. Training and awareness procedures. Process for communication of the EMS to all interested parties. Document and operational control procedures. Procedures for emergency response. Procedures for monitoring and measuring operations that can have a significant impact on the environment. Procedures to correct non-conformance. Record management procedures.
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A programme for auditing and corrective action. Procedures for management review.
Note that while ISO 14001 is more likely to be used in manufacturing or processing industries, it can also be applied to services such as construction, architecture, health care and engineering. This standard essentially requires an organisation to state what it does in environmental management and do what it states. ISO 14001 is neither a product standard nor an environmental performance standard. It does not require an organisation to establish or disclose performance or audit results and does not require certification.
Let us now discuss the guidelines for planning and implementation of ISO 14001.
7.3 IMPLEMENTATION OF EMS CONFORMING
TO ISO 14001
The key to a successful ISO 14001 EMS is having documented procedures that are implemented and maintained in such a way that successful achievement of environmental goals is commensurate with the nature and scale of the activities.
There are three components to a EMS and these are:
(i) A written programme: The written programme requires an organisation to be committed to producing a quality product with the lowest possible environmental impact and sets forth the procedures to be followed to achieve this goal.
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(iii) Conduct gap analysis: Organisations need to evaluate as to what extent the existing procedures conform to the requirements of ISO 14001. Such a gap analysis identifies the actions necessary to build a EMS. To do this, organisations would need to compare their existing procedures to the following main stages of ISO 14001:
Environmental policy. Planning. Implementation and operation. Checking and corrective action. Management review. Continuous improvement.
(iv) Identify environmental aspects: All parts of the planning phase contribute to identifying the significant environmental aspects of the operations. An environmental aspect refers to any element of an organisation’s activities, products and services that can interact with the environment. ISO 14001 also refers to impacts. Impacts are the actual or potential changes to the environment resulting from any of the environmental aspects. Thus, the relationship between aspects and impacts is one of cause and effect. One of the best ways to identify the environmental aspects of the operation is by developing a process map or flowchart. This exercise involves mapping every step of the process and the inputs and outputs associated with each step. Developing a process map is best accomplished as a team effort, and therefore, representatives of a variety of departments and at diverse levels should be included to produce the most accurate description of the inputs and outputs. Note that an organisation’s EMS is a team effort.
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(v) Identify significant aspects: An organisation can utilise the expertise of staff to determine the significant environmental aspects of its operations. This will help in focusing on those aspects over which the organisation has some control or influence. Determining which aspects are significant is based on the judgement of severity of the impact caused by the aspect and the frequency of its occurrence, and therefore, each aspect needs to be scrutinised. It requires many iterations, before the team arrives at a final list of significant environmental aspects.
(vi) Decide the environmental policy: Having identified the significant environmental aspects and established the means and norms to improve environmental performance in the form of objectives and targets, organisations need to write their broad intentions concerning the environment. This will form or evolve into an appropriate policy, meeting the requirements of the standards. This document must include the organisation’s commitments towards complying with legal requirements, pollution prevention and continuous improvement. Note that policy framing may not be a one- time affair. It is quite likely that organisations are required to revisit the objectives formulated and targets identified commensurating with the outcomes of the initial implementation process. This iterative process helps in firming up the policy statements.
(vii) Identify environmental management programmes: An environmental management programme (EMP) may be considered a project or a plan of action to achieve objectives and targets. At this stage, the methodology of realising the objectives, the steps involved, the persons responsible for
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appropriate time for audit, etc. Importantly, senior management should demonstrate its commitment to audits and provide visible support to the auditors. This will encourage the auditors to point out the weaknesses in the system without any hesitation. As inept audits – as a result of doctored auditing – are not uncommon, the support of senior management is very critical in carrying out and documenting EMS audits.
(xii) Conduct management review: Management must periodically review the EMS to evaluate its suitability and effectiveness.
(xiii) Perform a final gap analysis: Final gap analyses help organisations determine whether they are ready for a registration audit. In other words, the results of the final gap analyses help organisations decide whether or not to apply for certification by outside auditors.
Registration
Organisations are registered by outside auditors – also known as registrars – meeting the ISO 14001 standard. The registration can be for a specific site, several sites or the entire organisation. The registration process involves the following steps:
(i) Establishing the scope of the registration. This can be done internally or with the help of outside auditors.
(ii) Applying for registration. This is a written application to the registration body.
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(iii) Reviewing documents about the organisation's EMS and submitting them to the registration body. Outside auditors perform full assessment.
(iv) Getting the grant of registration by the certification body based on the auditor's findings.
(v) Receiving either approval (conditional or provisional) or disapproval.
(vi) Receiving a certificate as a proof of registration and getting listed in a certification register.
(vii) Maintaining the registration through ongoing activities including monitoring and measuring the EMS, investigating and handling non-conformances, implementing corrective and preventive actions, maintaining environmental records and establishing and maintaining the ISO 14000 audit programme.
The time required to implement ISO 14001 EMS depends on the current status. That is to say, if an organisation's environmental programmes are effective and efficient and they are willing to commit resources, the EMS development will be fast. If all the factors required for the EMS development are in place, it is possible to complete the entire process till certification in eight to ten months. (Note that it may take the equivalent of one fourth of an employee's time for preliminary planning and exploring issues. The final four to five months will be required for checking and improving the established system. The longest and most time- consuming activity in the entire process will be training.)
Before you read any further, you must note that:
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7.4 BENEFITS OF IMPLEMENTING ISO 14001:
AN INDIAN SCENARIO
Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) is the nodal agency for ISO 14000 in India. By 2001, over 350 organisations in India have established EMS conforming to ISO 14001. Figure 7.4 gives a sector-wise distribution of these organisations:
LEARNING ACTIVITY 7.
Explain the terms environmental policy, objectives and targets in ISO 14000. Note : a) Write your answer in the space given below. b) Check your answer with the one given at the end of this Unit.
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Figure 7. Sector-Wise Distribution Of 14001 Certified Enterprises
Based on the reports of CII, we will list below the benefits perceived by the organisations after implementing ISO 14001 environmental management system:
Environmental benefits: These include identification of new opportunities for environmental improvements and improvement in resource conservation and waste minimisation. Cost containment and cost savings: These include identification of new opportunities for cost savings and areas of improvement. Regulatory compliance: This includes risk reduction and a lower rate of regulatory enforcement.
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ensuring better compliance with legal requirements. After the implementation of EMS, the organisation identified some intangible benefits, which had not been included in its original goal. These benefits were better interaction among suppliers, employees and authorities; improved waste management practices; improved employee awareness and enhanced staff morale; better working conditions and greater domestic share. The major tasks the organisation accomplished after implementation of EMS included 50% reduction in water consumption; 12 - 25% energy saving depending upon the plant; reduction in packaging mass and reductions in emissions by 95%. The case of an organisation was certified to Responsible Care before it was certified to the ISO 14001 protocol. The organisation achieved cost savings from pollution prevention, energy conservation and waste minimisation. The savings included recovery of various products (Rs. 5,55,000), reduction in water, fuel, electricity consumption (Rs. 17,10,000), reuse (Rs. 7,00,000), and others. Note that though the organisation followed the Responsible Care norms, it was better able to recognise potential areas for cost savings through the adoption of ISO 14001. The case of a mining organisation that maintains the heavy hydraulic machinery/vehicles used for its excavation work in a workshop situated on top of a hill. As part of the maintenance, oil changes were made and oil was carelessly being thrown on the land, thus contaminating it. Through the EMS, an organisation-wide oil balance study was initiated and it was found that there was a large gap between the oil received and the waste oil generated by the workshop. On a closer study, it was found that the gap accounted for the oil spill on the land. Consequently, the operating practice was changed and trays were installed to collect the waste oil. From the trays, the
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waste oil was transferred to drums and were sold. This sale resulted in a revenue flow of Rs. 36 lakhs in the first year of the organisation’s EMS implementation.
The case of a paint-manufacturing firm. At this time, there was no monitoring of the amount of water consumed, and different estimates of water consumption ranging between 250 to 400m^3 /day were available. Through the EMS, the organisation actually found that it was 490 m^3 /day. It decided to make a significant resource saving by reducing water wastage. After plugging the water leakage points and controlling the overflow in the cooling tower, water consumption was reduced to 210 m^3 /day, i.e., a saving of 270m^3 /day.
The case of an electrical cable manufacturing organisation. This organisation makes aluminum core cable with an XLPE (cross-linked polyethylene) coating, which is a black hard plastic material. In the process of making this aluminum core, there was the mechanical drawing of the wire from a metal block. This operation generates fine aluminum dust and was inhaled by the workers in the plant (as this metal dust was not contained), which caused respiratory problems and further led to the absenteeism of the workers. Through the EMS, the organisation decided to contain this waste generation by encasing the metal drawing operation. The aluminum dust generated was properly collected and sold to a local paint manufacturer who used it to manufacture silver paint.
The case of a leading cloth mill. This organisation is the largest denim-manufacturing firm in India. It was the first denim manufacturer in India to gain the ecologically optmised fabric (EOF) trademark an eco-tex certification. It exports nearly 75 – 80% of its total denim production. The most important motivating factors for the firm were enhancing the organisation’s image; augmenting management systems culture from quality to other areas of social concern and
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7.5 OHSAS 18001 and its comparison with ISO
14001 and ISO 9001
The (OHSAS) specification gives requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system, to enable an organisation to control its OH&S risks and improve its performance. It does not state specific OH&S performance criteria, nor does it give detailed specifications for the design of a management system. OHSAS 18001 has been developed to be compatible with the ISO 9001 (Quality) and ISO 14001 (Environmental) management systems standards, in order to facilitate the integration of quality, environmental and occupational health and safety management systems by organizations.
Scope This Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) specification gives requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system, to enable organizations to control its OH&S risks and improve performance. It does not state specific OH&S performance criteria, nor does it give detailed specifications for the design of a management system.
This OHSAS specification is applicable to any organization that wishes to:
a) Establish an OH&S management system to eliminate or minimize risk to employees and other interested parties who may be exposed to OH&S risks associated with its activities;
b) Implement, maintain and continually improve an OH&S management system;
c) Assure itself of its conformance with its stated OH&S policy;
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d) Demonstrate such conformance to others;
e) Seek certification/ registration of its OH&S management system by an external organization; or
f) Make a self-determination and declaration of conformance with this OHSAS specification.
This OHSAS specification is intended to address occupational health and safety rather than product and service safety.
Objectives The organization shall establish and maintain documented occupational health and safety objectives, at each relevant function and level with the organization. This needs to be quantified wherever practicable.
When establishing and reviewing its objectives, an organization shall consider its legal and other requirements, its OH&S hazards and risks, its technological options, its financial, operational, and business requirements, and the views of interest parties. The objectives shall be consistent with the OH&S policy, including the commitment to continual improvement.
A main driver for this was to try to remove confusion in the workplace from the proliferation of certifiable OH&S. specifications. This is based on the concerted effort from a number of the world’s leading national standards bodies, certification bodies, specialist consultancies and published documents:
BS8800:1996 Guide to occupational health and safety management systems
Technical Report NPR 5001: 1997 Guide to an occupational health and safety management system
