Managing EAIA

Answer:

First you have to make an environmental assessment to determine the environmental aspects of your organization. I use flowcharts, visit facilities, speak with workers, and request figures to the purchasing and account departments in order to get a list of how an organization interacts with the environment. Then, I determine the environmental impacts. To determine which are significative or not, I look for environmental legislation and whenever an organization does not comply, we have a significative environmental aspect and impact. For all aspects, independently of legislation, I perform an evaluation very similar to your “Quantity, Occurrence, Impact, Detection and Control”. I designed a scale of measurement for each topic. For example:

Occurrence

1 point – Can occur but never occurred before

2 points – Occurs less than one time per year

3 point s – Occurs more than one time per year

4 points – Occurs every month

5 points – Occurs whenever the activity is performed

For each parameter I determine the measure to apply. Then I calculate a general level of significance (GLS) like:

GLS = Quantity x Occurrence x Impact x Detection x Control

And I set a number above which all GLS are considered significative. If an aspect is legislated and there is no compliance, there is no need of calculations, it is automatically significative.

The following material will provide you information about assessment of environmental interactions:

- ISO 14001 – 4 steps in identification and evaluation of environmental aspects - https://advisera.com/14001academy/knowledgebase/4-steps-in-identification-and-evaluation-of-environmental-aspects/
- Environmental aspects in the manufacturing sector - https://advisera.com/14001academy/blog/2015/06/22/environmental-aspects-in-the-manufacturing-sector/
- ISO 14001:2015 – How to set criteria for environmental aspects evaluation - https://advisera.com/14001academy/blog/2016/10/31/iso-140012015-how-to-set-criteria-for-environmental-aspects-evaluation/
- List of ISO 14001 implementation steps - https://advisera.com/14001academy/blog/2019/08/27/key-iso-14001-benefits-to-customers/nowledgebase/list-of-iso-14001-implementation-steps/
- free preview - Procedure for Identification and Evaluation of Environmental Aspects and Risks - https://advisera.com/14001academy/documentation/procedure-for-identification-and-evaluation-of-environmental-aspects/
- free online training ISO 14001:2015 Foundations Course - https://advisera.com/training/iso-14001-internal-auditor-course/
- book - THE ISO 14001:2015 COMPANION – A A Straightforward Guide to Implementing an EMS in a Small Business - https://advisera.com/books/the-iso-14001-2015-companion/