Nonconformity detection process

Remember, when ISO 14001 speaks of nonconformity, the requirements refer to the nonconformity of a process with respect to the environmental aspects associated with that process. So, you must start with determining and classifying your organization’s environmental aspects and impacts. From there your organization:

• Design monitoring activities (water discharge quality, air emissions, amounts of wastes, …);
• Develop procedures and instructions to guide behavior.
   

Now, you can use the risk-based approach. For each of these actions your organization can ask:

• What can go wrong?
• Is it relevant?
• Can we do something to prevent it from happening?
• Can we do something to detect if it happens? 

Whenever your detection scheme, your control activities, find something wrong from that list you have a nonconformity. Your organization may develop a central procedure to handle all environmental nonconformities or may have rules inserted in each monitoring plan or procedure/instruction about how to handle each specific environmental nonconformity. For example:

• What to do when air emission quality is noncompliant with legislation or permit?
• What to do when employees are not segregating wastes?
   

Please consider the following information:

• Environmental Nonconformity Management: How is ISO 14001 different from ISO 9001 - https://advisera.com/14001academy/blog/2014/10/08/environmental-nonconformity-management-iso-14001-different-iso-9001/
• Enroll for free in this course – ISO 14001:2015 Foundations Course - https://advisera.com/training/iso-14001-internal-auditor-course/
• Book – The ISO 14001:2015 Companion - https://advisera.com/books/the-iso-14001-2015-companion/