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Risks and opportunities in ISO 14001:2015

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Guest user Created:   Feb 15, 2017 Last commented:   Feb 15, 2017

Risks and opportunities in ISO 14001:2015

Dear Strahinja, To give you a little background, we are a small electronics company with approximately 120 employees. We have been working to implement ISO 14001:2015 for approximately 6 weeks. We already were compliant with ISO 14001:2004 version. We are planning to have our first NSF audit 7/17/17. I believe that most of the 14001:2015 requirements are being covered but we are still very confused on Risks. I have read multiple white pages but I haven't seen an actual example of an environmental Risk. I decided to utilize our APQP risk assessment form because it is very similar to others I found on the internet. But when my team sits down to discuss what a Risk is, I struggle to be able to explain it. We already have a list of aspects, so do we utilize the aspect list to create potential environmental problems that become our Risks or are Risks something we invent? For example, there is a fire and the fire reaches our stock of different types of plastic, burning it and creating dangerous smoke that pollutes the air. Would this b e one Risk? If so, then do I sit the EMS team down and invent multiple Risks that our processes could create if something major happens in the facility? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
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Step-by-step implementation for smaller companies.

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Strahinja Stojanovic Feb 15, 2017

Answer:

Risks in ISO 14001 as well as opportunities need to be identified not only regarding environmental aspects but also regarding compliance obligations and context of the organization. You don't need to turn your significant environmental aspects into risk but rather to examine what can go wrong in operational controls that can lead to escalation of the environmental aspect and damaging the environment. The example you stated is a good direction for identifying risks. Also you need to determine risks related to legal requirements and possible actions to avoid violation of those requirements.

For more information, see: Risks and opportunities in ISO 14001:2015 – What they are and why they are important https://advisera.com/14001academy/blog/2016/03/07/risks-and-opportunities-in-iso-140012015-what-they-are-and-why-they-are-important/

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Feb 15, 2017

Feb 15, 2017