Environmental management system

• It refers to system for managing an organization's environmental programmes in a formal, comprehensive, systematic, planned and documented manner.it embraces organizational structure, planning, and resources for developing , implementing and maintaining the policy for protection of envt. Thus it has to have :

1) Commitment of top management 2) Written objectives for EMS3) Benefit of EMS4) Relevant legal requirement etc…

Terminology

Certain terms and definition used in environment management system need to be elaborated

Environment Environmental aspect Environmental impact Environmental impact assignment (EIA) Certification body

1. Environment

• It means surrounding in which any organization or living system operates.it includes natural physical entities like air, water, land its resources, human beings, plants, animals, and their interrelationships.

2.Environmental aspect

• It means organizations activities, services and products which interact with the environment . For example, packaging process of a manufacturing unit is an environmental aspect.

3.Environmental impact

A change in environment, wholly or partially resulting from an organizations activities, services or products is referred to as environmental impact. Environmental aspect must be known:• emission• effluent discharges• consumption or reuse of material• noise

4.Environmental impact assesment

EIA refers to review of potential impact of a project to be launched by an organization . It includes:I. Assignment of existing environmental status.II. Anaysis of various factors of ecosystem like

trees, ponds, wildlife.III. Analysis of adverse impacts of the project that

is to be startedIV. Impact on people in the neighbourhood

Certification of body

• It is an independent organization which verifies that a company’s EMS conforms to specific standard such as ISO 14001. such a body is called certifier.

Installing EMS

• As mentioned above, formal operations of EMS in a company require enhancing certain conditions in terms of organizational structure, besides other conditions

• The foremost is commitment of top management • The reason is that EMS is something new and

top management would like to go in to details of how it is going to affect the business before they commit

Why EMSThe most common motives for adopting a formal EMS are the following:

It is the statutory requirements and the firm want to avoid prosecution

In developed countries, Improved environmental performance is becoming a popular theme for enhancing the image of the company

The demand of various stakeholders especially the key clients puts pressure for installing a formal EMS

CERTIFICATION OF EMS

• The EMS has to be certified by external party.• The recognized standards for the purpose are:

– ISO 14001 (International Standard Organisation)–EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit System)–BS 7750 (British Standard)

Benefits of EMS

• Improved environmental performance• Pollution prevention• Resource conservation• New customers/markets• Increased efficiency/reduced costs• Enhanced employee morale• Employee awareness of environmental issues

and responsibilities

Main Stages Of An EMS

1. Commitment and PolicyTop management commits to environmental improvement

and establishes a company environmental policy. The policy is the foundation of the EMS.

2. PlanningA company first identifies environmental aspects of its

operations. Environmental aspects are those items, such as air pollutants or hazardous waste, that can have negative impacts on people and/or the environment.

3. ImplementationA company follows through with the action plan using

the necessary resources (human, financial, etc.). An important component is employee training and awareness for all employees and setting up internal and external communication lines.

4. Evaluation: A company monitors its operations to evaluate whether targets are being met. If not, the company takes corrective action.

5. Review: Top management reviews the results of the

evaluation to see if the EMS is working. Management determines whether the original environmental policy is consistent with company values. The plan is then revised to optimize the effectiveness of the EMS. The review stage creates a loop of continuous improvement for a company