Monitoring Environmental Performance
Level 5
Unit 7
Monitoring Other Components

Unit 7: Monitoring Other Components

Environmental Non-Conformances: Incidents and Complaints and Monitoring Equipment

Environmental Non-Conformances: Incidents and Complaints

All environmental incidences on site must be correctly recorded and investigated in order to show that compliance with standards and with the company's EMS (if applicable) in general is being demonstrated. Ideally, the company should have documented procedures for dealing with all incidents on site.

All public complaints should also be incorporated into the incident monitoring regime. These are often connected with atmospheric emissions such as visible (dust etc), noise and odour. It is the responsibility of the company to decide which complaints they must take seriously. Coupled with this, complaints arising from the enforcing authority must also be broken down into those which are informal, those, such as abatement notices, that are formal and most seriously-prosecutions.

Other complaints that should be taken into account within this particular monitoring system are those from neighbouring industrial sites/companies and those from the internal employees themselves. It is important to note here that due to the fact that many people are now becoming increasingly more environmentally aware, complaints of this nature are undoubtedly set to rise.

EXERCISE

Devise a monitoring regime for incidences and complaints on site. If one already exists on your site, look at past records and make a note of the action taken, if any for each complaint. Attempt to review the effectiveness of the monitoring and follow up procedure - where could it be improved?

A sample Complaints Record Form is included in the appendices.