Unit 1 Introduction

• The need for an environmental review in ISO14001
• How to conduct an environmental review
• What is needed
• Use of a protocol

If a company intends to install an environmental management system such as EMAS or ISO14001 or indeed any system of their own choosing then a preliminary environmental review is the first major step in the process.

The review is used to explore all issues relating the company's activities to its environmental impact. The review should be as comprehensive as possible and should encompass all technical matters such as the purchase of raw materials, the release of effluent and emissions to atmosphere and the management of waste. You will notice that consideration also has to be given to legal issues and to staff training and communication.

Note that the review is sometimes termed an environmental audit, and technically this is correct especially if it produces quantifiable data such as records of air emissions. By convention the term audit is now used to describe the action of inspecting the environmental management system.

The review will greatly assist the company in identifying its major environmental impacts and enable it to check compliance with all appropriate legislation and consents (a necessary condition of attaining ISO14001 anyway). The defining of the company's environmental policy will follow from this review as will a programme of improvement and establishment of the environmental management system.