Environmental Aspects of Domhus UK Ltd - Assignment Example

Environmental Aspects of Domhus UK Ltd Answer 7: Significant Environmental Aspects of Domhus UK Ltd An environmental aspect of a company can be described as a constituent of the business’s activities, services, or products that might possibly intermingle with the ecology. These interactions and their consequences could be permanent in nature, or temporarily associated with certain events or activities. An environmental aspect of a company is noteworthy if it brings about unfavourable or advantageous modifications to the atmosphere. These modifications could be the consequence of the organization’s processes or production of goods (Environmental Protection Agency, n.d.). Domhus Uk Ltd’s environmental aspects would comprise of those direct impacts that occurs from the company’s business activities, services or products. In addition it would also comprise of the indirect impacts that take place owing to the activities of Domhus’s suppliers and contractors in addition to the impacts related to the consumers’ utilization of Domhus’s products. Thus, the recognition of environmental aspects of Domhus would necessitate the consideration of its supply inputs to each business procedure or activity, the transitional effects, as well as the outputs for past, current as well as upcoming activities. These have to be considered for both the normal operating scenario as well as for any rationally anticipated scenario. Some examples of the scenarios that should be taken into account during the process of identification of the firm’s environmental aspects are intended or innovative developments, or fresh or customized business activities, or products and services (Flemstrom, 2003, pp. 9-12). The environmental aspects of Domhus UK Ltd shall be discovered on the basis of its prime business activities. For the identification of Domhus’s environmental aspects, it is necessary to go over and assess the following information: Business activity process flow and work procedures, Official requirements as well as non-statutory regulation notes, General stipulations or clauses as well as particular stipulations, Plan reports of work processes, Observations made during assessment of sites, Previous files of complaints and any instances of nonconformity, Historical observation or supervisory records, and Books for precedent management reviews as well as records of environmental audits (Department of Environmental Protection, 2001a, pp. 20-22) The identification of the environmental aspects of any organization has to be carried out in a very systematic manner. The following figure represents a basic flow chart of activities and processes that should be taken into account for environmental aspect identification: Figure 1: Flowchart for environmental aspect identification. (Environmental Protection Agency, n.d.). For the assessment of the environmental facets of Domhus’s business activities, it is important that we evaluate both its inputs as well as its outputs. The inputs used by Domhus would comprise of non-chemical supplies, chemicals, energy resources, and water among others (Environmental Protection Agency, n.d., pp. 5-9). Domhus UK Ltd is in the business of manufacturing prefabricated homes. Thus, the company possibly uses various forms of chemical as well as non-chemical supplies during the manufacturing process. Some of these resources can have potential impacts on the atmosphere. Additionally, the outputs after the manufacturing of the pre-fabricated homes can be in the form of air emissions, water discharges, residual wastes, noise, and odour among others (Steen, 2001). Moreover, since Domhus manufactures its products in its factories and then transfers them to the sites, the company is exposed to the risk of harming the air quality owing to the transport emissions as well as noise. Some of the crucial environmental aspects associated with Domhus UK Ltd could be construction waste, noise, raw material use, transports, energy use, waste treatment, incorporated perilous stuffs and materials, discharge to air, land contamination and use of water among others. The construction and production of prefabricated houses by Domhus UK Ltd. could possibly create noise, dust and odour among others (Malmqvist & Glaumann, 2004). The emissions discharged during the manufacture and also the transport of the goods could result in degradation of air and atmosphere. Furthermore inappropriate use of natural resources and raw materials could lead to exhaustion of energy resources and minerals on the whole. The identification of environmental aspects of Domhus is crucial because it would help in the proper identification of the environmental effects of each aspect. One of the crucial raw materials used in the manufacture if pre-fabricated homes is aluminium, which is vastly used due to its light weight as well as durability. The use of aluminium and many such metals can have certain level of impact on the environment. The impact on environment during the complete life cycle of aluminium is illustrated through the following figure: Figure 2: Environmental Impact of Aluminium during different stages (Katarina, 2007, p. 2). Answer 8: Prospective Environmental Management Programmes for Domhus UK Ltd In addition to building the foundation of its environmental management system, it is important for Domhus UK Ltd. to identify what it proposes to accomplish in the environmental field. In order to attain the goals and objectives, Domhus UK would require an environmental management programme, which would act as an action plan for the company. It is crucial that Domhus UK’s environmental management program should be connected to its environmental targets and goals. In other words, it should illustrate how the company will transform its objectives and strategy obligations into tangible activities with the intention that environmental goals of the company are realized. The objectives and targets of the environmental management programme of an organization should be categorized into three groups, namely, control, improve and study. The ‘control’ objective is applicable for activities that come under environmental regulations. In such cases, the organization should attempt to maintain compliance with the prescribed regulations. However, in cases of use of water and other energy sources, organizations should apply the ‘improve’ objective. This is because the reduction of use of such resources is not obligatory by law, however, it is crucial for the safe guard of the environment in the long run. On the other hand, ‘study’ objective is applicable when the organization believes that enhancement is viable and advantageous. Nevertheless, in such cases the company might have to investigate and research in order to find ways to accomplish the improvements (Environmental Protection Agency, n.d., p. 5-11). The efficiency of Domhus UK’s environmental management program can be ascertained by classifying the accountabilities for accomplishing goals , the way for attaining the objectives in addition to the time frame for accomplishing those goals. However, it is imperative that the company modifies its environmental programs from time to time. This is because the goals and objectives have to be reviewed with the passage of time; pertinent legal constraints might be established; and their might be modifications in the products manufactured or the services provided by the company (Department of Environmental Protection, 2001b, p 32). Prior to formulating suitable environmental management programmes of Domhus UK Ltd, in view of its environmental objectives and targets, there are certain issues that are to be considered. It is necessary to evaluate the impact of manufacturing pre-fabricated homes on environment, in context the various forms of resources and energy used during and after the process of manufacturing. As discussed earlier, the major source of environmental impact for Donhus would be during transportation, which is an integral part of the company’s business process. The following figure indicates the impact of prefabrication on various environmental performance indicators: Figure 3: Performance of Pre-Fabricated Home Manufacturers in terms of Environmental Aspects. (Waskett, 2001, p. 16). It is crucial for the management of Domhus UK Ltd to categorize the appropriate and relevant environmental management program divisions of the company. Each division of the company would have to scrutinize its operations to recognize and file any process or apparatus that has the possibility to contaminate or else debase the atmosphere and the surroundings. This process is a sensible appliance of the notion of recognition being the rational initial point for any effort to get rid of or lessen harm that an action may possibly create to an environment. The environmental management program for Domhus UK Ltd may comprise of the following: 1. Identification of resources that release dangerous air pollutants as per the regulations for clean air, or include other influences on the quality of air that might necessitate a sanction. 2. Identification and control of sources that ejects straightaway to a communal sewer arrangement or any form of water body. The company would require identifying point source as well as non-point source contaminants of water, sewages or additional ejections that could go beyond benchmark levels or necessitate consent under the environmental laws for clean water. 3. The use of pesticides keeping up with the environment related acts and regulations. For instance, the use of pest control, algae control and so on for the premise of the company and its factory sites should be conducted as per the prescribed regulations. 4. The control of processes that could generate dangerous wastes as specified by pertinent environmental management rules. For instance solvents, outdated chemical goods, and batteries, among others have to be monitored to control the emission of harmful waste products that might cause degeneration of the environment. 5. The company should maintain a yearly reporting system for definite chemicals to be employed, processed or stocked up in excess of precise quantities (Environmental Protection Agency, 2001, pp 32-33). Answer 9: Auditing for Integrated Management System The audit of an integrated management system assesses the efficiency of all the facets of the company’s management system, together with quality, environmental threats and related hazards, manufactured goods stewardship in addition to work-related health and safety perils and risks. Characteristically, the audit of integrated management system takes place throughout the preservation stage of the management structure life cycle (Hollenback, 2007, p. 39). Generally, a company has to carry out system audits to check the performance of the quality and the environmental managements systems. The main reason for such audits is to ascertain that the appropriate requirements of the standards are being met and the system has been successfully employed. Incorporation of the quality and environmental management systems into a single system not only integrates the operational control procedures and the management evaluation, but also the audit processes. In order to amalgamate the audit procedures for its integrated management system, Domhus UK Ltd would have to prepare an audit timetable on the basis of their integrated system processes. Following the incorporation of these processes, Domhus UK Ltd can conduct an amalgamated internal audit for each distinct process. Nevertheless, the company could still continue to perform audits on processes that are not yet integrated. The amalgamation of the internal audit procedure is likely to lessen the audit redundancy and also save resources as well as time. The chief advantage of integration of the various management system standards is the development of a process mindset throughout the company. This would result in persistent improvement in quality and helps the company to attain success by means of its management systems. Figure 4: Auditing for Integrated Management System (Hollenback, 2007, p. 40). The above figure represents the steps in the auditing process of an Integrated Management System. However, the company should take note that it should not force the amalgamation of audit on organizational procedures which are not integrated to each other. Another aspect that should be taken care of is that internal auditors who do not possess the required skills in environmental processes should not be used for auditing the integrated management system (McDonald. et. al., 2003, p 74). 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[pdf] Available at: http://testsite.mcdcg.com/wp-content/uploads/Mgmt-Sys-Int-Can-it-be-Done.pdf [Accessed on August 07, 2012]. Steen, B. 2001. Identification of significant environmental aspects and their indicators. [pdf] Available at: http://lifecyclecenter.se/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/2001_7.pdf [Accessed on August 07, 2012]. Waskett, P. 2001. DTI Construction Industry Directorate Project Report : Current Practice and Potential Uses of Prefabrication. [pdf] Available at: http://projects.bre.co.uk/prefabrication/prefabrication.pdf [Accessed on August 07, 2012]. Read More