Environmental Auditing and Management Systems - Coursework Example

EDLM 36 REFERRED WORK Part Methods applied in a site environmental audit to identify key issues and gather audit evidence Introduction Environment auditing is an important requirement according to a number of legislations and standards not only in the UK but across the world. This is because it is used to understand plant processes and operating systems that can be linked to environment pollution (Boland and Sutherland, 2007). Increased global warming and pollution has awakened many players in different industries ranging from governments, environment protection NGOs, manufacturing plants with respect to environment sustainability awareness (Cahill, 2006). Currently sustainable company operations are considered an important “good management practice” and attract significant public goodwill, an aspect that was not a concern in the past few years. An environmental audit, especially for a manufacturing site is a conscious process that requires careful assessment and review of the procedures, activities, and policies of the corporate in question before a final report is presented (Barton and Bruder, 2008). This is because manufacturing activities are always a major concern to environmental sustainability. Manufacturing plants are renowned for dangerous liquid discharge, gas emissions and hazardous solid wastes that if poorly managed leave the environment highly contaminated with these wastes (Greeno et al., 2008). Good environmental management practice is no longer just required of companies in the world but rather it is demanded of them. The risks associated with environmental pollution especially by factories and their threat to ecosystems has led to the development of legislation and guidelines towards prevention and mitigation globally. Processes such as Environmental Impact Assessment are now a requirement before establishment of any factory plant in the world, as a follow up measure, periodic Environmental Audits are expected of all plants once they are in operation to measure their compliance to stipulated standards (Cahill, 2007). Most companies, especially in manufacturing have now incorporated Environmental Management System (EMS) in their corporate structures to enable them attain stipulated environmental standards for operation (Cheremisinoff, 2003). The company for which this audit process has been commissioned is an example of many such manufacturing companies that have embraced EMS due to the advantages associated with its implementation as far as environmental compliance is concerned. The EMS actually includes strategic planning activities, company organizational structure and implementation of environmental policy as an integral part of the manufacturing process (Hess, 2007). The company believes that EMS as a tool is useful both for compliance with national environmental legislation as well as addressing stakeholder pressure. The tool has also helped the company to improve its image as well as raise environmental awareness among its workers and owners, as such the company wishes to undertake an environmental compliance audit as part of the larger EMS and also as part of the journey towards fully embracing and implementing ISO 14001. Auditing is one of the most important and integral parts of environmental management systems (Kuhre, 2005). Environmental Auditing and its link with ISO 14001 In the past two decades or so there has been an increasing need for companies to demonstrate their good environmental management practices to a wide range of stakeholders for different reasons including legal compliance and company image protection (Greeno et al. 2007). Participation in ISO 14001 as well as the EU’s voluntary Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) requires companies to have their environmental performance measured and verified for compliance with established standards (ICC, 2010), periodic environmental audits form part of this process. Environmental auditing has been defined by (Harrison, 2005) as an organization’s means of gathering environmental information to see whether or not the organization is environmentally sound. Auditing is largely an internal issue, not really a regulatory issue and it is related to compliance with relevant statutory requirements, promotion of good environmental management practices, and maintaining credibility with the public among other things (CCME, 2006). For this company, the auditing process was largely aimed towards establishing the performance baseline for the development of ISO 14001 and exploring improvement opportunities. This company needs a self/system audit to be carried out so as to evaluate its environmental programs, systems and practices. This is necessary to evaluate their effectiveness and identify deficiencies that require corrective action. The company requires a full systems audit incorporating various different types of audit including waste audit, occupational, health and safety audit, product safety audit, risk audit, and energy audit. The results of these audits are aimed at assisting the company in demonstrating its commitment to continuously improving its environmental performance as well as ensuring the occupational health and safety of its employees. Phases of audit and aspects of company operations to be audited The first phase of audit will be pre-audit activities. These are the activities that will be carried out in preparation for the auditing process. Usually, the main objective of pre-audit activities is to develop an audit plan for the on-site activities and to make the necessary arrangements needed for the on-site audit (Harrison, 2005). This will involve a visit to the company plant to familiarize with the operations of the plant and prepare an audit protocol. This being a detergent production plant, the audit protocol will act as a checklist to ensure all the relevant issues relating to a production plant are covered, standards of performance are in place, the list of hazardous material associated with the plant documented and the list of wastes is available (). During the pre-audit process, a list of all relevant documents needed for auditing will also be requested for, such documents include the company registration certificate, a history of past activities, business permits and so on. These are needed to establish the validity and legality of the plant’s operations. This being a production plant, process flow diagrams will also be required. These flow diagrams will show details such as type of raw materials, products and wastes generated. This information is mainly required so as to measure the current practice of handling the material against other stipulated legal and environmental standards (Cox, 2008). The second phase of audit will cover onsite audit, which is the actual auditing. Information will be sought in this process with the objectives of verifying legislation and regulatory compliance, establishment of current practice and identification of areas for improvement (Cahill, 2007). The third and final phase of the auditing process will mainly involve post-audit activities; here the main objective is to produce an audit report with the findings and recommendations. In this process, an action plan can also be formulated for areas that require improvement. The most important thing to note here is that the whole process of post-audit depends on the quality and veracity of information gathered in the audit proper phase. It is therefore essential to have a good audit data gathering process that can help towards attaining high quality audit standards (Boland et al., 2007). Methods for key issue identification and gathering audit evidence As an environmental auditor charged with the responsibility of conducting a site audit, the main methods available for issue identification and evidence gathering are observation, interviews, and document reviews. Reliability, sufficiency and accuracy of audit evidence are three important requirements for preparing a good final audit report (Cox, 2008). This means that the choice of audit data gathering techniques can place the three requirements into jeopardy if proper considerations are not observed. It is the prerogative of the auditor to ensure that he or she chooses data gathering techniques that will help in gathering adequate, reliable and accurate information during an onsite audit (Cox, 2008). As an auditor, I will ensure that the tools I use to gather audit evidence will not curtail the possibility of collecting reliable, adequate and accurate information upon which I will base my report. It is noteworthy that reliability is not only concerned with the evidence gathered but also the methods used to gather information, unreliable data gathering techniques may be misleading considering that they may not assist in gathering adequate, accurate and reliable information about the company being audited (Cheremisinoff, 2003). Observation Observation is one of the most important primary sources of data that has been successfully applied for many years in qualitative research (Greeno et al., 2008). Observation is a learning process that entails involvement or exposure to the activities of the participants or process under study. The researcher does not need to directly involve him/herself in the activity or process but can study it from a distance considering that there are other means of observation which may be inform of electronic, and mechanical devices like camera. This is important in ensuring that the observer does not interfere with the ongoing activity or process under study. Just like in other kinds of study, observation in auditing will involves careful looking and listening to an activity or process. During the process of observation as a tool of gathering audit evidence from a site I will look at and listen to the activities and processes of the plant to understand how it is operating now. I will mainly observe the activities of the plant in relation to the occupational health and safety of employees, power consumption, waste disposal, noise and other observable conditions including process cycles. Depending on the type of information that I will need to gather, I may decide to have contact with the activity or process under study, or keep off. This is something that an auditor is allowed to do if the company requires a proper audit. For instance, an environmental auditor can decide to join the employees in separating classified (hazardous) waste from general (non-hazardous) waste to study compliance with regulations. This is a self audit and thus obtrusive observation methods are applicable, in such an audit the auditor will not hide his/her identity in any way (Greeno et al., 2007). Technological innovation has advanced unobtrusive observation in the sense that a researcher can use cameras to depict behaviour, processes and activities remotely, this is one of the methods I may want to apply considering that the plant already has cameras fixed that can be observed from a control room. For instance, I can use of hidden cameras to observe how workers in a site dispose solid waste or harmful fluid discharge from the organization. As an environmental auditor, I decided to use observation because of a number of reasons key among them being the company’s policy with respect to waste management, liquid discharge, air pollution and compliance to various UK legislations and international standards regarding environment sustainability. A number of factory activities cannot be verified remotely unless someone visits the organization in person or use other modern methods of data gathering through observation (Hess, 2007). For instance, it is hard to gather circumstantial evidence without looking for or listening to the operations of an organization. For instance, it may be hard to notice leaking in chemical storage facility but evidence of spill may indicate that there was some leakage. Additionally it is easier to notice odour during a tour of the site than when using other tools of data gathering such as telephone interview thus the need for observation. Observation is important for gathering physical, circumstantial evidence as well as ensuring compliance with environmental laws, standards and requirements. Key among the laws and regulations controlling manufacturing plant operations in the UK is the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which deals with waste regulation, other regulations include Regulations SI 2005/894 and the Regulations SI 2005/1806 which deal with hazardous waste. The Clean Air Act 1993 deals with emission into the atmosphere, while the Groundwater Regulations 1998 Act deals with groundwater pollution. These laws/regulations categorically stipulate all the management chain of company substance (production, handling, storage, transport, processing, treatment and disposal) that interferes with three environmental media of air, water and land (Hess, 2007). It is through observation that an auditor will be able to monitor the management chain with respect to company operations to ensure non-discriminatory compliance to the legal requirements and sustainable environment practices. Observation will be highly reliable in uncovering all the air emission sources, waste water discharges, and Solid waste disposal methods in the company. Interviews Interviews are an important tool for understanding key issues in a company and gathering audit evidence. Audit interviews present a significant way of collecting evidence for the different purposes and auditors often spend a lot of time asking questions, listening to responses and making follow-ups (ICC, 2010). There are two notable methods of interviewing and they include directive and non-directive. The interviewer always plans the process and it is normally geared towards obtaining specific information, this includes the kind of data they want to get and the set of questions that will assist them in having access to the information (ICC, 2010). For instance, an environment auditor who wants to know about storage of chemicals in the organization will have to come up with questions prior to the conduct of the interview. During directive interview, the interviewer is always in control of the procedures and it follows a formal structure, as the conversation has to stay within a prearranged program. Unlike directive interview, non-directive interview, which I will apply in the audit, is almost informal and is often aimed at maintaining understanding and building confidence with the interviewees. The core objective of non-directive interview is to create a favourable environment of sincere discussion (Dowie et al., 2008). For an effective interview to occur an investigator must build a good atmosphere that can support free and honest exchange of ideas and information. A number of factors inform my decision to apply interviews as one of my audit methods, key among them is the need to understand internal company policies, employee operations, and training requirements. Through interviews, an auditor stands a better chance of establishing the level of employee understanding concerning Environmental Management Systems (EMS), environment laws/regulations and standards (Porter et al. 2005). An interview with the management of the plant can be important in establishing whether they understand ISO 14001 requirements as well as other relevant laws such as the Environmental Protection Act 1990 seeks to protect the three environmental media of air, land and water. I believe that interviews with personnel will also be important for gathering important information regarding employees’ level of training with regard to waste management, liquid discharge and gas emissions. It is a requirement by ISO 14001 that the company’s environmental policy has to be documented and communicated to all the employees. This means that the employees must be aware of the company’s environmental policy and this can be known through interviews. Interviews forms a significant investigative tool for testing knowledge and understanding of situations and operations compared to other tools of gathering audit evidence. Document Review Document Review is a vital data collection tool applied in various disciplines. It normally involves reviewing of existing documents. In the case of an environmental audit, the documents to be reviewed may be internal to the organization such as management structure, training records and drainage plan or external to the organization such as permits, and licenses (CCME, 2006). There are a number of instances when document review may also be used as a data-gathering tool, the first one being the need to collect background information about an organization, as well as its operation and procedures. Another important reason for reviewing existing document is to establish the extent to which the implement program or process meets the stipulated requirements, and or standards. There is also need to review existing documents to establish their accuracy. As an auditor, I will also carry out document review as a tool for gathering audit evidence owing to the fact that it is vital source of gathering background information on this company. For instance, the management of the organization must produce documents relating to the operations of the organization considering that the permits and licenses will indicate the authorized activities of the organization. This source of data collection is inexpensive compared to other tools of gathering evidence such as on site visits, or interviews. An auditor can also use documents particularly training records to establish the level of employee training on site with respect to local, national and international legal requirements/standards or procedures concerning environment sustainability. A number of laws as well as regulations in the UK stipulate permitted level of emissions or discharge for different organizations and such can be justified through licenses and permits (Kuhre, 2005). Excessive emission or discharge beyond limit can be known by reviewing existing documents concerning the operations of the company. Conclusion The process of auditing is one that in most parts of the world is optional and not imposed by legislation or regulation. However the process remains very important especially for companies that embrace Environmental Management Systems as a way of attaining certain advantages associated with good environmental management practices. Auditing assumes certain steps which culminate into an audit report. The most important aspect however is collection of audit data as this is what is used in preparation of the reports. Several methods including observation, interviews and document review can be applied in audit; however it is always best to use all these methods so as to leverage the strengths of each of them for a more comprehensive audit process. Part 2: Application of Environmental Management Systems to fulfil a company’s commitment Introduction An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a tool used to manage environmental burden of organization activities and processes. It avails a controlled approach towards planning and implementation of environmental protection measures (Dahlstrom, 2009). Just like financial management systems which are applied for controlling income and expenditure in an organization Environmental Management Systems (EMS) is used to monitor an organization’s environmental performance. A number of organizations, especially manufacturing firms whose activities bear large environmental risk burdens are renowned for integrating environmental management practices into their daily activities, key quality management systems as well as strategic plans (Nawrocka, 2007). Various companies do this in response to the growing environmental awareness propagated by various regulatory demands. Essentially, an Environmental Management System (EMS) incorporates environmental care throughout the corporate structure of a company. It includes strategic planning activities and implementation of environmental policy as an integral part of the manufacturing process (Ammenberg and Hjelm, 2006). For example a company can have a particular waste management policy covering all types of waste incorporated into its manufacturing process as part of a larger EMS for the company. Many companies are engaged in consistent control of their operations with a view of attaining key environmental goals as the entire world is continuing to drum for a pollution-free environment. Despite the fact that there are several Environmental Management Systems stipulated by non-statutory guidelines such as the ISO 14001 and the European Eco Management and Auditing Scheme (EMAS). A number of companies have customized their EMS to their business and goals by adopting particular guidelines; ISO 14001 is the most popular guideline globally. This is due to the fact that although different organizations have different environmental goals based on their primary activities, ISO 14001 is the broadest and easily applicable system globally recognized (ISO, 2004). For instance, an oil drilling company will be highly worried about liquid spillage and contamination rather than a lumbering plant, which may be mainly concerned with solid waste management. Elements of an Environmental Management System It is vital to understand key elements of an Environmental Management Systems in order to understand how it can be used by a company to achieve its environmental objectives. This is because it is the EMS elements that tend to interact with the company operations to achieve desired environmental goals. ISO 14001 is one of the most widely used frameworks for an EMS. In fact, the European Eco Management and Auditing Scheme (EMAS) have adopted ISO 14001 as its EMS (ISO, 20040. However, there are other elements of EMS that can be adopted independently by a company in a move to improve their environmental performance. Key among the elements of an EMS as stipulated in ISO 14001 include but are not limited to commitment and policy, Planning, implementation, evaluation and review (Hamschmidt, 2005). One of the vital elements of ISO 14001 is review of organizational environmental goals. Under this element an organization can often strive to identify its broad environmental commitments in line with its activities. For example a policy of proper waste management can be well fulfilled by this element by reviewing waste management standards frequently to align them to new company environmental goals. The next important element is analysis of a company’s environmental impact and legal requirements; a company needs to understand the extent (both potential and actual) to which its daily activities will damage the ecosystem as well as its respective regulatory requirements (Hertin and Tyteca, 2008). For example regular audits can reveal the extent to which waste impacts the environment and what management measures have achieved. Another element of ISO 14001 is identification of organizational environmental objectives and targets. This can also be achieved by means of environmental audits (Ann et al., 2006). A well laid out EMS must stipulate a company’s long-term plans with respect to environmental performance but in case of continual improvement then targets must be set and regularly reviewed or else at one point the company will go off track in pursuing its objectives; ISO 14000 is aims at continuous improvement. Consultation between management and staff is another important element of a basic EMS. Development and implementation of EMS is not an activity meant for executive management alone, as all the staff and the community must be involved before, during and after development to gain overwhelming support and commitment (EU, 2003) Review of operational and emergency procedures is another element of an effective EMS. The organization must review all its processes and procedures to ensure that they are congruent with its environmental objectives and targets. An EMS must also include the establishment of programs to help the organization pursue its goals. The organization must come up with vital plans and programs, which should be used to achieve the set objectives and targets (Speir, 2001). Documentation of all the objectives, targets, responsibilities, procedures and policies as well as that of environmental performance should be carried out regularly (Perez et al. 2007). These documents can be used later for verification purposes especially by the regulators and auditors. Other elements include allocation of responsibilities to the staff ranging from the top executives to the subordinate staff and training of staff on their various responsibilities. This is important in creating awareness about the environmental policy, objectives and procedures of the organization. A detailed basic corporate EMS should stipulate the need to measure, monitor and review performance against expected objectives and targets as well as progress towards attaining the overall environmental goals of the organization (Berkhout, 2001). A regular audit should be conducted to assist in evaluating progress and in identifying any abnormalities in order to facilitate corrective measures. It is important to know whether the EMS is working by checking whether it assists the company to control its operations cost-effectively and systematically while at the same time giving room for improved environment performance. The final element of a basic EMS should take into consideration continual improvement whereby identified deviations in the EMS are noted and a revised plan is implemented once again to meet new objectives and targets (Konnola and Unruh, 2007). Application of ISO 14001 as an appropriate EMS for fulfilling company commitments There is no doubt that EMS can be used in a number of ways to achieve a company’s commitment towards improved environmental performance. Key elements of an EMS are important guidelines for assisting company attain its environmental objectives (Arimura et al., 2008). First, a company can use EMS to create employee awareness of grave environmental issues and their responsibilities in addressing existing and arising environmental issues. It is a requirement by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for the ISO 14001 standard that all individual employees irrespective of their positions in the organization must be made aware of their roles and responsibility in improving corporate environment performance (Montabon and Melnyk, 2009). The organization also needs to identify all the training needs of their respective employees and train them on the environmental effect (both potential and actual) of their operations and above all significant benefits attributed to good environment management practices. The employees must also be made aware of the potential risks associated with deviating from the stipulated operational practices. For instance, employees dealing with the boilers in a factory should be made aware of the possible consequences of failing to measure airflow rates during operations. In other words if the employees are trained well and made aware of the impact of their activities on the environment and how to minimize potential risk will help an organization a great deal in attaining its environmental commitment. Companies can use EMS to enhanced compliance and thus reduce regulation liabilities. Training of employees and sensitizing them of local, national, and international legal, procedural, standard requirements makes them operate more efficiently and avoid breaching the requirements thus increasing compliance. A number of penalties come with lack noncompliance to various legal demands for environment conservation. The regulator bodies are keen to observe honest compliance with the stipulated legal demands failure to which a fine may be imposed or offenders prosecuted. Other enforcement measures include strict liability offences and personal liability. The liability imposed on noncompliance with the regulatory requirements is very heavy and therefore a company can effectively use EMS to address all the regulatory requirements and attain its environmental goals to avoid liability (Gimenez et al. 2006). Pollution control is another important activity that a company can make use of EMS to achieve. With the increased environmental awareness especially regarding global warming, a number of companies are struggling not only to minimize pollution but most importantly to prevent it in advance (Morrow et al., 2006). Most companies are adopting various EMS standards to prevent environmental pollution (Huber et al., 2005). For example, an audit review can be carried out on site to identify sources of noise, once identified, noise attenuation equipment such as silencers, enclosures, and barriers can be installed to prevent noise in totality. The same applies to management of on-site wastewater treatment and discharges whereby an organization can design a treatment plant, which can effectively maintain regulated discharge requirements rather than draining them in nearby rivers or dams thus causing environmental pollution. Good environmental management practice calls for all the companies to address issues of direct discharge into water bodies to avoid contamination and cause public health concerns (Florida, 2007). A company can use an EMS to achieve its commitment through assistance in gaining a clear understanding of the impact of its business activities on the environment. It is noteworthy that ISO 14001 standard requires all organizations to identify various environmental aspects of their operations, products, and or services, which can be influenced to allow for easier identification of operations that have or are likely to have significant impact on the environment (Welch and Rana, 2003). The ISO 14001 standard as a benchmark EMS is highly concerned with aspects of an organization’s activities that can have adverse effect on the environment. The first step in identifying potential and actual environmental impact of the company activity involves identifying all sources of pollution. For instance, a company must recognize at which point of management chain (extraction, production, storage, transportation and disposal) does pollution occurs and rank them according to the risk they pose to the environment (Sroufe, 2008). This means that an EMS plays a significant role in enabling the organization to clearly understand environmental impact of its operations by identifying all the sources of pollution. The fact that an Environment Management System enables the management of a plant to check and evaluate the progress of management system and consequently take corrective measure is a clear example of how an organization can use EMS to attain its environmental commitment (Potoski and Prakash, 2005). ISO 14001 as well as the European Eco Management and Auditing Scheme (EMAS) requires that an organization should carryout regular review of the management system to confirm whether it is improving environmental performance or not (Welch and Rana, 2003). An audit of the EMS is an important tool for measuring the effectiveness of the implemented EMS and this is important in ensuring that a company stays on course in attainment of its environment objectives and targets. Environmental audit comes with a wide range of advantages, which include conformity with standards, improved operation efficiency, identification of potential cost savings and reduced liabilities. Other notable advantages of regular audit reviews involves promotion of good practice, and problem solving considering that lots of problems with the system can be identified during an audit and corrective measures taken in good time (Anton et al., 2004). In other words, a company can always depend on its EMS to carryout review of its progress based on the dictated objectives and targets. This is important in ensuring that the company is focused on achieving its environmental goals, objectives and goals as corrective measures will be taken in case of deviations. Conclusion The fact that an Environment Management System in itself does not dictate to the concerned industry operators the level of environment performance to be attained by each player is clear justification that each player is free to act in a way it thinks will attain all the regulatory demands placed on them. For instance, ISO 14001 is just a simple framework with a number of elements/requirements that companies can use as a guideline to develop an environment management program that ensures that the three environmental media of air, water and land are properly and safely managed. However, it does not have some legal enforcement that can be used to prosecute offenders are all these are contained in the UK environmental legislations as well as regulations. The significance of EMS is evident in the roles it plays to assist various companies especially those whose activities interacts with the environment to deal with the legal requirements in a gainful and efficient manner. It is noteworthy that EMS is not only concerned with regulation demands but also with non-regulated activities such as intense operational control and efficient utilization of resources. 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