Environmental Risk Management - Coursework Example

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL RISK MANAGEMENT Environmental Risk Management Insert Insert Insert 29th November Executive summary Environmental Management System (EMS) is an important approach that guides organizations on how to manage environment aspects that affects their activities. Some of the major environment legislations that seek to encourage the conservation of environment and control the disposal of radioactive wastes include Environmental Permitting Regulations 2011 SI 2043, Plant Protection Products Regulations SI 2011/2031 and Energy information Regulations 2011 SI 1524. For adoption of an effective EMS, this paper discusses the processes involved in Environmental risk assessment. These include hazard assessment, exposure assessment, consequences assessment as well as risk estimation. Through integration of these processes with the major activities undertaken in formulation and implementation of EMS, an organization is able to benefit from an effective EMS. Some of the major implications of an accredited EMS to institutions such as Cowcaddens University include reduced operational costs, public support and competitive advantage. In this regard, this paper discusses some key recommendations that Cowcaddens should adopt. For instance, the institution should engage all stakeholders including employees and students in the entire process of formulating and implementing the EMS. This also entails offering environment conservation courses in addition to offering training to the employees and holding environmental protection seminars and forums. Introduction Environmental Management System (EMS) entails comprehensive strategies that are adopted to effectively manage environmental aspects that affect the day to day operations of companies. In order to ensure that companies play a significant role of protecting the environment, EMS ensures that firms treats environmental conservation with the same priority it gives to improving the quality of the products, investment, improvement of human resources and strategic planning (Martin 1998). Major implications of EMS are to increase the efficiency of a company as well as improvement of environmental performance. Through conversion of environmental problems into business opportunities, organizations are able to attain a competitive edge. Other advantages of EMS include improving the production process, reduction of company liabilities and expenses as well as reduction of costs of managing waste materials. For companies to increase total sales, it is imperative for firms to emulate effective EMS especially in the modern times when most consumers are keenly looking for products that are harmless to the environment. This paper seeks to discuss the concepts that are vital in the development of an environmental risk assessment process as part of an Environment Management System of Cowcaddens University. Specific Environmental legislation Environmental Permitting Regulations 2011 SI 2043 Environmental Permitting Regulations 2011 SI 2043 is one of the major environmental legislation that was emulated by UK government in October 2011. The law that seeks to redefine radioactive waste was adopted after several amendments of the earlier Acts. The amendment was done in order to provide effective EMS that ensures risks associated with radioactive materials are properly addressed. Due to the anomalies of Radioactive Substances Act (RSA) of 1960, the UK government recognized the need to make adjustment of the Act. RSA 1993 was also based on RSA 1960. Even though some countries such as Northern Ireland and Scotland have still retained the majority of the provisions of RSA 1993, major reviews have been adopted in UK that are contributed by various environment regulators and industries. This was aimed at making UK attain a strong approach of preventing the country from being negatively affected by the large amount of radioactive materials from the industries. The monitoring of the implementation of the law is to be undertaken in 2015. Some of the aspects that will be used to assess the effectiveness of the law include the ease of use, the level of comprehensiveness and legal implications (Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2011). Plant Protection Products Regulations SI 2011/2031 Plant Protection Products Regulations SI 2011/2031 aims at enforcing penalties for acting against the rules of producing and marketing of chemical products such as pesticides. The legal provisions of the chemical products that are adopted by European Union are outlined by the Regulations 1107/2009. The regulations that are also applicable in Great Britain came to effect on 14th June 2011. Other Acts that provide powers of regulating the fees paid by the offenders of the Regulations 1107/2009 are the Europeans Communities Act of 1972 and Finance Act of 1973. The duties of monitoring and reviewing the regulations are bestowed on the Secretary of State. Energy information Regulations 2011 SI 1524 This legislation is used to regulate the use and sell of products that have a huge impact on the energy consumption. According to this legislation, customers should be provided with adequate information on the implications of the products on the environment. Environmental risk assessment Environmental risk assessment entails evaluation of the possibility of occurrence of adverse environmental issues. One of the major reasons that make organizations to plan and implement environmental risks assessment is to enable the management methodically analyze the information and data so as to predict the relationship that exist between various ecological factors that are vital in the formation of Environmental Management Systems. In order to adopt an effective implementation of an environmental risk assessment, an organization should consider two key elements. These include characterization of exposure in addition to characterization of the effects. The section below discusses the risk assessment process that Cowcaddens University should adopt. Hazard assessment Hazard assessment involves the use of various tools such as effect analysis and hazard indices to have a candid picture of the possible adverse effects on the environment. In the same way, a plan for analyzing the problem is determined. In order to have an effective formulation of the possible problems, it is imperative to integrate all the available information that concerns environment stressors, receptor characteristics and ecosystem. Exposure assessment Exposure assessment is the second phase of the implementation of risk assessment. It involves determination of the size of the adverse event that is identified during the hazard assessment. This also engrosses identification of the avenues that the hazard may use to reach the receptor. Some of the major predictive tools that are used in the exposure assessment include thermal radiation and aerosols among others. Other essential issues that are covered during the second phase include determination of limitations as well as strengths of data on effects and exposures (Hallenbeck and William. 1986) Consequences assessment The third implementation stage of environmental risk assessment plan is the consequences assessment. This entails quantifying the damages that are likely to be done on the receptor (Hallenbeck and William. 1986) Risk estimation Risk estimation involves integration of results that are obtained during the previous stage (consequences assessment) with the estimation of the occurrences of release events. The main elements of an Environmental Management System In order for an institution to put in place an effective Environmental Management System, it is fundamental for management to emulate two essential aspects during the implementation of the EMS. First, all the employees should be involved in the system. Even though the responsibilities of Senior Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Manager are key in the whole process, it is vital for EMS to be a result of a joint task. In this way, the contributions of all the stakeholders will be involved thus creating motivation in the implementation of the EMS. Secondly, top management team must be totally involved in the entire process of initiating the EMS. The section below discusses the main elements of an EMS. Planning Planning is important in the sense that it allows for the review of the company products and processes. In this way, it is also possible to identify future and current operations of the company that affects the various aspects of the environment. During the planning process hazard assessment is also carried out with the objective of establishing the adverse factors that affect the environment (Potoski & Prakash 2005). Additional advantage of the planning process include establishment of environment conservation objectives of the company. It is imperative for the objectives to be measurable in order to effectively develop management control and procedures that are important in adopting the appropriate legal aspects. Such legal implications are vital in the formulation of the EMS. Do process Do process entail identification of the appropriate human and financial resources that are needed for the control and implementation of the EMS. One of the major aspects that contribute to an effective implementation of the process is that it should include documentation of the entire activities and procedures as well as establishment of disaster management system (Heldon, 1997). It is equally important to undertake regular training of the employees in order to enhance their recording skills during the implementation process. As mentioned earlier, involvement of all employees especially during implementation stage is a fundamental factor that determines the effectiveness of the employees. Through employees involvement, wide range of avenues that hazards may affects the environment can be established as stipulated by exposure process during the implementation of risk assessment. Check process During the check process, a company measures the performance of the EMS and through comparison with the preset environmental objectives, it is possible to determine whether or not the system is effective. In the same way, it is imperative for the management to undertake regular audit in order to ensure that the EMS is appropriately implemented and that all the processes involved are effectively monitored and maintained (Potoski & Prakash 2005). This is in line with the consequence assessment that is focused at quantifying the damages likely to occur on the environment. Action process After undertaking the checking process, it is important to improve the performance of the EMS based on the results that are achieved. This is done during the action process. In addition, a review is also conducted by the managers to ensure that the system is working towards achieving the objectives this is achieved through application of risk estimation as depicted by the environmental risk assessment. Other key activities that are undertaken during the action plan include evaluating the changes that occurs in the environment legislations that are useful in making improvements on the system. Recommendations that are made based on the changes in the legal requirements are reversed to the EMS planning stage to make the system comply with the regulations. Continual Improvement Process (CIP) After the implementation of the EMS, CIP has positive implication on the system in various ways. First, it enhances the enrichment of the EMS. This entails increasing the number of products, resources, processes and other business activities that are under the management of the EMS (Heldon 1997). Secondly, CIP leads to expansion. Expansion include rising the number of company areas that are covered by the EMS. Thirdly, it results into upgrading. This includes improving the framework and organizational structure of the Environment Management System. In the same way, upgrading leads to enhancement of the skills and the knowledge that is needed by the employees and other key personnel in dealing with a range of environment issues. Potential impact of an accredited Environmental Management System One of the major impacts of an accredited Environmental Management System is to enable organizations decrease their impact on the environment. In addition, an accredited EMS offers other benefits that are vital for the profitability and expansion of a company. First, the operational costs of an organization are reduced. This is achieved through reduction of fines and environmental liability. In addition, an organization is able to reduce the waste materials that are health hazards to the members of the community. This is one of the major aspects of corporate social responsibility that are important in creating a positive image of a company to the public. Through adoption of strict environment regulations, companies also benefit from competitive advantage that is imperative in facing off the competitors that do possess an accredited EMS. Secondly, an accredited EMS reduces the costs of numerous registrations that occur especially for international companies that operate in different countries. In this way, the legal costs of the company are reduced leading to a higher profitability for a company. Similarly, an accredited EMS enables companies to identify projects that significantly reduce energy expenditures for example the cost of electricity. Recommendations Being a university that is focused at providing international recognized certificates, Cowcaddens should adopt a strong EMS that encompasses all the aspects of environment risk assessment. In this regard, the university should provide adequate opportunities for students, teaching and non-teaching staff to participate in the planning and implementation of the EMS. Another recommendation that is vital for the implementation and enhancement of the continual improvement process is that the university should offer environment conservation course as a university common unit. In this way, students who are not studying environmental science and other related programs will have reasonable skills in dealing with the environment issues within the university and in their future careers. In order to ensure that an accredited EMS is effective in meeting the legal requirement as outlined by the various environment legislations, it is paramount for the university to engage legal researchers and other external stakeholders. This will not only provide a base for team work in the implementation of the EMS, but also it provides an avenue that can be used to enhance compliance of the EMS with local and international environment legislations. The university should also organize forums and seminars where all the stakeholders can freely intermingle and discuss various environmental issues that will be covered by the EMS. Conclusion Based on the above discussion, it is clear that an effective EMS should emulate all the legal process as outlined by the environmental legislations. In this regard, companies and learning institutions that are focused at initiating an accredited EMS should involve legal experts to ensure that various amendments on the environmental legislation are taken into consideration. As outlined in the paper, the involvement of all stakeholders in the implementation of the EMS is a vital aspect that organization should not overlook. This means that organizations should use various strategies such as training of the employees, consulting environmental experts and offering environmental conservation courses in case of universities and colleges. Some of the key impacts of an accredited EMS include reduction of operational costs, attainment of competitive position and basically an improvement of relationship between the organization and government authorities. References Hallenbeck, William H. 1986. Quantitative risk assessment for environmental and occupational health. Chelsea : Lewis Publishers. Heldon C.1997. ISO 14001 and Beyond: Environmental Management Systems in the Real. New York: Prentice Hall. Martin, R .1998. ISO 14001 Guidance Manual, National Centre for environmental decision-making research: Technical report. London: Sage. Potoski, M & Prakash, A. 2005. Green Clubs and Voluntary Governance: ISO 14001 and Firms’ Regulatory Compliance. American Journal of Political Science, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 235–248. The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2011You are here:2011 No. 2043. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2011/2043/memorandum/contents Retrieved November 29, 2011. Read More