Environmental Aspects and Impacts - Essay Example

Environmental Management System Manual Industrial Galvanizers Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 INTRODUCTION 3 1.ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY 3 2.ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING 4 2.1.Environmental Aspects and Impacts 4 2.2.Environmental Objectives and Targets 5 2.3.Legal and other requirements 6 3.SUSTAINABILITY AND GREENHOUSE GASES 6 3.1.Sustainability policies 6 4.IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION 7 4.1.Resources roles, responsibility and authority 7 4.2.Competence, training and awareness 8 4.3.Communication 9 4.4.Documentation 9 4.5.Control of documents 9 4.6.Operational control 10 4.7.Emergency preparedness and Response 10 4.8.Monitoring and measurement 11 5.EVALUATING COMPLIANCE AND AUDITING 11 5.1.Nonconformity, corrective action and preventative action 12 5.2.Internal and external audits 12 5.3.Management Review 12 Appendix I: Environmental Policy 13 Appendix II: Environmental aspects and Impacts 13 Appendix III: EMS environmental objectives and targets 15 Appendix IV: Action Plan 16 Appendix V: Training and Maintenance 17 Appendix VI: Potential Emergency events and Responses 18 INTRODUCTION The manual focuses on the Environmental Management System (EMS) requirements for Industrial Galvanizers. For improving management of environmental issues that are related to the sites and operations, Industrial Galvanizers has implemented AS/NZS ISO 14001 EMS. In this manual, the environmental policies and the management system structure adopted by Industrial Galvanizers are described. The manual focuses on the following: EMS procedures adopted by Industrial Galvanizers Important records related to EMS Standard Operational Procedures (SOP) adopted by Industrial Galvanizers 1. ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY Definition Environmental policy is defined as the statement of an organization that focuses on the principles and the intentions of that particular organization in relation to the environmental performance. The statement also creates a framework for the organization to act accordingly and set its targets and objectives related to environment. Industrial Galvernizers understands the significance of conducting business while looking after environment-related issues in a responsible way. The organization is committed towards creating minimal environmental impact and has therefore, adopted a comprehensive Environmental Policy, which is also being endorsed by the higher management and annually reviewed to ensure that the policies are in sync with the current environmental issues. The policy guidelines help the management to make crucial decisions related to the organization’s environmental performance. Industrial Galvernizers use the following principles to guide it towards its environmental policies: Complying with the regulations related to environment Conducting operations in a manner that is environmentally sound Promoting the concept of working in an environmentally responsible manner among employees and stakeholders by communicating the policies Displaying policies in every office of Industrial Galvernizers Applying "reduce, reuse, and recycle" principles in all the processes Ensuring that the environmental policies are readily available on the Industrial Galvernizers intranet and to the public on request Refer to Appendix I for the environmental policy adopted by Industrial Galvernizers. 2. ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING 2.1. Environmental Aspects and Impacts Definition Environmental aspect is defined as those elements of an organization’s products, activities or services which are able to cooperate with the environment. Environmental impacts are explained as any changes or modifications to the environment, caused due to the products, activities or services of an organization. These changes can either be beneficial or detrimental to the environment. In order to understand the environmental aspects and impacts of Industrial Galvernizers, the below mentioned methods were used and thereby recorded in the Register of Environmental Aspects and Impacts. Identifying the activities, products and services of Industrial Galvanizers that may potentially impact the environment Identifying the environmental aspects of all the activities of the organization Identifying and assessing the importance of all the environmental impact through environmental significance and impacts rating Prioritizing the identified impacts after analyzing the significance score through the significance assessment results Industrial Galvanizers reviewed any identified environmental impacts at least on a semi-annual basis or at the time when the activities are changed or new activities are introduced. The important impacts that were discussed during the meetings are also recorded as minutes. These minutes of the meetings are being maintained by the Maintenance manager of Industrial Galvanizers. However, even before undertaking this review, activities of the organization that might have potential impact on the environment were identified. Further, these environmental aspects were also studied in detail during normal as well as abnormal operating conditions. These activities were especially studied during emergency situations which might be the result of the following environmental aspects: Emission to air Release to land and water Use of energy Noise and odor issues Use of raw materials and products Waste and by products The Appendix II focuses on the various environmental aspects and impacts 2.2. Environmental Objectives and Targets Definition Environmental objectives are those environmental goals that the organization establishes to achieve consistence with the environmental policy. Environmental targets are those performance requirements that the organization sets to meet some specific environmental goals. These targets might be quantifiable in nature. Industrial Galvanizers is committed towards improving its environmental performance in a continuous manner and has therefore, created various environmental objectives and targets to measure its performance and improve its environmental goals in a significant manner. The organization has developed various targets and objectives keeping in mind the environmental impacts, financial viability, legal and technical requirements, operational issues and environmental policies being followed by the organization. Industrial Galvanizers has developed these objectives and targets for creating, implementing and maintaining the following in a detailed manner: Applying legal and other such requirements Identifying important environmental aspects of Industrial Galvanizers’ activities Understanding the technological options available with the organization Focusing on the financial viability, operational issues and business requirements of the organization Highlighting the opinions expressed by the interested parties The EMS team determines these objectives and targets that focus on the major aim or improving the environmental performance of the organization. The team not only records the responsibilities, creates action plans and allocates resources in order to achieve the set environmental targets but also measures the progress of the objectives and targets in every meeting to gauge the performance on a continuous basis. Some of the major responsibilities of the team include: Monitoring, studying, controlling or improving the performance objectives set for all the important environmental impact activities Defining performance objectives in a specific and quantifiable manner Creating plans and schedules for achieving the objectives and targets The Appendix III provides the EMS environmental objectives and targets developed by the organization. The list of targets and objectives, as well as the responsibilities and the minutes of the meetings are maintained by the EMS Managers and Coordinator. These are also reviewed on a periodic basis. 2.3. Legal and other requirements The organization needs to comply with various legal and other such requirements that are applicable for the environmental rules, laws and regulations related to Industrial Galvanizer’s environmental aspects. The organization ensures that all the legal requirements are adhered to in order to maintain, implement and establish its EMS. 3. SUSTAINABILITY AND GREENHOUSE GASES Definition Sustainability is the using of financial, natural and human resources in a responsible way so that the requirements are met but without denting the needs of future generations. Greenhouse gases consist of carbon dioxide, ozone, methane, chlorofluorocarbons and nitrous oxide. These gases are released in the environment through the use of non-renewable sources of energy like natural gas, coal and gasoline. ISO 14001 focuses on monitoring the environmental effect of an organization’s products, activities and services. This is a part of the standards for environmental management systems adopted by the International Organization for Standardization. Industrial Galvanizer understands the aspect that an organization is also responsible for protecting the environment by monitoring the quality of water, air, soil and other natural resources on a regular basis, as well as conserving them for the future generations. Thus, the organization has created various strategies and abides by set guidelines and regulations to ensure that the impacts on regional and global ecosystem due to the organization’s operations are minimal. 3.1. Sustainability policies Using of natural resources minimally and in an efficient manner. Maximum utilization of renewable, recyclable and non-toxic materials Providing education and training to employees about sustainable issues Managing sustainable policies by following AS/NZS ISO 14001 EMS standards Creating a steering committee to help in adopting and implementing various sustainable strategies in an organization-wide manner Developing goals and projects, investing into new technologies and gauging success of the activities undertaken by the organization for creating a sustainable environment Documenting the progress of the organization on a regular basis and preparing annual reports and reviewing the reports annually 4. IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION 4.1. Resources roles, responsibility and authority The following EMS Manual also focuses on the various roles, responsibilities, resources and authorities of the employees involved in managing, performing and verifying the environmental issues being faced by Industrial Galvanizers. The Senior Management at the organization would provide the required resources, both the staff and the materials needed, for ensuring that the EMS is being implemented in an effective manner (Refer to Appendix IV for the Action Plan). The EMS management team would include the following team members: EMS Coordinator: This team member helps in creating, implementing and maintaining EMS as per the guidelines provided in the EMS Manual. Further, the coordinator is also required to report about the performance of the organization to the management so that the management is able to review them on a periodic basis and implement various other guidelines for improving the processes in a continuous manner. The coordinator would also maintain and implement the EMS as per the requirements laid down by AS/NZS ISO 14001. The coordinator would be required to report to the Senior Plant Manager, together with reporting to the upper management about the various performance related issues. The person is also responsible for identifying various environmental impacts and their importance in the business operations of the organization. Senior Plant Manager: The Senior Plant Manager is mostly responsible to access that sufficient human resources, training and other such resources are being offered by the organization for controlling and implementing the guidelines provided in the EMS manual. The employee is also required to create various environmental targets and objectives along with the management team. He or she is also required to ensure that every employee is trained in a competent manner and are able to understand and implement the environmental policy adopted by the organization. Senior Plant Operator: The main duty of the Senior Plant Operator is to make sure that every plant operator is aware about the guidelines provided in the EMS manual. Further, he or she should also ensure that the plant operators are acting as per the guidelines of the EMS manual. The management team of EMS would be needed to meet at least on an annual basis for reviewing the EMS operations. Further, the team will also focus on ensuring that the employees are complying with the various EMS guidelines as well as the legal requirements. 4.2. Competence, training and awareness Industrial Galvanizers identifies various employees in different job functions who have the potential to create considerable environmental impact. Further, the organization ensures that these employees are competent enough to conduct their jobs after receiving adequate training, education and expertise. Records regarding the effective implementation of the training programs are being tracked and recorded in order to understand whether these programs are creating significant improvement in the working of the organization. The specific training requirements for the employees are being provided by the EHS Manager. These training needs are as per the environmental aspects of the organization. A detailed database of the training courses being offered by the organization is being maintained. The supervisors are also responsible to make sure that all the employees get appropriate trainings. All the employees working with the organization or on behalf of the organization, which may include employees, vendors, contractors and other such parties, would be provided with the training. The EMS team would also be required to take the training program and help in training others. The performance records of each of the employees would be maintained. The employees should be aware of the following while undertaking the training program: The responsibilities and roles of each employee within the EMS should be clearly defined The potential as well as the actual environmental impacts that are being related with the work of each employee should be projected, in order to help the employees in improving their personal performances The significance of the environmental policy and the reasons to conform to these policies should be elaborated The responsibilities and roles of the employees should be defined in a proper manner so that the employees are able to conform to the environmental policies The consequences of not adhering to the EMS guidelines should also be stated in the programs The Appendix V provides the complete training and maintenance plan of the organization. 4.3. Communication The organization has created various procedures to handle internal communications with various functions and levels within the plant. The responsibility to communicate information related to various EMS issues to the management as well as the EMS team rests with the Environmental management and Sustainability coordinator. The EMS Team in turn needs to communicate with the employees and other parties related to various EMS issues. The information provided however should also be documented and stored in a proper manner. The organization is also required to give a list of all its important environmental impact to external vendors or parties. This transfer of information is being handled by the Environmental management and Sustainability coordinator. The information related to EMS can be circulated through various methods such as the corporate website, intranet, bulletin boards, inter-departmental meetings, safety and environmental meetings, personal meetings, emails, employee newsletters etc. 4.4. Documentation The EMS Manual also focuses on the various elements of how to document, implement and communicate EMS guidelines. The EMS documents of the organization would include the following: The environmental policy, targets and objectives of Industrial Galvanizers The scope of the EMS implemented by the organization The description of the major features of the EMS The documents would also include various records related to AS/NZS ISO 14001 standard All such documents that would be needed by the organization to make sure that Industrial Galvanizers is able to plan, operate and control the processes which are related to various environmental aspects Various other related documents that can be used for cross-referencing 4.5. Control of documents The organization has created systems that would help to identify, maintain, and store various environmental documents and records. These records are maintained to help in demonstrating that the organization conforms to the ISO 14001 standards as well as other such regulations related to EMS. This EMS policy needs to be made accessible to the public in case it has been requested. Further, it should be stored in such a place from where the policies are easily accessible for the employees. The environmental records need to be maintained and approved by the Environmental management and Sustainability coordinator. Further, these records should be: Documented providing valid date, title and other such identification tags that can be associated with a particular product, activity or service Maintained in a manner that they could be easily retrieved Protected from any loss or damage Updated on a regular basis 4.6. Operational control Industrial Galvanizers uphold various operational controls for ensuring that the products, services and activities connected with important environmental aspects are in sync with the environmental policy, targets and objectives. The organization also provides detailed explanations regarding the procedures and practices being documented for controlling the situations in which the lack of environmental policy, targets and objectives might lead to problems and issues. The measurements methods and monitoring practices related to various operational parameters are also recorded on an annual basis. Such a process helps in guaranteeing the contractors and suppliers that the organization is able to meet with the minimum environmental needs. The operational control document helps in ensuring that the actions related to environmental impacts could be controlled. These activities that are identified as per the important environmental impact needs to be controlled with the help of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). The SOP is created to help in providing means and methods for taking various industrial actions that can help in minimizing the environmental impacts The SOPs should also be circulated to the employees for making them aware about their roles and responsibilities as well as about the environmental impact and other obligations that their work might have The SOPs should be reviewed at least on an annual basis 4.7. Emergency preparedness and Response Industrial Galvanizers maintains procedures related to emergency preparedness and responses in order to prevent and respond to accidents, incidents and other such emergency situations. Such an action plan helps in understanding how to handle emergency situations as well as mitigate and prevent accidents. These procedures are further reviewed and revised on a regular basis or after certain incident or accidents. The procedures established by the organization helps in identifying, managing and coordinating during emergency situations in every site of Industrial Galvanizers for minimizing risks associated with environmental impacts (Refer to Appendix VI for further details). The procedure includes the following: The list of potential incidents, accidents and emergency situations arising due to environmental impacts Each potential incident or emergency also has a specific response plan, which helps in preventing and mitigating the possible environmental impact that might occur due to the incident The incident and emergency procedures are being reviewed on a regular basis and if necessary are revised as well A report detailing about any occurrence of an incident or emergency situation is created immediately 4.8. Monitoring and measurement The Industrial Galvanizers EMS team also perform certain measurement and monitoring procedures in order to gauge the environmental performance, access the operational controls and analyse whether the organization is conforming to its environmental policy, targets and objectives as detailed in the EMS manual. The organization has created various procedures for monitoring the environmental performance of Industrial Galvanizers. These procedures include collecting information both in a quantitative manner and through visual methods within a particular time frame or for fulfilling certain legal or other such requirements. 5. EVALUATING COMPLIANCE AND AUDITING Industrial Galvanizers complies with all the applicable environmental rules, laws and regulations, in order to become constant with the Environmental Policy. The organization also verifies these regulations in a periodic manner during its meetings. Further, the procedures also focus on how the organization monitors and records the various evaluations conducted in a periodic manner. The organization has established procedures which help in implementing as well as maintaining the records and evaluating whether the organization is complying with the various legal requirements which are part of the organization’s obligation to compliance. 5.1. Nonconformity, corrective action and preventative action The documents related to Nonconformity, Corrective and Preventative action focuses on various procedures implemented by the organization to handle issues related to nonconformity and implementation of preventative and corrective action. The organization often uses differing systems for identifying and addressing issues and problems related to nonconformances in an appropriate and timely manner. In order to ensure that all the employees in the organization are aware about these issues, the organization requires its employees to actively report and document any such issues to the Senior Plant Operator. Such a procedure is also applied to monitor environmental performance and for preventing issues from occurring or correcting the issue after it has occurred. In order to implement these procedures, the responsibility falls on the environmental management team. 5.2. Internal and external audits In order to undertake regular audits of the EMS implemented by the organization, Industrial Galvanizers has created various procedures. Such an audit process helps in determining the frequency, scope, responsibility and methodology for the audits to be conducted. The main aim of the audits is to understand whether the organization has been able to implement the EMS in a proper manner and is maintaining the same. The EMS audits are also reviewed by the Environmental management team. 5.3. Management Review The Environmental Management team along with the management of the organization need to review the EMS on an annual basis for helping in the improvement of the environmental performance of the organization. Appendix I: Environmental Policy Industrial Galvanizers provides a range of galvanizing services in Australia, which comprises of various engineered steel products and galvernizing services. It is committed towards managing the business in an environmentally responsible manner. The organization is committed towards complying with the legislation as well as preventing pollution in order to improve its environmental performance. The strategic objective of the organization is to: Reduce energy usage per production unit Reduce acid consumption and improve efficiency of acid pickling process Build a culture of embracing, not just compliance Reduce waste generation per production unit Reduce water consumption Reduce emissions to air and water Identify and address potential historical environmental impact issues The organization has therefore adopted various principles for promoting accountability for environmental performance at every level of the organization as well as with the contractors working on the site. Signed by the Industrial Galvernizers Managing Director Appendix II: Environmental aspects and Impacts Activity Aspect Impact Likelihood rating Severity rating Risk rating Breech of license(+5) Significance Chemical storage& usage Explosion/fire Damage to the plant due to minor/major fire, water contamination and air pollution 3 5 15 10 Moderate Leakage Water and soil contamination 3 2 6 11 Low Air emissions Bag house unable to operate in a proper manner Releasing of fumes into the environment 4 4 16 11 Moderate Green house gases, Energy & water Usage Heating Electricity consumption using Gas Enhancing greenhouse gas emission 5 4 16 5 Moderate LPG GAS Explosion Damaging of the plants due to fire 1 5 5 10 Low Pre treatment process Explosion/fire Damage to the plant due to Minor/major fire 2 5 10 10 Moderate Risk Evaluation Risk = Likelihood x Severity Likelihood Rating 1. Very unlikely -May occur once in every ten years 2. Unlikely -May occur once in every few years 3. Likely -May occur once in a year 4. Very likely -May occur on a monthly basis 5. Highly likely -May occur weekly Severity Rating 1. Insignificant -Does not harm the environment 2. Minor -Very insignificant damage to the environmental 3. Moderate -Reportable damage to environmental 4. Major -Major Environmental damage 5. Catastrophic -Substantial environmental damage Likelihood Severity Catastrophic 5 Major 4 Moderate 3 Minor 2 Insignificant 1 Highly likely 5 25 20 15 10 5 Very Likely 4 20 16 12 8 4 Likely 3 15 12 9 6 3 Unlikely 2 10 8 6 4 2 Very unlikely 1 5 4 3 2 1 Significant Risk Ranking Ranking Score Color Response 20-25 High Need to take immediate action 10-19 Moderate Need action plan, involvement of senior management 5-9 Low Need specific procedures or monitoring, management involvement 1-4 Negligible Need to manage through routine checks Appendix III: EMS environmental objectives and targets Activity Aspect Impact Legal and/or other requirements Objectives Target Time frame Chemical storage& usage Explosion/fire Damage to the plant due to minor/major fire, water contamination and air pollution EPA Bunding Guidelines Reducing the occurrence of fire and water contamination Building systems for preventing fire and water contamination 8 months Undergoing preventative and emergency training Training employees in preventative and emergency protocol 2 months Leakage Water and soil contamination EPA Bunding Guidelines EPA Guidelines on Storage of dangerous goods Reduction of spill contamination Cleaning up post spill No spills 2 months Air emissions Bag house unable to operate in a proper manner Releasing of fumes into the environment SEPP for, ambient and Air quality management In the absence of any breeches of legal and license or any other obligations In the absence of any breeches of legal and license or any other obligations 1 month Green house gases, Energy& water Usage Heating Electricity consumption using Gas Enhancing greenhouse gas emission Greenhouse gas (Air Quality Management) (SEPP (AQM)) Australian Standard 3598: Energy Audits Establishing account for keeping energy and usage Reducing water and energy usage by 10 per cent 1 year Hiring an emission specialist Delegating task by the EMS team LPG GAS Explosion Damaging of the plants due to fire EPA Guidelines on Storage of dangerous goods Reducing the occurrence of explosion Hiring a contractor for building fences 2 months Training employees about SOP Training employees in preventative and emergency SOP 2 weeks Pre treatment process Explosion/fire Damage to the plant due to Minor/major fire EPA Bunding Guidelines Reducing possibility of contamination due to fire Building systems to reduce fire and water containment 8 months Appendix IV: Action Plan Responsibilities Objectives Action Time frame EMS team Reviewing of emergency plans Monitoring the possibility of fire and water contamination Participating in emergency and preventative training Regular implementation and updation of emergency plans Implementing systems to control & monitor fire and water containment Training to improve emergency and preventative skills Ongoing 1 month 2 weeks Senior plant manager Establishing targets and objectives Ensuring allocation of sufficient resources Looking after maintenance, facility operation and energy management Engaging in brainstorming sessions with management to create targets & objectives Monitoring resources & allocating them Regular supervision of the plant & operations 1 month Ongoing Ongoing Senior plant operator Reduction of spill contamination Monitoring the cleaning up operation. Learning from the incident, incorporate learning into SOP & providing training to other employees With immediate effect Environmental management and sustainability Coordinator(EMSC) Ensuring that legal, license or any other such obligations are not breeched Monitoring every regulations are adhered to, updating SOP & training employees about new regulations Ongoing Appendix V: Training and Maintenance Training item Responsible staff SOP Title Review EMS Audit Environmental Management and Sustainability Coordinator Audit checklist Annually Environmental aspects EMS team EMS Bi-annually Performance audit Manager Performance Audit Guideline Bi-annually Gas Tank and Hoses pressure test procedure Senior Plant Operator Handbook for Gas Tank Pressure Quarterly/ As and when GHG workshop and seminar Environmental Coordinator and emissions specialist GHG procedure Annually Fire drill and emergency response EMSC team/ Industrial Galvanizers Manager Fire and emergence response handbook Bi-annually Air and water monitoring EMS team Environmental monitoring manual Bi-annually Air-filter bag maintenance Senior Plant Operator Air-filter bag user’s handbook Quarterly Review of SOP EMSC EMS, Quality control manual Annually Appendix VI: Potential Emergency events and Responses Activity that involve chemicals Potential Accidents Chemicals Involved Quantity of Chemicals Hazards of Chemical Impacted zone Responses Accidental dropping of items during galvanizing lifting May result into corrosion of lifting equipment Liquid Zinc 200L Poison Inside the factory Shutting of lifting power Ensuring cleaning up process is undertaken Collapse due to acid baths Acid spill Acids Caustic >10,000L Poison Explosive Inside the factory Conducting safe evacuation Calling MFB Shutting off valve While loading chemicals Falling of Soda drums Oxidizers Caustic 1000L Poison Biodegradable Inside the storage area Shutting off valve Calling MFB and EPA While transporting chemicals offsite Occurrence of road accidents Oxidizers Caustic 1500L Environmental biohazards Roadways Soil Calling MFB Contacting vehicle clean up network Chemical storage Puncturing of drums during transport Acid Caustic 1000L Environmental biohazards Land contaminated Calling MFB Starting offsite recovery During finishing process Cutting oil spill Oil 50L Biodegradable Inside the factory Spill kit Gas storage May result in overfill gas Compressed gas 1000L Flammable Air discharge Cutting off valve Ensuring safe evacuation Shutting down procedure Calling MFB Read More