Many of you asked me about the syllabus for the Mid-term examination. Please see the blog posting till today; all those subjects which have been covered till today are included in the mid-term examination.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Lecture 6: ISO-14001 on 18 March 2011 + Other systems
We started with a recap of the ISO-14001 EMS that we had studied so far. We continued with the discussion on ISO - 14001: sections 4.5 and 4.6.
4.5. Once we plan and implement, the next step is to CHECK. There are Five sub-sections under Checking, viz., 4.5.1 - Monitoring and Measurement, 4.5.2 - Evaluating Compliance (4.5.2.1 - Evaluation of Legal Compliance and 4.5.2.2 - Evaluation of other compliance), 4.5.3 - Non-conformity, corrective action and preventive action, 4.5.4 - Control of Records and 4.5.5 - Internal Audits
4.5.1 All environmental management programmes have to be monitored; where required measurements have to be made on identified parameters. The equipments used for such measurements have to be calibrated and the calibration records have to be maintained
4.5.2 - Procedures have to be established and implemented to periodically evaluate compliance with legal requirements as well as with other requirements to which the organization subscribes. The results of these evaluation have to be documented. In case of non-conformance, corrective and preventive actions have to be in place.
4.5.3 - Once a non-conformance to any element of the system requirements is noticed, corrective and preventive actions have to be taken to eliminate or avoid the recurrence of the non-conformance. A corrective action is the removal of the cause of non-conformance identified so that the non-conformance does not recur. The preventive actions is the change effected to the system to avoid the potential non-conformance. Preventive action is, therefore, a proactive action.
4.5.4 - In order to provide evidence that the system is working the orgnization should maintain records like the training record, record of audits and minutes of the Management Review etc. The organization decides as to which of the records are required to demonstrate the working of the environmental management system.
4.5.5 - Internal audits are carried out to evaluate the working of the EMS. Internal audits may be carried out by competent persons from within the orgnization or by those working outside the organization. An EMS audit is a systematic process of objectively collecting audit evidence against audit criteria, evaluate the audit evidence, to conclude if there sufficient evidence to show if the EMS audit criteria are met and to report to the client the conclusion of the findings. EMS internal audits have to be carried out according to ISO-19011: Guidelines for Quality and/or Environmental Management System Auditing.
4.6 Once the elements of Checking have been established and implemented, the next step to go for the Management Review. The management review addresses issues like a) results of internal audits and evaluations of compliance with legal requirements and with other requirements to which the organization subscribes, b) communication(s) from external interested parties, including complaints, c) the environmental performance of the organization, d) the extent to which objectives and targets have been met, e) status of corrective and preventive actions, f) follow-up actions from previous management reviews, g) changing circumstances, including developments in legal and other requirements related to its environmental aspects, and
h) recommendations for improvement.
The output of the management review includes, decisions and actions related to the possible changes to environmental policy, objectives, targets and other elements of the environmental management system, consistent with the commitment to continual improvement. The discussions and decisions taken at the Management Review are minuted.
Thus the Management Review completes one PDCA cycle of the EMS and triggers off the next PDCA Cycle for improving the organization's environmental performance.
The other management systems like OHSAS 18001 and SA 8000 can be understood if you understand how ISO-14001 Environmental Management system works
We have briefly discussed the OHSAS 18001 (a management system for Occupational Health and Safety), SA - 8000 (a management system for Social Accountability, mostly related to labour issues and OH&S issues), AA 1000 (a comprehensive system covering various elements of sustainability. We also discussed Global Compact ( A ten subject framework issued by the UN), OECD Guidelines (Guidelines issued by the developed countries for their companies having business interest in developing countries - OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), and ISO-26000 (Guideline on Social Responsibility)
4.5. Once we plan and implement, the next step is to CHECK. There are Five sub-sections under Checking, viz., 4.5.1 - Monitoring and Measurement, 4.5.2 - Evaluating Compliance (4.5.2.1 - Evaluation of Legal Compliance and 4.5.2.2 - Evaluation of other compliance), 4.5.3 - Non-conformity, corrective action and preventive action, 4.5.4 - Control of Records and 4.5.5 - Internal Audits
4.5.1 All environmental management programmes have to be monitored; where required measurements have to be made on identified parameters. The equipments used for such measurements have to be calibrated and the calibration records have to be maintained
4.5.2 - Procedures have to be established and implemented to periodically evaluate compliance with legal requirements as well as with other requirements to which the organization subscribes. The results of these evaluation have to be documented. In case of non-conformance, corrective and preventive actions have to be in place.
4.5.3 - Once a non-conformance to any element of the system requirements is noticed, corrective and preventive actions have to be taken to eliminate or avoid the recurrence of the non-conformance. A corrective action is the removal of the cause of non-conformance identified so that the non-conformance does not recur. The preventive actions is the change effected to the system to avoid the potential non-conformance. Preventive action is, therefore, a proactive action.
4.5.4 - In order to provide evidence that the system is working the orgnization should maintain records like the training record, record of audits and minutes of the Management Review etc. The organization decides as to which of the records are required to demonstrate the working of the environmental management system.
4.5.5 - Internal audits are carried out to evaluate the working of the EMS. Internal audits may be carried out by competent persons from within the orgnization or by those working outside the organization. An EMS audit is a systematic process of objectively collecting audit evidence against audit criteria, evaluate the audit evidence, to conclude if there sufficient evidence to show if the EMS audit criteria are met and to report to the client the conclusion of the findings. EMS internal audits have to be carried out according to ISO-19011: Guidelines for Quality and/or Environmental Management System Auditing.
4.6 Once the elements of Checking have been established and implemented, the next step to go for the Management Review. The management review addresses issues like a) results of internal audits and evaluations of compliance with legal requirements and with other requirements to which the organization subscribes, b) communication(s) from external interested parties, including complaints, c) the environmental performance of the organization, d) the extent to which objectives and targets have been met, e) status of corrective and preventive actions, f) follow-up actions from previous management reviews, g) changing circumstances, including developments in legal and other requirements related to its environmental aspects, and
h) recommendations for improvement.
The output of the management review includes, decisions and actions related to the possible changes to environmental policy, objectives, targets and other elements of the environmental management system, consistent with the commitment to continual improvement. The discussions and decisions taken at the Management Review are minuted.
Thus the Management Review completes one PDCA cycle of the EMS and triggers off the next PDCA Cycle for improving the organization's environmental performance.
The other management systems like OHSAS 18001 and SA 8000 can be understood if you understand how ISO-14001 Environmental Management system works
We have briefly discussed the OHSAS 18001 (a management system for Occupational Health and Safety), SA - 8000 (a management system for Social Accountability, mostly related to labour issues and OH&S issues), AA 1000 (a comprehensive system covering various elements of sustainability. We also discussed Global Compact ( A ten subject framework issued by the UN), OECD Guidelines (Guidelines issued by the developed countries for their companies having business interest in developing countries - OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), and ISO-26000 (Guideline on Social Responsibility)
Monday, March 14, 2011
Message - Group Discussion & Role Play - 18 March 2011
For the Tutorial on 18 March 2011 I would like to suggest the following:
1. HR Role in Company's CSR Activities
2. IT Role in Company's CSR Activities
3. Marketing Role in Company's CSR Activities
All of you are required to prepare at least two page answer to one of the above (based on your stream) and bring the paper to the class; this will be evaluated and the marks will be added to the tutorial marks.
A few of you will be asked to make a presentation of your findings. Such presentations will be considered while reviewing the tutorial marks.
1. HR Role in Company's CSR Activities
2. IT Role in Company's CSR Activities
3. Marketing Role in Company's CSR Activities
All of you are required to prepare at least two page answer to one of the above (based on your stream) and bring the paper to the class; this will be evaluated and the marks will be added to the tutorial marks.
A few of you will be asked to make a presentation of your findings. Such presentations will be considered while reviewing the tutorial marks.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Lecture 5: ISO-14001: 4.4. Implementation
I started the lecture with a recap of what we had learnt about ISO-14001; scope, policy, aspects & impacts, objectives, targets & programmes. . We proceeded to discuss the various sub-sections under 4.4 - Implementation (DO). This section has seven sub-sections, viz., 4.4.1 - Resources, Roles, Responsibilities and Authority, 4.4.2 - Competence, training and awareness, 4.4.3 - Communication, 4.4.4 - Documentation, 4.4.5 - Control of documents, 4.4.6 - Operational Control and 4.4.7 - Emergency Preparedness and Response.
4.4.1 - Resources are to be provided by the management for establishing, implementing and maintaining the Environmental Management System - these resources are human resources, financial resources, infrastructure and information. The top management has to appoint a Management Representative to establish, implement and maintain an Environmental Management System and to report to the management periodically about the effectiveness of the system. Role is the part played by employees apart from the functions for which they are responsible or results for which they are accountable to. An employee, for example an Accounts Officer, may take the role of an internal auditor or a trainer even though his main responsibility is in Accounting. ( We discussed the ROLE played by individual in real life - a man is a husband to his wife, is a brother to his sister or brother, is a son to his parents, is a friend to his friends etc. These are various roles he plays in his life). In order to ensure that the system is effective the management should document the responsibilities and authority (to take actions, decisions etc.) and make it known to all concerned employees.
4.4.2 - Competence of employees who are responsible for activities related to identified significant aspects need to be ensured; competence is related to qualification, training and experience. <strong>ALL</strong> employees have to be trained to understand the policy, procedures and other relevant elements of the EMS. ALL is the key word here. We discussed the case of a CEO who had not been trained in the emergency procedure and response; how would he come to know about the emergency and save his life in case of an actual emergency ?
4.4.3 - Communication is of two types, (a) internal communication with employees and contract workers working within the premises and (b) external communication with stakeholders outside the organization, like the Government Departments, Statutory bodies, NGOs, Banks, Neighbours etc. Procedure for both internal and external communication should be effective (e.g. the internal communication should ensure that the receipient of the communication has understood the content of the communication). The procedure for external communication should address the receipt and response to communication from external stakeholders. The organization should decide whether to communicate its significant environmental aspects to external stakeholders and record its decision. One method of external communication is the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guideline based Sustainability Reports.
4.4.4 - Documentation - Information with its supporting medium (paper, magnetic tape, CD, DVD etc.) is a document; Records are a sub-set of documents. Procedures, Policy, Objectives/targets/programmes etc., with the medium on which they are captured are documents. Information on the past activity, including measurements, reviews etc., are RECORDS. While documents, except RECORDS, could be changed, RECORDS cannot be changed/altered. Documents, including Records, are used as evidence of the working of the Environmental Management System. Environmental Management System Manual, capturing various elements of the EMS is one such document (ISO-14001 does not prescribe a written manual, but for better working of the system a written manual is recommended)
4.4.5 - Documents are controlled; that means that the documents are checked for their authenticity and are verified and approved by those authrorized to issue documents. This procedure is necessary to avoid obsolete documents being used in the organization. Current documents need to be available at the all places where related work is carried out. Control is also required for documents which have external origin (e.g. standards, legal documents etc). We discussed how a part of the organization was not meeting the requirement of law as they were using obsolete standards for emissions and how this could lead to risk to the organization.
4.4.6 - We discussed issues related to operational control procedures that are established to address significant environmental aspects, Procedures have to established for those activities which can cause environmental impact. These procedures identify the scope, responsibility, and the "how" of doing things.
These procedures also apply to contractors and suppliers where relevant. Procedures need not be just a summary of what has to be done; they can also presented in the form of flow-charts for clarity. Procedures should also identify the "operational Criteria" - operational ciriterion is that indicator which provides information for action that reduces the environmental impact.
4.4.7 - We discussed issues related to emergency/accident procedures and the consequence of the procedure. Incidents are indications of what is expected in days to come. Accidents and their analysis for prevention will help an organization Environmental emergency situations are those where the surrounding populations have to be evacuated or the emissions/dicharges can pollute the ground water around.. One needs to take precautions while using emergency measuers; they should not lead to other environmental issues (e.g. Sandoz fire in Switzerland)
We had a multiple choice examination (Tutorial) for about 30 minutes.
With kind regards,
Ramakrishnan
Sunday, March 6, 2011
11 March 2011: Tutorial - Objective Test
Dear All,
The subject for the objective test on 11 March, 2011, is the syllabus covered so far as given in this blog.
If you study the blog posts in this blog, you will be able to answer all the questions of the objective test.
Best wishes,
Ramakrishnan
The subject for the objective test on 11 March, 2011, is the syllabus covered so far as given in this blog.
If you study the blog posts in this blog, you will be able to answer all the questions of the objective test.
Best wishes,
Ramakrishnan
Friday, March 4, 2011
Lecture 4 on 04 March 2011: ISO-14001 Section 4.2
We started with a quick recap of ISO-14001 elements that we had studied already, like 4.1: Scope and 4.2: Environmental Policy. This class will be to discuss 4.3: Planning
Planning is the First phase of the PDCA Cycle; we discussed the quotatiion: "IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN, YOU PLAN TO FAIL"
4.3 PLanning
4.3.1. Identifying and Assessment of Significant Aspects.
AN ASPECT is an element of the activity, product or service, that can have an impact on the environment. AN IMPACT is the change in the environmental condition, positive or negative. The system requires that Aspects of not only activities but also Products and Services have to be identified. These aspects are a part of the Environmental Management System only if they are under the control of the organization or the organization can have influence on the aspect.
We discussed the input-output model using the example of an activity like tea making. The inputs are e.g. Milk, Tea leaves, Sugar, water, LPG Gas, cups, mugs etc. The desirable output is Coffee. There are quite a few un-desirable outputs, e.g. waste heat, waste water, packaging materials etc. These undesirable outputs can have an impact on the environment (hence can be classified as ASPECTS). These aspects for ALL the activities, products and services of the organization have to be identified and recorded. In one way of assessing these aspects, the following criteria are used to assess significance: a) the probability of occurrence, b) the frequency of occurrence, c) the probability of the impact on property, people, flora/fauna and the environment outside the organization and d) the long term effect of the impact. To this one can also add the relevance of the aspect to any legislative requirement. We discussed as to how the significance will vary based on the "size" of the activity, product or service (e.g. emission of alcohol in a bottle and that in a 15 tons tanker). We also discussed that we have to identify DIRECT & INDIRECT impacts (e.g. of indirect impact, electrical energy used in the activity is related to emission of carbon dioxide at the thermal power station, leading to global warming), POSITIVE and NEGATIVE impacts, impacts due to START-UP, SHUT DOWN, ACCIDENTS etc. We also discussed that we need to capture ALL these impacts in the PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE, before assessing the ASPECT. We discussed as to how to use the assessment score to prioritize the aspects as significant as well as to ensure continual improvement. One of the requirements, which is not explicit in the ISO-14001 standard, is to RECORD all the Aspects and Impacts identified, including the significant aspects.
The next step (which can be started concurrently with the initial review) is to identify applicable legal and other requirements.
4.3.2. Legal and other requirements. The organization should establish a procedure to identify and access legal and other requirements.
Legal requirements may be local (e.g. Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, Consent for operations under the Air and Water Acts, Authorization under the Hazardous Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, etc.), Country / Region specific (especially if the organization exports to these countries, e.g. RoHS, WEEE, REACH etc.), or Global (where international protocols warrant action, e.g. Montreal Protocol, BASEL Convention etc.). Other requirements include company specific standards, guidelines, policies or industry specific requirements like "Responsible Care" of the Chemical Industry, "Electronics Industry Code of Conduct" of the electronics industry etc. It is a good practice to have a register of legal and other requirements and update it periodically.
The standard requires that the organization identifies as to how these legal and other requirements are related to the environmental aspects of the activities, products and services of the organization.
4.3.3. Objectives, Targets & Programmes
Once the organization identifies its significant environmental aspects and applicable legal and other requirements, it has to set its objecitves based on the overall intent provided by the Environmental Policy. Objetive is a goal to be achived by a particular time - say, for example, "to reduce energy consumption by 50 % by the year 2010". Target is specific measureable sub-goal, with well defined measurement index. Targets are normally SMART: S = Specific, M=Measureable, A=Achievable, R= Reasonable and T = Timebound. e.g. To reduce energy consumed per product (MJ/Piece) by 20 % by 2009. The Environmental Management Programme is an elaboration of how to achieve the target and goals, with specific responsibility, milestones for various activities, resources required, monitoring methods and review mechanism etc. Objectives on specific significant environmental aspects is one way of addressing significant environmental aspects, so that their impact is reduced once the programme is successfully completed
Planning is the First phase of the PDCA Cycle; we discussed the quotatiion: "IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN, YOU PLAN TO FAIL"
4.3 PLanning
4.3.1. Identifying and Assessment of Significant Aspects.
AN ASPECT is an element of the activity, product or service, that can have an impact on the environment. AN IMPACT is the change in the environmental condition, positive or negative. The system requires that Aspects of not only activities but also Products and Services have to be identified. These aspects are a part of the Environmental Management System only if they are under the control of the organization or the organization can have influence on the aspect.
We discussed the input-output model using the example of an activity like tea making. The inputs are e.g. Milk, Tea leaves, Sugar, water, LPG Gas, cups, mugs etc. The desirable output is Coffee. There are quite a few un-desirable outputs, e.g. waste heat, waste water, packaging materials etc. These undesirable outputs can have an impact on the environment (hence can be classified as ASPECTS). These aspects for ALL the activities, products and services of the organization have to be identified and recorded. In one way of assessing these aspects, the following criteria are used to assess significance: a) the probability of occurrence, b) the frequency of occurrence, c) the probability of the impact on property, people, flora/fauna and the environment outside the organization and d) the long term effect of the impact. To this one can also add the relevance of the aspect to any legislative requirement. We discussed as to how the significance will vary based on the "size" of the activity, product or service (e.g. emission of alcohol in a bottle and that in a 15 tons tanker). We also discussed that we have to identify DIRECT & INDIRECT impacts (e.g. of indirect impact, electrical energy used in the activity is related to emission of carbon dioxide at the thermal power station, leading to global warming), POSITIVE and NEGATIVE impacts, impacts due to START-UP, SHUT DOWN, ACCIDENTS etc. We also discussed that we need to capture ALL these impacts in the PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE, before assessing the ASPECT. We discussed as to how to use the assessment score to prioritize the aspects as significant as well as to ensure continual improvement. One of the requirements, which is not explicit in the ISO-14001 standard, is to RECORD all the Aspects and Impacts identified, including the significant aspects.
The next step (which can be started concurrently with the initial review) is to identify applicable legal and other requirements.
4.3.2. Legal and other requirements. The organization should establish a procedure to identify and access legal and other requirements.
Legal requirements may be local (e.g. Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, Consent for operations under the Air and Water Acts, Authorization under the Hazardous Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, etc.), Country / Region specific (especially if the organization exports to these countries, e.g. RoHS, WEEE, REACH etc.), or Global (where international protocols warrant action, e.g. Montreal Protocol, BASEL Convention etc.). Other requirements include company specific standards, guidelines, policies or industry specific requirements like "Responsible Care" of the Chemical Industry, "Electronics Industry Code of Conduct" of the electronics industry etc. It is a good practice to have a register of legal and other requirements and update it periodically.
The standard requires that the organization identifies as to how these legal and other requirements are related to the environmental aspects of the activities, products and services of the organization.
4.3.3. Objectives, Targets & Programmes
Once the organization identifies its significant environmental aspects and applicable legal and other requirements, it has to set its objecitves based on the overall intent provided by the Environmental Policy. Objetive is a goal to be achived by a particular time - say, for example, "to reduce energy consumption by 50 % by the year 2010". Target is specific measureable sub-goal, with well defined measurement index. Targets are normally SMART: S = Specific, M=Measureable, A=Achievable, R= Reasonable and T = Timebound. e.g. To reduce energy consumed per product (MJ/Piece) by 20 % by 2009. The Environmental Management Programme is an elaboration of how to achieve the target and goals, with specific responsibility, milestones for various activities, resources required, monitoring methods and review mechanism etc. Objectives on specific significant environmental aspects is one way of addressing significant environmental aspects, so that their impact is reduced once the programme is successfully completed
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