ISO 14001 Environmental Policy Content

[gstewart]

OK, I'm a 3rd party CB auditor so I'm gonna play along.....What do your utilities have to do with the environmental and what are the impacts of them?

If you have set your objectives correctly why would you have to adjust them because of business fluctuation?

Again, could you quantify major so that I could verify your claims?

I don't think an objective has to be a significant aspect. But significant aspects need to be considered for objectives.
For example if there is a risk you can dump chemicals in the local waterway, but you are absolutely certain that the measures you have in place will prevent it, it is still a significant aspect, but there is probably no objective you can put in place.
Yes you can replace the chemical , or mitigate the risk even further, but none of these are measurable as intended by the standard, so its back to measuring utilities.

Power usage per unit is good to use, especially if the market is on its way up ( and you use existing capacity ).
In a market downturn an auditor would probably notice if you switched to total power use.

 

[Randy]

I don't think an objective has to be a significant aspect. But significant aspects need to be considered for objectives.

Absolutely correct

Power usage per unit is good to use, especially if the market is on its way up ( and you use existing capacity ).

What is the environmental impact of "power"?

If I poured a bucket of "power" in a lake what could happen to the flora or fauna?

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Significance is defined by the organization, not by the dictionary or anyone else. Only the organization can state what is environmentally significant to them, based on their own established criteria and defining methodology to do so.

Just because something is identified as significant it doesn't mean it has to be reduced, have an objective tied to it, or eliminated either. It only needs to be documented, monitored/measured, controlled and communicated....And that's it.