ISO 14001 - Essential Environmental Aspects List - Seeking Comments

[warshe]

Please, tell me- which essential environmental aspects can have such activities as:

1) purchasing of chemicals
2) purchasing of equipment

3) Non-destructive examination of metals:
-Radiographic examination
-Ultrasonic testing
-Penetrate testing
-Magnetic particle testing

4) Mechanical testing of metals
5) Chemical Analysis of metals
6) Calibration and repair of measuring devices

Please, give me your help.


Warshe

 

[Randy Stewart]

I'm Not Sure

I'm not sure exactly what you are asking for. Are you looking for Significant Aspects? or one particular aspects resulting from all items in your lists?

Anyway, here are my thoughts:
1) Spill Containment and disposal
2) What type of equipment? You may have oil containment, etc.
3) What are the after affects of your testing? Chemicals used, particulates, etc.
4) You may want to look at vapor from grinding, etc.
5) Chemical containment, etc.
6) None that I can think of.

 

[Randy]

1st- Aspects don't have activities, activities have aspects

2nd- Identify the environmental aspects (the stuff that can have some type of effect upon the environment) of your activities

3rd- From those identified aspects you identify the impacts (the effect upon the environment they can have)

4th- You then determine which one of those identified impacts are significant (no rules for this, do whatever you want but it needs to have some validity)

Aspects and Impacts have a cause & effect relationship. No 2 organizations have the same aspects, organizations are unique.

Break down those things you have identified into their basic elements and make you aspect determination from there.
1) What is involved in the purchasing of materials?
2) What is involved in the purchasing of equipment
3) What is involved in..........?

 

[zhugxian]

Environmental aspects

Good day,

(1) Purchasing of chemicals:
Env aspects includes: MSDS; toxic or hazardous; ODS; storage of incoming chemicals; acid, cyanide, alkaline, oxidiser, reducer, flammable, combustible, etc

(2) Purchasing of equipment:
Env aspects includes: Laser equipment (Class 4); chemical usage, maintenance of equipment; use of solvent, degreasers, etc

(3) Non-destructive examination of metals:
-Radiographic examination (env aspects includes: generation of solid and liquid chemical wastes)
-Ultrasonic testing (env aspects includes tested materials waste generation)
-Penetrate testing (env aspects includes toxic chemical wastes)
-Magnetic particle testing (env aspects includes use of electricity (resource depletion)

(4) Mechanical testing of metals
Env aspects includes: generation of metal wastes, coolant, heat and use of electricity (resource depletion)

(5) Chemical Analysis of metals
Env aspects includes: use of toxic chemicals, waste analysis water discharges

(6) Calibration and repair of measuring devices
Env aspects includes: use of degreasers, generation of solid waste (cables and wires)

 

[Randy]

OK, now from all the stuff you listed you need to determine how each interacts or can interact with the environment, some may do so in more than one way.

Examples of impacts:
Air emissions
water contamination
soil contamination
natural resource depletion
noise
energy usage
water usage
waste water generation
mutagenic compound generation
teratogenic compound generation
carcinogenic compound generation

The list is limitless

 

[zhugxian]

Environmental Impacts

Dear Randy,

So true. But to reply directly to the original questions, from these activities , what could be the essential environmental aspects??

The lists provided gave a sample of it.

I guess he has already defined the criteria to evaluate the environmental aspects listed.

Cheers

 

[Randy]

Re: Environmental Impacts

zhugxian said:

Dear Randy,

So true. But to reply directly to the original questions, from these activities , what could be the essential environmental aspects??

Cheers

None of them, some of them or all of them.

ISO 14001 is non-prescriptive and allows for organizations to determine on their own, based upon "their" unique desires and requirements, what is essential or important to them.