Normative References and 4.3.2 Legal Requirements

[shines]

Hello All,

Had a question for the guru's floating around here. As I stated on my previous thread, I am in the begining stages of ISO 14001 and have already implemented the ISO 9001:2000 QMS at my company.

As far as Normative Reference and "4.3.2 Legal and Other Requirements", The standard states that: "The org. shall establish and maintain a procedure to identify and have access to legal and other requirements to which the org. subscribes, that are applicable to the environmental aspects of its activities, products or services."

I have implemented a Safety program at my company. This Program contains every MSDS on every product in the facility. On the MSDS, typically in section 15, you find the, "Regulatory" information. Under this heading it shows all laws that apply to that product/ingredients.

Do I need to obtain all the laws for each product and apply them under the, "Normative Reference" catagory"? Or do I need to reference them just by titile? Or .........?.....

I am a bit confused on this one. Could someone bring me up to speed?

Thanks,
Steve Hines

 

[Randy]

What environmental legal requirments are you required to comply with?

Develop a procedure defining how you identify the requirements that are related to what you make and what you do, and how you stay current with them.

 

[shines]

Right, but do i have to STATE each law specified on MSDS's and such?

 

[Randy]

That's going a little to the crazy side. But....................

Let me ask you...How do your MSDS's relate to your environmental aspects?

If you are already doing SARA 313, Title V, NPDES, Stormwater, Haz Waste, and whatever else your MSDS's aren't going to cover much else. Make sure you align your Fed requirements alongside any relevant state and local ones. Some folks who are under a state EPA or DEQ, like in California, just list the state local requirements because they meet the fed's at a minimum.

Unless you include your OSHA stuff in your system you can probably get by not listing them UNLESS.....you are a HW Generator, which brings you the into the Hazwoper and DOT HazMat (part 172 for example) realm. Under Hazwoper (29 CFR 1910.120) you cannot escape other OSHA things like PPE, Hazcom, EAP's, Fire Prevention and the like. There is no way you can be a HW generator and leave out specific OSHA and DOT requirements..

You've got a lot of work to do......

 

[db]

I'll agree with Randy here (no big surprise). Too many companies seem to think that the MSDS fulfills the requirements for Legal and Other. But there is a tremendous amount of other things to consider. Certain states (Michigan and Pennsylvania come to mind) do a good job of broadcasting their legal stuff. However, even they do not list it all. What about the local authorities (counties, villages, etc)? Do you belong to a trade group? Do they have anything associated with membership?

I recommend an initial compliance audit from a reputable firm. Some organizations have this recur periodically. But I think it is a good start. But remember, even the best firms might not know all of the local requirements (such as xyz industrial park), or every trade organization’s by-laws.

 

[RoxaneB]

I'm with Randy and Dave....see, I can be agreeable occasionally!

We have our MSDS, but we also have an Environmental Database which lists all applicable (to us):

• Federal regulations
• Provincial regulations
• Municipal regulations and bylaws
• Voluntary programmes

Our database also lists and activites and aspects and show how the legal and other requirements are associated to them.

We have a set frequency to review the applicable legal and other requirements for our industry, but it's slipped my mind for the time being.

Originally, we had planned one compliance audit a year, but our Registrar thought that this was overkill and recommended every three years. We are investigating changing the frequency to every two years now.

Since our merger into our new big happy family, we have discovered that Corporate does two compliance audits a year per facility - total overkill in our opinon, especially as we are one of two locations out of about 13 that have ISO 14001 registration. We are appealing to Corporate to change the frequency for to us to once every two years and we will align to occur at the same time as the compliance audit conducted by an outside organization.

 

[aerospaced]

Need some help - during a recent ISO14001 audit of element 4.3.2 the auditor indicated that the Fire Code was an applicable regulatory requirement. (we didnt identify the Fire Code on our list of applicable regulations). He then wanted to see records regarding the inspection of the fire alarm, automatic fire detection system, emergency lighting system, sprinkler system, etc. Since we are in a leased building these tests/inspections are handled by building management which retains the records. Needless to say we were not prepared for this but were able to produce the records. This is a relatively new office facility with no manufacturing, service, etc and no hazardous chemicals or materials. Is it reasonable for the auditor to request this information as part of an ISO14001 audit? Appreciate any thoughts/experience on this.

 

[db]

Need some help - during a recent ISO14001 audit of element 4.3.2 the auditor indicated that the Fire Code was an applicable regulatory requirement. (we didnt identify the Fire Code on our list of applicable regulations). He then wanted to see records regarding the inspection of the fire alarm, automatic fire detection system, emergency lighting system, sprinkler system, etc. Since we are in a leased building these tests/inspections are handled by building management which retains the records. Needless to say we were not prepared for this but were able to produce the records. This is a relatively new office facility with no manufacturing, service, etc and no hazardous chemicals or materials. Is it reasonable for the auditor to request this information as part of an ISO14001 audit? Appreciate any thoughts/experience on this.

As mentioned above, how does this relate to your significant aspects? I don't have my standard in front of me, but IIRC, you have to identify and have access to the regulatory requirements that relate to your significant aspects. If I am incorrect, someone will surely it out.