EMS Development Task 2: Determining Aspects, Impacts, Objectives, Targets
Determining the Aspects and Impacts of your business to include in your EMS is a
critical step and perhaps can be considered the heart of the continuous improvement
process expected with EMS. You must know your significant aspects so that you can set
realistic objectives and targets which demonstrate actual continuous improvement.
This fact sheet provides some basic ideas on how to do this.
Use this fact sheet with our Environmental Management System (EMS) Manual
Template and the element files that go with it for developing your draft EMS. You can
also request direct assistance from SHWEC for training and developing your EMS by
requesting help from one of our staff at www.shwec.uwm.edu .
What are Aspects, Impacts and Significant Aspects?
Simply put aspects and impacts are the environmental cause and effects of your
company. You determine the significant aspects of your company by using some method
to determine which are most important. Significant aspects should be the focus of the
objectives and targets of your company. Reviewing all aspects for significance each
year is an important part of the continuous improvement process of EMS.
Aspect (Cause): An element of a company’s activities, products or services which
interacts with the environment. For example processes such as painting, printing, plating
or sub-processes such as parts cleaning/degreasing or the activity of chemical storage and
natural resource consumption.
Impact (Effect): An impact is any change to the environment that results from an aspect.
For example air emissions from painting, hazardous waste from cleaning/degreasing,
waste water from rinsing parts, energy used to dry the paint, the water consumed during
parts washing and even health or safety issues.
A Significant Aspect: Those aspects that the company decides are significant and
important should be addressed in your objectives and targets.
This could be a regulatory issue, air emission, waste volume, cost, energy consumption or
anything with impact on the environment or the safety and health of your employees. The
key to deciding how “significance” really depends upon what your business does and
what you decide. However in an auditable EMS you do need to use an established set of
criteria to do that.
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Here is a pictorial example of what might be considered an aspect and impact at a
business. Obviously if you have leaking containers causing reportable spills at your
facility that might be a very significant aspect and something that needs to be addressed.
Aspect: Solvent Waste Storage
Impact: Leaking Container = Reportable Spill
How do you identify aspects and impacts so that you can determine the significance
of them?
This can be accomplished using any number of organizational skills and diagnostic tools
and techniques such as process flow diagrams, gap analysis or auditing to identify
specific aspects and impacts. Links to some US-EPA fact sheets demonstrating flow
process diagrams and gap analysis and other tools are provided at the end of this fact
sheet if you are not familiar with those processes. We will discuss two models, one using
your own expertise, usually in smaller companies and one that uses specific criteria.
Expertise-Based Method
Depending upon the size and complexity of a company, it is possible that a small team
might develop a comprehensive list of aspects just from their experience and knowledge
of operations. This is fairly common in smaller privately owned companies or small
businesses that do not have extra staff to do environmental management and cannot
afford to hire a consultant.
In the EPA case study at the end of this fact sheet, H-R Company utilized the experience
of its own staff to determine the significant environmental aspects at the company.
Managers from the various departments met with the CEO for a brainstorming session to
discuss how the activities of their area impacted the environment.
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The team identified an extensive list of aspects associated with the day-to-day
functioning of the plant. For each aspect identified, they determined the associated,
potential or actual environmental impact. The team came up with a long list of
environmental aspects. Finally they grouped similar aspects on a list and as a group
decided which aspects were significant.
Criteria-Based Method
For larger more complex companies, it is a good idea to go through a rather extensive and
thorough process to make sure that every environmental aspect and impact is identified.
Most companies develop a set of criteria to walk them through the steps of identifying
their significant environmental aspects. Table 1 shows one possible set of criteria and
how it was used to rank the six aspects that were used.
The aspects were ranked based on six criteria that were considered most important to this
facility. The aspects in the table were then reviewed by a team of employees who ranked
the aspects for each criterion on a scale of zero to five. The aspects with total scores of 10
or greater were deemed significant.
Table 1 Example of Possible Criteria Used to Determine Significance
Aspect
Metals in
Wastewater
VOC
Emissions
Generation
of Scrap
Circuit
Boards
Hazardous
Waste
Water Use
Electricity
Use
Health Toxicity Natural
and
Resources
Safety
Consumption
4
3
4
Liability or
Compliance
Concerns
5
Raw
Material
Loss
3
Discharge or Total
Disposal
Cost/Liability
4
23
2
1
1
0
3
1
8
16
3
2
1
2
5
3
1
0
2
0
4
3
10
0
0
0
0
5
4
0
0
3
3
2
0
10
7
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The advantage of this systematic approach is that the selection process is documented for
future use by the company as well as a third party ISO 14001 certification auditor or
others. Again, it is important to select criteria that are straightforward and easy to use and
understand. The easier the system is to use, the more likely it will be followed.
While the criteria, ranking, and scoring method may work for this facility, it may not
accurately reflect the environmental considerations of others. The specific criteria, the
number of criteria and the scoring system need to be determined by each facility. The
most important part of the process is to be comprehensive! Identify everything that could
possibly be considered as an aspect and impact and apply some type of agreed upon
criteria to decide which are most significant.
Once significant environmental aspects are identified, use them as the basis for setting
your objectives and targets. Select a manageable number of objectives and annual targets
that are reasonable as shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Relationship between Aspects, Impacts, Objectives and Targets
Environmental
Aspects
Metals in Waste
Water
VOC Emissions
Scrap
Generation
Potential Impacts
of Aspects
Aquatic toxicity
and noncompliance with
permit
Air quality,
compliance issues,
health issues
Raw material costs
Significant? Objectives
Yes
Reduce metals in
wastewater
Annual
Targets
10%
Reduction
No
Yes
Hazardous
Waste
Cost-liability for
compliance issues
Yes
Water
Consumption
Electricity Use
Local water supply
critical, costs
Cost-global
warming
Yes
Study to determine
production causes of
scrap rate
Implement material
replacement
program
Water Conservation
program
5%
Reduction
5%
Reduction
5%
Reduction
No
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Resources and Publications
The UW-Extension-Solid and Hazardous Waste Education Center (SHWEC) provides
environmental information and assistance that can help you reduce or eliminate wastes,
waste water and air emissions. SHWEC can also provide guidance on EMS development
and compliance assistance. Visit www.shwec.uwm.edu to learn more about SHWEC or
to contact a specialist and use the following for EMS development.
Environmental Management System (EMS) Manual Template provides a beginning point
in a simplified format to develop an EMS based upon the ISO 14001:2004 model
EMS Development Task 1: Determining Regulatory Requirements contains extensive
links to the specific regulatory programs that affect a business and EMS. This document
should be used in developing a first draft of the SHWEC EMS templates.
Acknowledgement
Much of the information used in this fact sheet is taken from US-EPA Design for the
Environment program and from the North Carolina Technical Assistance Program.
Case Study 7: Identifying Objectives for Your Environmental Management Systems
http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/pwb/case_stu/case7/index.htm#expertise#expertise
Case Study 8 - Building an EMS: H-R Industries' Experience
http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/pwb/case_stu/case8/index.htm#firststeps#firststeps
US-EPA Gap Analysis Tool (Draft)
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/dfe/pubs/iems/tools/gap.pdf
US-EPA Process Flow Diagramming for EMS (Draft)
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/dfe/pubs/iems/tools/process.pdf
US-EPA Tool for Evaluating Significance (Draft)
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/dfe/pubs/iems/tools/asp_eval.pdf
North Carolina Assistance Program http://www.p2pays.org/iso/ Tips and Tools Page
http://www.p2pays.org/iso/TipsTools.asp
Author: Phillip Annis, Last Revision March 21, 2008
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