Environmental
Management System Structure follows the
Plan-Do-Check-Act structure provided by the ISO 14001 EMS Standard. This
involves a five-step process that addresses each of the following key elements
of the ISO Standard ISO 14001:
Step 1: Environmental Policy
The EMS
development process starts with establishing an Environmental Policy that is
tied to the organization's mission
Step 2: Planning
The planning
step consists of identifying regulatory and other requirements; identifying
processes, resources, and significant impacts; identifying pollution prevention
opportunities; developing objectives and targets for improvement efforts; and
creating a planning, programming, and budgeting system.
Step 3: Implementation
The
implementation step consists of defining the structure, responsibilities, and
programs; implementing training; creating the EMS documentation (including
document control and record keeping); communicating the EMS to personnel;
developing and implementing standard operating procedures and
developing and implementing emergency preparedness and response procedures.
Step 4: Checking and Correction
The checking
and corrective action step includes monitoring and measuring (e.g., internal
assessments), problem and cause identification, corrective and preventative
action implementation, and an EMS Review
Step 5: Management Review
In the
management review step, upper management reviews the EMS, including the results
of internal assessments. Modifications to the EMS are made, as necessary, to
ensure compliance. The management review is designed to ensure continual
improvement of the EMS, taking into account the results of checking and corrective
actions undertaken in Step 4
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