5 Practices to Avoid Non-Conformities to Environmental Regulations

Implementation of an Environmental Management System (EMS) is a necessary measure for businesses today owing to the ever-increasing impacts of business activities that are threatening natural resources, climate, and habitats of those living in the environment, including humans. To control those impacts at present, many global environmental authorities are issuing guidelines for businesses and governmental agencies are imposing regulations on the businesses. Complying with those guidelines and requirements is hence essential for any business to prove their social responsibility, uphold their reputation in the industry, and get a competitive position. Achieving the ISO 14001 certification helps them to eventually comply with all statutory and regulatory obligations, local and international. The standard mentions the compliance with all types of environmental regulations as a key requirement. 

Clearly, to implement the EMS and achieve the ISO 14001 certification for your business, you need to ensure conformity to the regulations with your EMS. While that might be quite a complex task, here we have provided some tips to prevent nonconformities. 



5 Tips to Prevent Environmental Non-conformities and Successfully Implement the EMS

Maintain a Manual of Environmental Procedures

You should create and maintain a written manual that keeps information on various environmental management practices. It helps to state the roles of employees and how they should carry out the practices or procedures for environmental management. The environmental document hence helps in ensuring uniformity in the practices and achieving the proposed objectives smoothly. A document also acts a testimony of your organization’s environmental performance to the stakeholders as it clearly states your efforts for controlling the impacts. 

Conduct Environmental Performance Reviews

It is essential for your business to check whether every documented procedure or practice for environmental management are properly executed and fulfil the purpose that they are intended to.  Such thorough reviews must be conducted at frequent regular intervals. They will help to quickly find any inefficient practices or noncompliance with any regulations. The respective teams or process managers should be alerted and asked for the implementation of corrective measures. Therefore, conducting reviews also help to fine-tune your environmental management procedures. 

Address the Customer Complaints

A key procedure to ensure conformity to environmental regulations is handling customer/stakeholder complaints regarding environmental issues. Therefore, you need to establish a specific process for recording the complaints. You can then evaluate the causes behind those complaints and act to implement corrective measures. This process is especially required in all manufacturing businesses where either employees work in harsh conditions, or the end products have environmental impacts such as chemicals, asbestos, fuels, paints, etc. 

Get a Compliance Register 

A most useful practice to ensure your organization’s conformity to environmental legislation is the creation of a compliance register. You should keep a record of the applicable legislation that applies to your business and the obligations that your organization has in meeting them. The register needs to be reviewed and updated from time to time to include any new environmental legislation and make your organization aware of them. 

Impart Employee Training 

Needless to say, training of employees is a must-have practice to create environmental awareness across the entire organization and make everyone responsible for the management practices. They should be also provided with additional training regarding the response to unanticipated environmental impacts and on how to take recovery actions. Also, you should not forget to keep records of your training programs in a well-documented form to provide reference to the new joining employees.  

Bottom Line

An environmental management system (EMS) has become a paramount tool for businesses to manage their various environmental impacts and contribute to the making of a better sustainable future. We know if you are serious about the rising environmental concerns and want to comply with all local and global regulations, achieving the ISO 14001 certification is your next step. The above practices are what you need to promote with your EMS to avoid any kind of nonconformity and lead your company to successful environmental certification.


Contact Details:

Business Name: Compliancehelp Consulting, LLC

Email Id: info@quality-assurance.com

Phone No: 877 238 5855

Also Read: Step-by-Step Internal Audit Checklist for Medical Device Companies

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