ISO 14000 Environmental Management Standards

xiiPreface14001 systems, and thirdly discusses the engineering considerations and proceduresnecessary to ensure the successful operation of ISO 14001 systems. The relevantfinancial considerations are discussed throughout.Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the ISO 14000 family of standards and summarises the main requirements of ISO 14001. Comparison with the requirements ofthe quality assurance standard ISO 9001 are also made, with guidance about howcompanies that already have expertise with ISO 9001 can use it beneficially in applying ISO 14001. Particular emphasis is given to the engineering considerations inapplying ISO 14001, in terms of parameter measurement and recording, fault detection, waste reduction, equipment design and provision of emergency response procedures to minimise environmental damage when faults occur. Comment is also madeabout the need to tailor the EMS to the requirements of each situation and not toincur unnecessary costs in overspecifying the system.Chapter 2 continues on from the brief introduction provided in Chapter 1 andexplains the design and implementation of an ISO 14001 EMS in greater depth. Thefirst section in this chapter covers the general design principles of an EMS. The following section then discusses the implementation of an EMS, and is subdivided intothree subsections that cover respectively the general requirements, including therequired level of documentation, the measurement and calibration requirements, and,finally, other engineering issues. The financial costs and benefits of operating an EMSare then discussed and evaluated in Section 2.3. Following this, the final three sections in this chapter cover, respectively, internal and external EMS auditing procedures, the procedure for getting ISO 14001 registration for the system, and adviceabout the need to publicise the environmental performance in order to maximise thefinancial benefits of operating the system.The largest engineering contribution to the successful operation of an EMS is inthe provision of systems that monitor system performance and measure environmental parameters. There is a particular requirement specified in ISO 14001 for theestablishment of good measurement and calibration practices, so that the quality ofmeasurements related to environmental management systems can be guaranteed, andproof established that the EMS is successfully ensuring that pollution does not exceeddefined levels of acceptability. Because good measurement practice is so critical tothe success of the EMS, two chapters in the book are devoted to the various aspectsof this. The first of these (Chapter 3) describes the design of measurement systems,and covers the choice of instruments with appropriate characteristics, certified calibration procedures, documentation requirements and cost considerations. Followingthis, Chapter 4 considers measurement system errors, and describes procedures toensure that measurements provided as part of an EMS are of adequate quality fortheir intended purpose.The requirement to maintain accurate records of parameter measurements thatare made as part of operating the EMS is also emphasised in ISO 14001, andChapter 5 discusses the necessary mechanisms for this. This discussion starts withvariable conversion elements, which are often necessary to convert sensors outputsto a recordable form. Discussion then continues with a review of the various datatransmission mechanisms available, and the types of signal processing that are com-

Prefacexiiimonly necessary to maintain the accuracy and quality of data. Finally, the variousmeans available for making permanent records of data are discussed.The following block of chapters goes on to consider particular aspects of thecontrol of environmental pollution. Firstly, Chapter 6 covers the sources and effectsof air pollution and describes techniques for the quantification of air quality in termsof both particulate and gaseous pollutants. Chapter 7 provides a similar treatmentfor water pollution. Following this, Chapter 8 describes various ways of reducingair and water pollution by including appropriate features in plant design, and bydesigning, implementing and operating systems designed to control the emission ofpollutants. Finally, Chapter 9 discusses other forms of environmental pollution, andconsiders ways of measuring and controlling noise, vibration and shocks. Severalother engineering contributions to environmental protection are considered in thefinal four chapters, with emphasis on the financial considerations as well as theengineering aspects of each. Firstly, Chapter 10 discusses waste management andconsiders the various techniques that are available for reducing the amount of wasteproduced, including the application of mass-balance principles. Appropriate ways ofdisposing of waste that is produced are then considered, with the aim of minimisingthe environmental impact. In Chapter 11 that follows, procedures for assessing andquantifying the risk of pollution incidents when faults arise during the activities ofa company are considered for both manufacturing operations and the provision ofservice functions. Various techniques to analyse and reduce risk are also discussed.In addition, this chapter covers reliability analysis, and describes various ways ofassessing and improving the reliability of both normally operating plant and alsospecial, emergency-response equipment. Chapter 12 continues on the theme of environmental protection through fault detection, by considering the technique of statistical process control and its role in detecting potentially pollution-creating situationsat an early stage, thus allowing remedial action to be taken before serious pollutionincidents have occurred. The principles of this, conditions for application and themain types of control chart used, are all covered. Finally, the accurate measurementof process variables in manufacturing systems is considered in Chapter 13, with separate sections covering temperature, pressure, fluid flow rate and level measurement.The importance of such measurements in ensuring that process plant operates asintended, without deviation of parameters from normal values that will cause a pollution risk, is emphasised.Two appendices are provided. Appendix 1 summarises the main content of eachstandard within the ISO 14001 family. Appendix 2 provides a suggested layout forthe EMS manual, which is a mandatory part of any EMS that conforms to therequirements of ISO 14001.In terms of intended readership, the emphasis on the engineering aspects of environmental management systems, and the associated financial considerations, meanthat the book is targeted primarily at company personnel who are concerned withdeveloping, implementing, maintaining and modifying environmental managementsystems. However, it is anticipated that it will also be used by personnel at company management level who are directing environmental policy. The difficulties indiscussing technical matters in language that is understandable to nontechnical

xivPrefacepersonnel are well understood by the author. Therefore, all areas in the book areintroduced in nontechnical language that is understandable to everyone, before goingon to cover the technical detail that is necessary for personnel who are designing andimplementing environmental management systems. This approach has been used successfully by the author previously (Measurement and Calibration Requirements forQuality Assurance to ISO 9000, John Wiley & Sons, 1997).

1IntroductionThere is now a considerable amount of public concern about the health of theenvironment in almost all developed countries of the world. As a consequence, theadoption by companies of procedures that minimise damage to the environment isbecoming an important ingredient in their success, and is almost as important as thequality of the goods and services that they provide. Any actions of companies thatlead to environmental pollution or damage, whether intended or not, cause widespread public anger that may lead to a boycott of the company’s products or services, or even more direct action that interferes with its operations. In addition tothis, environmental protection legislation is becoming increasingly stringent in mostcountries, and pollution incidents will, at best, lead to financial penalties and, atworst, result in orders to suspend operations until the cause of pollution is rectified.Thus, the implementation of an environmental management system (EMS) thatminimises damage to the environment through a company’s operations is becoming almost mandatory if the consequences of causing environmental damage are tobe avoided.‘ISO 14000’ is a global term for a set of standards that have been written inresponse to this need for environmental protection systems, in the same way that ISO9000 standards were written to satisfy the need for quality assurance systems tocontrol the goods produced and services supplied by companies. In fact, there is avery strong parallel between ISO 14000 standards and ISO 9000 standards, whichwill be discussed more fully later. Within the ISO 14000 series of standards, the fundamental standard that prescribes good practice in environmental management isISO 140011*. ISO 14001 specifies the various requirements that have to be satisfied* Like many other ISO standards that have international recognition, ISO 14001 is often published inindividual countries by national standards organisations written in identical words but with a slightlydifferent prefix or code to achieve harmony with pre-existing national coding systems for standards. Thus,it is available from the British Standards Institute as BS.EN.ISO14001 and the European Committee forStandardisation (CEN) as EN.ISO14001.ISO 14000 Environmental Management Standards: Engineering and Financial Aspects. Alan S. Morris. 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd ISBN 0-470-85128-7

2ISO 14000 Environmental Management Standardsin setting up an effective EMS, such that the risks of pollution incidents and otherforms of environmental damage through the operations and activities of a companyare minimised.The clauses in ISO 14001 are written in a general way so that the standard can beapplied in a wide range of industries and in diverse geographical and social conditions. The guidelines specify the various procedures that need to be implementedin an EMS so that it successfully minimises environmental damage caused by theoperations and activities of a company, but the standard recognises that every situation and application is different. Therefore, the standard is not prescriptive abouthow environmental protection procedures should be implemented in any particularsituation, and does not set any particular emission targets, pollution levels or otherparameters by which effects on the environment can be measured, except for specifying that at least the minimum environmental targets defined in legislation must bemet. Some common examples of environmental targets set by legislation are limitson air and water pollution, waste management and waste reduction. Beyond suchenvironmental targets set by legislation, and in respect of other environmental effectsthat are not

14001 systems, and thirdly discusses the engineering considerations and procedures necessary to ensure the successful operation of ISO 14001 systems. The relevant financial considerations are discussed throughout. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the ISO 14000 family of standards and sum-marises the main requirements of ISO 14001.