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Environmental Management System In Small And Medium Scale Companies In Nigeria
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b. Initial Environmental Review (IER)
i.
In order to achieve success, an early step in developing and improving
an EMS involves obtaining commitment of the top management of an
organization. An organization that has no EMS in place or that has not
conducted an IER. The aim of such a review should be to identify all
environmental aspects and/or impacts of its activities, products and
services. Also, the aim of an initial review is to establish a
facility’s current performance level in the Ems with the view to
formulate an articulated environmental policy.
ii. To carry out a
thorough review, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the production
processes or services from ‘’cradle- to-grave’’ is imperative. The LCA
should examine the different aspects and possible significant impacts of
all inputs at all stages of production or services to its eventual
disposal.
iii. An IER shall consider normal operating conditions,
shutdown and startup condition including realistic potential significant
aspects and impacts that could be associated with reasonably
foreseeable or emergency situations.
iv. The process of identifying significant environmental aspects shall where appropriate, consider any or all of the following.
· Human health
· Air and Water quality
· Waste Management
· Contamination of Land
· Use of raw materials and natural resources.
v. Fundamentally, an IER shall address the following:
· Identification of relevant legislation’s, regulations and other regulatory requirements.
·
Identification, evaluation and documentation of significant
environmental aspects of its activities, products or services.
· Evaluation of existing management practices and procedures.
· All other elements of feedback from the investigations of previous incidents.
vi. The IER Report shall contain the following essential elements:-
· Introduction/ context of review
· Scope of review
· Issues and objectives
· Methodology
· Information resources
· Summary of findings
· Identification of corrective action plan and the time-frame for its implementation
· Resources requirement for implementation
· Conclusion
vii. ER shall be carried out at least once annually except there is a certificate of exemption from FEPA.
viii. IER shall be carried out by one or all of the following persons or groups of persons.
· A competent Environmental Monitoring Team
· Competent and certified employee(s) in each of the production stages and/or services
· Accredited FEPA consultants.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]Environmental Management System refers to management of an organization’s environmental programs in a comprehensive, systematic, planned and documented manner. It includes the organizational structure, planning and resources for developing, implementing and maintaining policy for environmental protection. It is not surprising that collectively, SMEs also have major The increasing demands for consideration of the environmental impacts may result in SMEs being required to at least conside ... Continue reading---
