Environmental Risk Assessment

Environmental Risk Assessment

 

When doing an environmental risk assessment for your company there are a number of essential elements that you must include. The resulting environmental policy will outline the strategy that is in place within your workplace regarding any environmental issues.

 

The risk assessment should include achievable targets to minimise any environmental risks within your company. Before you begin to formalise your environmental policy it would be a good idea to try and include members of your staff. They will have some great ideas on what needs to be included from an employee’s perspective. A well written and thorough Environmental Policy will help your company to adhere to any environmental legislation that is relevant to your company. It will also help to minimize any risks that could result in liability for your company.

 

Some questions to ask before you begin to compile your Environmental Policy:

 

  • Are there any ways that your company could affect the environment? For instance, do you use a lot of paper from non renewable sources or has your company not begun to recycle yet?
  • How can your company reduce the need for travel? Could you use different types of communication with your clients?
  • Can your company cut down on the amount of packaging that it uses?
  • Are there any ways that your company can cut down on the energy that it uses?

 

Once you have a list of environmental issues that apply to your company, it is simple to begin to write your official Environmental Policy. It does not need to be a huge file, a simple two page document is sufficient providing that it includes targets for improvement in the areas of concern.

 

An Environment Policy is an ongoing thing rather than a document that, once written can be filed away and forgotten about. Review it regularly to see if there are targets that have not been met or new areas that need to be assessed and added to your policy.  Although there are no absolute rules on how you should write your Environmental Policy, it should be simple and easy to understand whilst still including all the information.

 

Once management is happy with the Environmental Policy, it should be placed in an easily visible area within the workplace so that all employees are aware of the risks and steps to be taken to reduce them. Depending on your industry, it may also be helpful to the business to distribute your new Policy to your clients so they can see that you are committed to improving the environment.

environmental trace