What are impact and aspect assessments?

What are impact and aspect assessments?

Before an organisation can start to develop an environmental improvement plan it needs to answer the question: What environmental impacts do we have? If you don’t know your impacts you can’t fix them.

Aims and objectives

Environmental impact assessments may be used to identify impacts from an activity or site, regardeless of their size or nature. The objectives are to:

• Identify positive and negative environmental impacts of an activity.
• Suggest control measures to prevent or reduce negative impacts.
• Identify strategies to monitor impacts and provide an early warning of any adverse changes.
• Incorporate environmental information into the decision-making process relating to development plans.
• Aid selection of the best option if alternatives are available.

Meaning of Aspects and Impacts

The international EMS standard ISO 14001 defines an environmental aspect as an:

Element of an organistion’s activities or products or services that interacts or can interact with the environment.

An example of this would be the emissions that are produced from forklifts being used in the warehouse and yard.

The international EMS standard ISO 14001 defines an environmental impact as an:

Change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from an organisation’s environmental aspects.

Following on from our aspect example, forklift emissions. The impacts would be the effect on the local, regional and global climate. The increase of CO2 levels effects on climate change. The ill effects to the staffs and publics health from inhaling these fumes. Just to name a few.

There is a very useful model that is often used to identify these impacts. Source, pathway, receptor.

• Source – Is there a source of contamination?
• Pathway – Is there a route by which the contaminant can reach a receptor?
• Receptor – Is there something that can be harmed or damaged by this contaminant?

Our NEBOSH qualified consultants can help your organisation complete an impact and aspect assessement. With COP26 on the horizon it couldn’t be a better time to get your organisation more environmentally friendly.

Published: 20th October 2021

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