Where do I start with Aspects and Impacts?

An overview of what to expect when completing an Aspects and Impacts Register

Introduction

An Aspects & Impacts Register is a key component of an Environmental Management System (EMS). An EMS system is a framework that helps an organisation achieve its environmental goals through consistent review, evaluation, and improvement of its environmental performance.

The assumption is that this consistent review and evaluation will identify opportunities for improving and implementing the environmental performance of the organisation.

The EMS itself does not dictate a level of environmental performance that must be achieved; each organisation's EMS is tailored to the its own individual objectives and targets.

It requires that an organisation reviews all possible environmental issues relevant to the industry/company operations, including the following: [interactive piece of Rise]

• • • • Air pollution
      • Water and sewage issues
      • Waste management
      • Soil contamination
      • Climate change mitigation and adaption
      • Resource use and efficiency

What is an Aspects & Impacts Register?

An Aspects and Impacts Register is an integral part of an organisation’s EMS system. The register identifies and gives significance to the environmental impact of your organisation’s activities. It is comprised of two components: environmental aspects and the associated environmental impact.

An environmental aspect is an element of your organisations that interacts or has the potential to interact with the environment

The environmental impact is the change or potential change that environmental aspect can have on the environment.

An example below could be a record in the Aspects and Impacts Register:

 

The register is essentially a record of all the environmental aspects and the associated impacts material to an organisation. For each aspect and impact, the level of significance is determined without any control measures and with control measures in place.

What are the components of an Aspects & Impacts Register?

In order to produce an accurate and holistic register, it is important to complete all 16 columns, to the best of your ability. Let’s identify each column and the appropriate information to include. 

A. Scope: Account/Location/Tag (Board)/Department

B. Departments

C. Activity/Process: baseline assessment

D. Environmental Aspect (s)

E. Potential Environmental Impact (s)

F. Legislation References (s)

G. Likelihood (no control)

H. Severity (no control)

I. Significance (no control)

J. Potential Emergency Condition (s)

K. Relevant Control Measure(s)

L. Likelihood (with control) (optional)

M. Severity (with control) (optional)

N. Review Date (optional)

O. Status (optional): control Measure in place / Opportunity for Improvement

How do I navigate to this page?

The Aspects and Impacts Register is located within the ‘Governance’ feature in Rio.  Within the main Governance page there is direct tile/link called 'Environmental Management System - Aspects & Impacts Register'

Alternatively you can can also access it from with the ‘Environmental Management System (e.g. ISO14001)’ tile.  To access it, select ‘Governance’ in the left menu, or from the ‘Governance’ column in the home page, then select ‘Management Systems and Standards’, followed by selecting the ‘Environmental Management System (e.g. ISO14001)’ standard.

When you have arrived at the ‘Environmental Management System (e.g. ISO14001)’ area, you will see a teal button on the top right hand corner which is titled ‘Aspects & Impacts Register’. By clicking this button, you will be taken to the grid view of the Aspects & Impacts Register.

There will already be some example entries populated within the register to give you a strong foundation for how to populate your register relating to your locations and activities.

How do I populate the register?

Once you have arrived at the Aspects & Impacts Register page, you will see a blue button on the top right-hand corner titled ‘+ Add Aspect’. By selecting this, you will open a pop-up window titled ‘Create Aspect’ where you should see all the previously mention columns (e.g. Scope, department, activity, etc.) with dropdown options to fill them. You should be able to fill out Scope, Department, Activity/Process, Review Date and Status from the definitions provided in the previous section.

Let’s take a look at how to populate environmental aspects, potential environmental impact(s) and scoring in a bit more detail.

How do I score our aspects?

For each environmental aspect, it is important to first determine the level of likelihood and the level of severity with no control measures in place.

Level of likelihood: [insert interactive feature outlining the scale]

• 1: Very unlikely
• 2: Unlikely
• 3: Possible
• 4: Likely
• 5: Very Likely

Level of severity: [insert interactive feature outlining the scale]

• -1: Positive impact
• 1: Negligible
• 2- Minimal harm
• 3: Some impact
• 4: Harmful
• 5: Severe impact

Then once you have identified the appropriate control measures for the environmental aspect, you will adjust the level of likelihood and the level of severity of the aspect.

How do I mass export the register?

To mass export the records within the aspects and impacts register you simply hover over an entry line and right click. You should then see an ‘Export’ option where you can select the format you wish you export the information in.