Environmental audit

An environmental audit is a management tool that involves a systematic, documented and objective assessment of the organisation, management system and processes designed to protect the environment in order to facilitate, from a managerial perspective, the control of the organisation's behaviour for the purpose of environmental protection. The aim is to achieve a prosperous and sufficient level of environment for present and future generations. Also, its role is to evaluate the capability of the company's systems dealing with environmental probelmatics, to evaluate their compliance with the organization's environmental policy, short-term and long-term goals aimed at environmental protection. The audit must be carried out by competent personnel with the necessary training and funding. It must be carried out according to a specific procedure taking into account the results of previous audits of the organisation. Environmental auditing began to be used by businesses and subsequently implemented in corporate strategy in the second half of the 20th century in the USA, Canada and the UK, when issues relating to pollution, the onslaught of environmental damage and the prevention of unwanted environmental impacts began to be addressed globally. As part of the implementation of environmental auditing into the corporate strategy, the audit must include interviews with personnel, ascertain the condition of work equipment, review of documents, directives, instructions and other documents. Environmental management Environmental management seeks to develop and implement the necessary measures, effective tools to minimize the harmful impact of activities on nature, ecology and the environment. An important part of this is spreading awareness about the efficient use of natural resources, energy management and health care. Providing information stimulating to the activity that creates a network of collaborators, ensuring the creation of materials and the structure of facilities for environmental education. The importance of environmental audit The importance of environmental auditing has been confirmed by a number of organisations which have clearly agreed that environmental auditing is an essential part of corporate strategy. They have issued guidelines and directives that discuss the standards and forms of auditing that audits should meet. The most important thing is to define and define the objectives of the audit once it has been initiated. The audit should be conducted by an external firm to be objective. The next step is to identify the person responsible for the audit who will inform the company's management about the conditions and the audit process. The areas of the company to be audited are identified. These areas shall be determined by a thorough analysis of the internal and external factors of the enterprise and a consideration of which factors cause the most environmental pollution. Those factors which pollute the environment the most will be subject to the most thorough environmental audit. The person responsible for the audit must analyse the previous documentation from the past on the audit. The audit manager has the opportunity to assemble an audit team that will help him or her conduct the audit more thoroughly. This team can consist of both external and internal persons. Objectives of the environmental audit A properly conducted environmental audit, in which all necessary regulations have been complied with, can improve the performance of a company, reducing the costs of the production process. Reducing the cost of the production process also eliminates wasted materials and items in the inputs, resulting in air pollution and ozone depletion. Also, reducing the cost of the production process reduces the consumption of water, which is now considered one of the most precious natural resources. The optimal use of resources is another objective of environmental auditing. Top-level managers of a company should try to promote the use of renewable resources as much as possible in the company. These are those resources that are naturally renewed in the course of their use. At the same time, these resources are often criticized for their unreliability, but through auditing and available documentation, managers should evaluate whether this is the right choice. We can include here the biological waste generated as a secondary product of production. Proper maintenance of equipment emitting pollutants into the air. It is one of the biggest environmental risks that adversely affect health. Investing in the improvement of more modern technologies that treat waste. This investment is initially more costly, but it is certainly worthwhile. Also investment in staff training, raising their awareness of the issues and regular training. Last but not least, the aim of an environmental audit is to check whether occupational health and safety is being observed in the company. It determines whether work procedures related to environmental issues are being followed, whether communication is maintained between employees who work with waste or other factors that have a direct impact on the environment. Noise abatement is also included. Assessing compliance with environmental policy. Simplifying the management of certain activities that could have an adverse impact on the environment. Audit criteria can be defined as: - Company strategy - EMS standards - Scope, nature, impacts of activities, services, products - Real operation