Free template
Environmental aspects and impacts register
An environmental aspects register lists the ways a site's activities, products and services interact with the environment (the aspects, such as emissions, waste or energy use) and the effects they have (the impacts), and marks which are significant so they get controls and objectives. It is the approach used in ISO 14001-style environmental management systems. This template has one row per aspect: the activity, the aspect and its impact, the condition (normal, abnormal or emergency), a severity and frequency score, whether it is significant, the legal or other requirement, the controls in place and the owner. Page 2 has the scoring guide, your significance criteria and a list of common aspects to check in each area. The Excel version works out the score and marks an aspect significant when it meets your threshold, a legal requirement applies or an emergency could be severe. Filling it in does not by itself make a site conform to ISO 14001.
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
When to use it
When to use an environmental aspects register
- When setting up or reviewing an environmental management system.
- When a process, product, material, permit or law changes.
- At least once a year, as part of the management review.
- To decide which environmental issues need controls, targets or monitoring first.
How to fill it in
- 1
List activities area by area
Walk each area and list the activities, products and services: machining, painting, washing, shipping, the boiler house.
- 2
Find the aspects
For each activity, what it releases, uses or produces. Use the common aspects list on page 2 as a prompt.
- 3
Describe the impact
The effect on the environment: air quality, water pollution, land contamination, use of resources, noise for neighbors.
- 4
Note the condition
Normal operation, abnormal (startup, shutdown, maintenance) or emergency (spill, fire, leak).
- 5
Score and decide significance
Severity times frequency or likelihood, then apply your criteria: a score threshold, legal requirements, severe emergencies, concerns raised.
- 6
Record controls and owners
The legal or other requirement, the controls in place and who owns the aspect. Review when things change.
A filled-in example
Illustrative, not a benchmarkAn example: three rows from a metal finishing plant's register (illustrative scores, threshold 12).
- Painting: solvent vapor to air, contributing to air pollution. Normal. Severity 3, frequency 5: 15. Air permit applies. Significant. Controls: extraction and filters, monthly solvent use log.
- Parts washing: oily water to drains. Abnormal, when the separator is full. Severity 3, frequency 2: 6. Discharge permit applies, so significant. Controls: weekly separator check.
- Chemical store: acid spill to land. Emergency. Severity 5, frequency 1: 5. Significant because a severe emergency. Controls: bunded store, spill kit, drills.
The plant set an objective to cut solvent use, the separator check went onto the team leader's rounds, and the spill drill was scheduled twice a year.
Common mistakes
Only normal operation
Startup, shutdown, maintenance and emergencies often carry the biggest impacts. Include abnormal and emergency conditions.
Mixing up aspect and impact
The aspect is what you release or use; the impact is its effect. "Waste" is an aspect, "land contamination" an impact.
Changing the criteria
Write your significance criteria down and apply them the same way every time.
Never reviewed
Review the register when processes, products, permits or laws change, and at least yearly.
Download the template
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
Run this template in LeanSuite
In LeanSuite anyone can flag spills, waste, air and water issues as environment tags on the spot, route each one to an owner and close it with an audit trail.
In the lean glossary
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FAQ
Environmental aspects and impacts register: common questions
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