Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/2286Show full title

PART 12 U.K. Management Review

Corresponding EMAS requirement U.K.

Based on internal audits, compliance evaluation, dialogue with stakeholders (including complaints), environmental performance of the organisation with regards to objectives, corrective and preventive actions and previous management review, the top management shall review the organisation's environmental management system, to ensure its continuing suitability, adequacy and effectiveness. Reviews shall include assessing opportunities for improvement and the need for changes to the environmental management system, including the environmental policy and environmental objectives and targets. (Annex II, A.6)

Assessment of corresponding ELH requirements U.K.

The management review is formally covered by the GIC 6 stating that: ‘the management must perform an annual review of the HES system and of Eco-Lighthouse procedures to assess whether they work as intended’.

Input from ELH(1) shows that this part depends in large part upon the ELH annual Management Review, which centralizes the review of the HSE system and the ELH procedures, and includes the evaluation of environmental performance as indicated in the annual Climate and environmental report.

The general manager and the employee responsible for Eco-Lighthouse implementation together with the safety representative and a representative from the occupational health care meet annually to review and evaluate the system.

Based on the example provided the annual Management Review of ELH organisation covers the following elements:

• Opportunities for improvement of the system. Action plans are established and reviewed.

• Evaluation of any breaches of legislation or regulation found during the reporting period

• Evaluation of environmental performance as indicated in the annual Climate and environmental report

• Setting new environmental goals and aims in the action plan for the annual Climate and environmental report.

Commission Conclusions U.K.

The main idea of ELH Management Review is very close to EMAS as it mirrors to a large part the provisions of the regulation on management review.

Based on these elements the Commission recognises that the part of ELH related to ‘Management Review’ complies with the corresponding EMAS requirements and can therefore be considered as equivalent.

Accreditation or licensing requirements for the certification bodies U.K.

The following analysis assess the accreditation or licensing requirements that allow the verification of the schemes by a qualified third party auditor

Corresponding EMAS requirement U.K.

1. EMAS requires verification of the key elements of the management system by an independent accredited or licensed verifier. The elements subject to verification are detailed in Article 18 of the EMAS Regulation. U.K.

2. Prior to registration — Article 4(5) — the initial environmental review, the environment management system, the audit procedure and its implementation shall be verified by an accredited or licensed environmental verifier and the environmental statement shall be validated by that verifier. U.K.

3. To renew a registration — Article 6 — a registered organisation shall at least on a three-yearly basis: U.K.

(a)

have the full environmental management system and audit programme and its implementation verified;

(b)

prepare the environmental statement in accordance with the requirements set out in Annex IV and have it validated by an environmental verifier;

and, without prejudice to previous points, in the intervening years, a registered organisation shall prepare an updated environmental statement in accordance with the requirements laid down in Annex IV, and have it validated by an environmental verifier;

The Article 7 of the Regulation grants the following derogation to small organisations: the frequency referred above shall be extended from 3 years up to 4 years and from annual up to two years providing specific conditions are met.

4. Verification and validation shall be performed by an accredited or licensed verifier in the conditions defined in the Articles 25 and 26. U.K.

5. Environmental verifiers shall be accredited or licensed based on the requirements of Article 20 of the EMAS Regulation. The environmental verifier shall in particular demonstrate appropriate evidence of its competence, including knowledge, relevant experience and technical capacities relevant to the scope of the requested accreditation or licence. U.K.

Assessment of corresponding ELH requirements U.K.

1. Independent verifier: ELH requires a verification of the implementation of the system by a third-party certifier/verifier. This certifier/verifier has been trained and approved by the ELH Foundation and is formally appointed by the municipality. The certifier/verifier focuses his assessment on the compliance of the organisation with the general and industry-specific criteria selected by the consultant in the ELH system. The work of the certifier/verifier is controlled by ELH at each certification (every 3 years). U.K.

2. External assessment prior to certification: after the self-reporting by the enterprise, ELH certification is made by a certifier/verifier. ELH certification implies the checking of compliance with pre-determined criteria (general and industry specific), which also involves checking that the organisation has an updated overview of the legal requirements it is subject to, as well as a system to handle non-compliance. The most relevant legal requirements are translated into ELH criteria which are checked specifically. Consequently, the verification process boils down to verifying a check-list using the environmental statement through standardized web-based tools with specific guidelines to each criterion(2). Following the assessment performed by the certifier the ELH foundation checks each certification individually, approving it prior to the issue or renewal of the certificate. U.K.

3. Renewal of the registration: every third year, the ELH licence must be renewed. U.K.

Before re-certification the organization must have reviewed the criteria and checked if the organization still conforms to the valid criteria. Documentation of this process must be made available in the web-portal.

At re-certification the verifier checks if the Annual Climate &Environmental Reports have been submitted as required every year. If not so, the intermittent Annual reports must be reconstructed as well as can, possibly can be done retroactively.

The re-certification process is identical to the certification process. Attention will be given by the certifier/verifier to continuous (environmental) progress.

There is no external verification in the intermediate years. The intermediate Climate and Environmental reports are drafted internally. Given that 98 % of ELH certified enterprises are small organisations and based on the provision of Article 7 this frequency should be compared with verification every two years under EMAS.

4. Requirements on verification and validation: Verification is conducted following the process detailed under point 2 above. U.K.

Certifiers are generalists and operate within a broad scope of licence (no sector specific licensing). Similarly to EMAS verifiers ELH certifiers shall clearly define and agree with the organisation the scope of the certification (parts of the organisation subject to the certification), examine documentation, visit the organisation, conduct interviews and spot checks. According the ELH certifier handbook the certifier may partly rely on the assurance provided by the consultant who prepared the certification(3). The certifier shall also be able to document his/her review by means of notes and any checklists that might be made.

When the certifier approves the enterprise, the final letter of acceptance is generated by the certifier approving the Miljøkartlegging together with a report of any non-compliance identified and corrected. Both are stored in the web portal. The Eco-Lighthouse then checks the documentation and ensures that the procedure is in accordance with the rules and guidelines. Once this is done, ELH issues a certificate.

Approval, training and supervision of the work of the certifier are ensured by the Eco-Lighthouse foundation through its web portal and instructions for performing certification are defined in the ELH certifier handbook. This ensure the independence and professionalism of the verifier based on the ELH licensing requirements.

As mentioned under point 2 above ELH does not include a specific yearly validation process every year.

5. Accreditation or licensing requirements: U.K.

ELH established an autonomous system of ‘licensing’ of its auditors and certifiers/verifiers. The certifier/verifier is approved, trained and monitored by ELH and operates on behalf of the municipality where the organisation is established. His/her work is closely monitored by ELH but he/she is in general not accredited by any standardized and recognized accreditation system. The ELH foundation is ISO 9001 certified but does not match the Standard for delivering certification (ISO 17021). The ELH requirements should therefore be compared with the licensing requirement established by the Article 20 of the EMAS Regulation.

The licensed certifier is appointed by the municipality. Thus, third party certification is maintained, as is the link to municipalities which plays an active part. Through this system, complexity is avoided ensuring costs are kept down. Access to locally available verifiers is a key success factor in the ELH system, so that the (mainly small and medium sized) enterprises with few serious environmental aspects are in this manner able to achieve certification at a reasonable cost.

The requirements set by ELH regarding the qualification of the verifiers/certifier focus on the following elements:

• ELH verifiers/certifiers are trained to have a good knowledge of the EMS they certify (ELH) and its system of criteria;

• ELH verifiers/certifiers are not accredited per sector but approved for training on the basis of a generalist competence within the fields of environment, HSE, quality control and/or revision. ELH strongly relies on the precision of the criteria that should be checked. This approach is meant at keeping costs down for companies by increasing the number of certifiers and decreasing travel;

• Similarly, legal knowledge is replaced by reference to specific industry criteria, with a dedicated guide for the verifier;

• Knowledge of technical aspect is focused on the most important environmental themes (transport, energy, waste, etc.). The Eco-Lighthouse certifies enterprises with basic environmental impact.

In order to be able to fulfil these tasks, ELH makes sure the certifiers/verifiers have acquired the following qualification (A) and training (B):

A.

Qualification requirements for verifiers/certifiers:

• Knowledge of environmental topics (energy, transport, waste, procurements, emissions)

• Auditing qualifications and/or professional experience

• Relevant professional experience (related to environment, HSE, ISO 14001, EMAS, etc.)

• Relevant professional background (science and environment subjects, HSE, ISO 14001, EMAS, etc.)

• Other relevant professional background or professional experience

B.

Training of the certifier/verifier:

The certifier/verifier, once accepted for training, is coached individually by the ELH. Training includes:

• Introduction to the Eco-Lighthouse. Short history, the network and structure of the organisation.

• The different roles and their responsibilities: consultant, verifier, municipality coordinator, administration and Eco-Lighthouse responsible person in the enterprise.

• If an external consultant is available: short introduction by him- herself to explain practical aspects of the process towards certification, to heighten understanding

• The Eco-Lighthouse web portal including the environmental review, the certification report

• The annual climate- and environmental report

• The Eco-Lighthouse certification and re-certification process

• Auditing techniques

Additional measures to be implemented in 2017 are:

• Examination

• Time-limited approval to operate

• Observation of certifiers/verifiers by external body

ELH intends to intensify its dialogue with Accreditation bodies in Norway, and, to meet their standards and requirements although stopping short of actual accreditation of certifiers/verifiers due to the sharp increase in cost this would entail for enterprises wishing to become ELH certified.

Commission conclusion U.K.

The assessment of the ELH management system confirmed that differences can be observed between the EMAS and ELH method (criteria based), scope (sectors without complex environmental aspects) and target (mainly SMEs). The accreditation and licensing requirements also reflects these differences as well as some specificities of the ELH system such as the collaboration with municipalities or the willingness to maintain low certification costs.

The ELH approach includes a certification by a third-party certifier which serves well the objectives of the scheme. The key differences compared with the EMAS verification are the following:

• The ELH certification process focusses on assessing compliance with the set of criteria that form the core of the ELH system, including adherence with the most relevant legal requirements. Such structured approach does not exist under EMAS where the verifier has to assess the correct implementation of the requirements of the Regulation in the specific case of each organisation, including the identification of the relevant environmental aspects and the compliance with legal requirements.

• Competence of the ELH certifier is centred on the assessment of the criteria. In the EMAS system competence is centred on a broader knowledge of environmental aspects and on a specific knowledge of the industrial sector at stake.

• ELH verifiers are trained and approved by the ELH Foundation and their work is supervised individually. EMAS verifiers are accredited or licensed and supervised by administrative bodies appointed by the governments based on the requirement of the EMAS Regulation and/or ISO 17021.

• EMAS includes a yearly external check to ensure validation of environmental statement (every two years for SMEs which represent the vast majority of ELH organisation). ELH certification takes place every three years without intermediary verifications.

The ELH system, with its pre-defined sets of criteria, its focus on small organisations (few enterprises with more than 250 employees, no enterprises in heavy industry), and its certification system supervised by the ELH foundation and run by municipalities, provides an efficient and pragmatic approach to SME desiring to assess and improve their practices related to health environment and safety.

However, due to the essence of the system structured around the sets of criteria, the ELH verifier/certifier is not required to be competent to detect other environmental issues or non-compliance that would not be part of the criteria. Moreover the absence of specific sectorial knowledge or legal knowledge can prevent him to conduct specific on-site checks or to verify the reliability of specific technical data of legal status. Such specific analysis could be necessary to assess aspects going beyond the industry criteria, in particular additional aspects identified in accordance with GIC 1963(4), and for the verification of legal compliance.

It can be concluded from this analysis that ELH includes a coherent system of certification by third party certifier fitting well with the structure and specificities of the system. However the requirements concerning the competencies of the ELH verifier do not fully match the corresponding requirements of the EMAS Regulation.

Based on these elements the Commission considers that the part of ELH 'accreditation or licensing requirements partly matches the corresponding EMAS requirements.

Conclusion U.K.

The ELH constitutes a well-structured, modern, and fair scheme, providing third party audited environmental certification to many organisations of different sizes and sectors. It is built around a set of general and specific criteria to be met by the organisation requiring certification. This structuration differs from the EMAS approach which requires a preliminary identification of the significant environmental aspects specific to the organisation as a basis supporting the management system implementation.

Both schemes also address different targets. While ELH has a clear focus on SME's EMAS can be implemented by organisation from all size including large industrial organisations. In terms of governance, the ELH foundation operates the scheme and defines its requirements. The ELH foundation also works as a licensing body in charge of training and approving the certifiers operating in the different municipalities. The EMAS governance is based on a legislative act (EU Regulation), involves bodies appointed by the authorities and requires a verification by an accredited or licensed verifier.

As highlighted throughout this document both systems pursue a similar general objective (improvement of environmental performance of organisations) through different methods. Requirements are not identical. Some parts of ELH partly match the corresponding EMAS requirements while other are recognised as complying with these requirements. Parts of ELH that do not fully comply with EMAS requirements cannot be recognised as equivalent. However organisations aiming to step-up to EMAS can use the present document to adapt these parts before applying for EMAS registration.

Based on this assessment the Commission recognises:

• the following parts of the Eco-Lighthouse as complying with the corresponding EMAS requirements. These parts can therefore be considered as equivalent with the corresponding EMAS requirements:

  • Commitment and engagement of top management;

  • Establishing an environmental policy;

  • Objectives and environmental programme established to assure continuous improvement;

  • Organizational structure, training, and employee involvement;

  • Documentation requirements;

  • Operational control

  • Emergency Preparedness and response;

  • Checking, internal audit and corrective action;

  • Management Review

• the following parts of the Eco-Lighthouse as partly matching the corresponding EMAS requirements:

  • Establishing an Environmental Review — preliminary analysis;

  • Ensure legal compliance

  • Communication (internal and external);

• the requirements of Eco-Lighthouse regarding accreditation or licensing for the certification bodies as partly matching the corresponding EMAS requirements.

(1)

i.a. http://miljofyrtarn.no/nyeverktoy

(2)

see part 7

(3)

ELH certification handbook — certification process: ‘Not all criteria can be checked equally thoroughly, but criteria marked “D” (documentation) must be documented. Environmental reviews should inspire confidence and be seen to be thorough, and thereby constitute the main basis for deciding what should be checked. The certifier decides which conditions should be examined thoroughly and which criteria can be verified through spot checks. If the consultant performing the environmental review gives assurance that industry criteria are met, the certifier can in principle rely on this provided there are no signs to the contrary (poorly conducted environmental review, unreliable conclusions, other circumstances)’.

(4)

GIC 1963: ‘The enterprise must identify other significant environmental aspects of the enterprise, and consider any necessary action and/or inclusion in the annual climate and environmental report and/or monitoring through the action plan.’