Environmental Risk Assessment
What is an environmental risk assessment?
An environmental risk assessment identifies sources of the potential impact on the environment, the potential pathways they may take and the people and environmental aspects that could be affected.
Depending on the scope, the risk assessment could evaluate risks from operational activities such as routine air emissions as well as abnormal events such as the accidental release of hazardous products to the ground. Risk assessments can also incorporate risks associated with energy consumption and climate change.
A risk assessment helps identify higher-risk activities and helps evaluate the control measures necessary to reduce risk to an acceptable level.
Why do I need an environmental risk assessment?
Environmental risk assessments are best practice for any operator whose activities have the potential to impact the environment. They are an essential part of an Environmental Management System (whether or not certified to a recognised standard) and are normally mandatory if an activity is operating under an Environmental Permit.
Further, operators of facilities storing or handling quantities of hazardous materials above specified thresholds will be regulated under the COMAH Regulations 2015. In such cases, these facilities may need to submit a formal Environmental Risk Assessment as part of their Safety Report to evaluate the risk of causing a Major Accident To The Environment (MATTE). Demonstration of the presence of adequate safety measures is a key part of this process.
How can we help?
We have extensive experience helping our clients identify their key environmental hazards, effectively evaluating their potential for harm, identifying where additional controls would be beneficial and confidently communicating this to regulators, including:
- Permit Environmental Risk Assessments
- Environmental Management System Environmental Risk Assessment
- COMAH Threshold Assessments
- Environmental Assessments as part of the Safety Report for COMAH facilities
- Environmental Assessments in line with the Chemical and Downstream Oil Industries Forum (CDOIF) Guidelines
- Monitoring and Modelling to inform risk assessments
- Secondary Containment Assessments
- Response to Regulator request
- Contaminated land risk assessment
What are my responsibilities?
Poor management of environmental risks can lead to operators committing offences under a variety of legislation. An environmental risk assessment allows you to assess the likelihood of your business causing harm and ensure you have sufficient controls in place to manage it.
No matter the driver for completing an environmental risk assessment, it is essential that it is reviewed regularly, particularly in the event of an incident, significant changes to site processes, raw materials and emissions.
Get In Touch
As a national provider with a regional presence, we work with clients from multiple sectors including; industrial, commercial and residential developers, retailers, industrial manufacturers, fund managers, institutional investors, hi-tech companies, the public sector and charitable organisations.
Want to partner with an environmentally conscious, holistic environmental health and safety services supplier? Get in touch with our team
