Industrial Gas Manufacturing

SAFETY, HEALTH & ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM
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(06, October, 2010)
Table of Contents
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1 Scope  PAGEREF _Toc274151504 \h
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2 Normative references  PAGEREF _Toc274151505 \h
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3 Terms and definitions  PAGEREF _Toc274151506 \h
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4 Environmental management system requirements  PAGEREF _Toc274151507 \h
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4.1 General requirements  PAGEREF _Toc274151508 \h
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4.2 Environmental policy  PAGEREF _Toc274151509 \h
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4.3 Planning  PAGEREF _Toc274151510 \h
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4.3.1 Environmental aspects  PAGEREF _Toc274151511 \h
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4.3.2 Legal and other requirements  PAGEREF _Toc274151512 \h
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4.3.3 Objectives, targets and program(s)  PAGEREF _Toc274151513 \h
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4.4 Implementation and operation  PAGEREF _Toc274151514 \h
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4.4.1 Resources, roles, responsibility and authority  PAGEREF _Toc274151515 \h
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4.4.2 Competence, training and awareness  PAGEREF _Toc274151516 \h
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4.4.3 Communication  PAGEREF _Toc274151517 \h
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4.4.4 Documentation  PAGEREF _Toc274151518 \h
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4.4.5 Control of documents  PAGEREF _Toc274151519 \h
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4.4.6 Operational control  PAGEREF _Toc274151520 \h
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4.4.7 Emergency preparedness and response  PAGEREF _Toc274151521 \h
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4.5 Checking  PAGEREF _Toc274151522 \h
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4.5.1 Monitoring and measurement  PAGEREF _Toc274151523 \h
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4.5.2 Evaluation of compliance  PAGEREF _Toc274151524 \h
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4.5.3 Nonconformity, corrective action and preventive action  PAGEREF _Toc274151525 \h
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4.5.4 Control of records  PAGEREF _Toc274151526 \h
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4.5.5 Internal audit  PAGEREF _Toc274151527 \h
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4.6 Management review  PAGEREF _Toc274151528 \h
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References  PAGEREF _Toc274151529 \h
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Safety, Health & Environmental Program
1 Scope
Chaggar is one of the leading companies in the industrial gas manufacturing industry supplying millions of customers with such products like oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, helium and acetylene. The company wants to plan and implement its own environmental management system. The management of Chaggar Industries is committed to manufacture its gas products with minimal impact on the environment. It is therefore important that the organization comes up with a set of its own policies which will act as a guideline in ensuring that the procedures in the production processes as well in the distribution of the products.
2 Normative references
ISO 14000
ISO 14001:2004
ISO 14004:2004
3 Terms and definitions
EMS- Environmental Management Systems
4 Environmental management system requirements
ISO 14000 contains a set of standards that are recognized internationally that provide guidelines and requirements for an environmental management system (EMS). The requirements for the EMS are the same regardless of the industry or organization (ISO 2010). The ISO certification is important as it provides an assurance to the stakeholders who may be concerned about the environmental issues, assists in ensuring compliance with environmental regulations, supports communication on policies and plans on environmental issues and ensures compliance of external stakeholders.
4.1 General Requirements
ISO 14000 has set standards that are to be used as a guideline in environment management systems (. At the moment the standards are on voluntary basis and are flexible enough such that they are applicable to all types of industries and for all sizes. The standards are meant to guide an organization in recognizing those issues that may affect the environment in any way and to be the framework from which the organization will come up with ways to control them, to continuously keep on improving the environmental performance and finally put into service systems that lead to meeting the environmental objectives.
ISO 14000 is meant to have guidelines that can be referred to by all who have a stokehold with the firm or organization. The ISO 14000 standards are meant to provide standards that are recognizable internationally to allow for comparisons with the EMS of another organization within the same industry. A company sets its own targets, procedure and performance measures. The standard only assists in helping in the achievement of these goals and in monitoring them. The objective is to provide evidence, that can be measured, audited as a guarantee that the EMS that an individual organization has set are working effectively.
4.2 Environmental Policy
The Environmental policy will provide the details of the intentions and commitment to environmental performance by the management. This will give details of the planning as well as the environmental aspects that are in existence within the organization.
4.3 Planning
Chaggar industries environmental management systems plan includes an analysis of the environmental impact of its operations. In industrial gas manufacturing, there are certain possible risks that the environment will be affected in the manufacturing, distribution and storage processes. An implementation team was appointed comprising of a mix of senior mangers from the production department as well as the administration departments. The committee was to report on a frequent basis to the company president. To show its further commitment, the management plans to have a workshop with all employees, where they are expected to submit their views and opinions. This is in recognition of the importance of the employee’s participation considering that they are the people on the ground. For the EMS program to be successful the employees have to be involved as they are the ones who will be implementing the set standards (NC Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance, 2010).
4.3.1 Environmental aspects
Environmental aspects include an analysis of the current organization processes in order to identify any existing gap that may have a possible impact on the environment in the present or in the future. The environmental aspects can either be directly during the manufacturing process or indirectly in the sourcing of the raw materials. There is a direct environmental aspect for Chaggar industries. The liquefied gas is distributed from Chaggar industries to the consumers. There is a possibility of gas leaks when loading, on transit and when offloading the liquefied gas. The leaks may lead to the release of methane, a greenhouse gas, which may have an effect on the environment. There is also the possibility of gas explosions. When natural gas is burning it releases carbon dioxide which is another greenhouse gas and is harmful to the environment. Though the emission is minimal, the impact may be effective if there are several explosions in a specified area. Release of other products to the environment may have a serious effect when a victim comes into direct contact with them. Such products include acetylene and helium, which may have adverse effects when inhaled for a long time. There is risk of exposure of these chemicals are not handled carefully.
The indirect environmental aspect is there during the drilling process of the raw materials. The drilling affects both the land and the marine environment. Acetylene is used in the manufacture of plastics. There is a risk of indirect environmental aspect where the plastics are not properly disposed after use. Other indirect aspects may include pollution of environment by vehicles that are not properly maintained. There should be an assessment of the way waste products are disposed and analyze if the disposal method has any impact on the environment. This is more so for chemical industries whereby the waste after production may have serious effect to the environment. Chaggar industries have invested in waste disposal by hiring and outsourcing a company that has the expertise in environment friendly chemical waste d...