Designing an Environmental Management System Based on ISO 14001 is a 40-hour hands-on course that leads to development by participants of an environmental management system for a small organization. The class uses the latest version of ISO 14001: Environmental management systems - Requirements with guidance for use, and also draws from key elements of ISO 19011: Guidelines for auditing management systems. The class is structured with a careful balance of instruction and in-class assignments so that small teams daily assemble important elements of their EMS and then discuss their results with the class. At the conclusion of the project, participants will have developed the main elements of an environmental management system manual according to ISO 14001 criteria. With an impending release (mid-2015) of a new version of ISO 14001, class exercises will be aligned to address its amended criteria and format. The component parts of this manual are directly applicable to the diverse workplace environments of class participants.

By the end of this course delegates will be able to:

• The elements of a solid environmental management system (EMS)
• What to look for in a strong environmental policy
• How to understand sources for and significance of environmental risks
• How to manage environmental risks with focused objectives, and emergency preparedness
• How to monitor for nonconformity and achieve effective corrective and preventative actions
• How to evaluate strengths and weaknesses in an EMS
• How to involve Top Management in the EMS
• How to achieve continual environmental improvement
• How through team work, to compare and contrast different approaches to the same problem
• Methods for applying the ISO principles to your own specific frame of reference

Course objectives and team approach Understanding environmental management systems (EMS) The role of the environmental policy Meeting legal and other requirements Assessing 'activities, products, and services' Team discussions of organizations they will use for class exercises, including potential impacts, legal constraints and guiding environmental policy

Team descriptions of selected organization, including its environmental impacts, its legal and other requirements and its environmental policy Understanding environmental risk in the context of the management system Rating the significance of environmental aspects Team development of rating matrix for environmental aspects and selection of significant aspects

Team discussions of environmental aspects of their organizations Understanding objectives, and how to achieve them; development of environmental procedures; how to manage incidents Team development of objectives, and consequent work programs, standard operating and emergency procedures

Team presentations of objectives and programs to achieve them Team presentations of standard operating procedure, and emergency response procedure Understanding the importance of site inspections and the role for root cause analysis and corrective action reports How to involve Top Management in the EMS

Team presentations of site checklist, EMS management review strategy How to test the EMS for gaps Team evaluation and critique of EMS program of another team Team presentation of results of EMS reviews Wrap-up discussion

CDGA attendance certificate will be issued to all attendees completing minimum of 75% of the total course duration.