What are the most effective strategies for auditing and monitoring the environmental impact of your business?

2 Establish your baseline and indicators

The next step is to establish your baseline and indicators for measuring your environmental impact. The baseline is the current state of your environmental performance, which you can determine by collecting and analyzing data from your operations, records, or surveys. The indicators are the metrics that you will use to track and compare your environmental performance over time, such as carbon footprint, water footprint, recycling rate, or eco-efficiency. You should choose indicators that are relevant, measurable, reliable, and consistent.

3 Conduct your audit and monitoring

The third step is to conduct your audit and monitoring according to your scope, objectives, and methodology. You can use various tools and techniques for auditing and monitoring, such as checklists, questionnaires, interviews, observations, inspections, measurements, or tests. You should also involve your stakeholders, such as employees, customers, suppliers, or regulators, in the process and solicit their feedback and suggestions. You should document your findings and results in a clear and concise report.

4 Analyze your results and identify gaps

The fourth step is to analyze your results and identify gaps in your environmental performance. You should compare your results with your baseline, indicators, objectives, and benchmarks, such as industry standards, best practices, or legal requirements. You should also evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency, and reliability of your auditing and monitoring process and tools. You should identify the strengths and weaknesses of your environmental performance, as well as the risks and opportunities for improvement.

5 Implement corrective and preventive actions

The fifth step is to implement corrective and preventive actions based on your analysis and gaps. Corrective actions are the actions that you take to fix the problems or non-conformities that you found in your environmental performance, such as repairing leaks, replacing equipment, or changing procedures. Preventive actions are the actions that you take to prevent the recurrence or occurrence of potential problems or non-conformities in your environmental performance, such as training staff, improving controls, or adopting new technologies.

6 Review and improve your process

The final step is to review and improve your auditing and monitoring process. You should monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of your corrective and preventive actions and their impact on your environmental performance. You should also review and update your scope, objectives, baseline, indicators, methodology, and tools according to the changes in your business, environment, or expectations. You should also communicate your results and achievements to your stakeholders and celebrate your success.