Theoretical Framework Environmental management system (EMS) is a system for continually improving the environmental performance, and thereby

the business performance, of an entity (Cheremisinoff & Bendavid-Val, 2001). As per Whitehouse (2005), EMS offers the methodology that a company needs to identify and implement ways in which to improve the environment both inside and outside a plant or business, from mere good housekeeping steps to strategies to prevent pollution in a systematic approach for incorporating energy and environmental goals and priorities (such as energy use and regulatory compliance) into routine operations. In addition, Rendell and McGinty (2004) said that EMS has led to the development of a number of concepts and tools that enable organizations to understand, evaluate and manage the environmental implications of their operations, services and products. Figure 1 below serves as the framework of this study.

ISO 14001 EMS depicts a diagram consisting of 5 basic elements of the Environmental Management System, to wit: environmental policy, planning, implementation and operation, checking and management review. According to Simon Lord and Charles Ross (n.d.), the ISO 14001 standard does not specify the standard of environmental performance for an organization to accomplish. However, it does require the organization to make three major commitments, namely: compliance with all legislation, prevention of pollution and continuous improvement in the preparation of its environmental policy. Brad Edwards et al. (1999) also supported that companies must make a commitment to pollution prevention, regulatory compliance, and continual improvement in

environmental performance in a manner that is appropria te to the nature, scale and environmental impacts of its activities, products and services. This commitment can be established through the creation of a company environmental policy which would then become the foundation of the organizations Environmental Management system (EMS). Defining a corporations environmental policy is a critical first step in shaping the companys environmental philosophy. Top management must be willing to accept and support such policy in all aspects of a companys operations since it would become the framework for setting and reviewing environmental objectives and targets. (Edwards et al. 1999) In addition, the policy must be communicated to all employees, and others working on behalf of the organization, and be available to the public. The policy provides a framework for reviewing objectives and targets and be appropriate to the nature and scale of the entity included in the scope. This policy must be documented,

implemented, and maintained. This means that it is kept current through the EMS review and continual improvement process, and is implemented through the remainder of the EMS. (Environmental Protection Department [EPD], 2005) According to James Marsh (n.d.), the planning section of ISO 14001 is required in order to fulfill the environmental policy. The plan will enable the key internal stakeholders to deliver the policy and to know what needs to be done for its achievement. Brad Edwards et al. (1999) cited that the ISO 14001 standards planning requirements consist of four major components, namely: the environmental aspects & impacts, the legal and other requirements, the objectives and targets and the environmental management program(s). The key elements of the plan consist initially of identifying the environmental aspects and impacts of the organization. Environmental aspects are described in Clause 4.3.1 of ISO14001 (8) which states that an organization should establish and maintain the environmental aspects of its activities, product or service that it can control and over which it can be expected to have an influence, in order to determine those which have or can have significant impacts on the environment. The associated environmental impacts can be defined as the environmental changes (positive or negative) that occur due to organizations activities, products and services. The intent of this element is to help the organization identify how it affects the environment, prioritize aspects, and use the EMS to manage, control, and improve upon the aspects. Next the planning process requires that the organization documents legislation that is relevant to their business. This includes acts and regulations, industry codes of practice and agreements with local authorities. This element should be present to identify the

environmental legal and other requirements that pertain to its operations and activities so that the organization can ensure that they are taken into account in the EMS. The plan should also include objectives and targets which are measurable by the organization so that status and progress can be ascertained. These objectives and targets should be consistent with the policy, which includes the commitments to compliance with legal and other requirements, continual improvement, and prevention of pollution. Finally the plan should contain an environmental management program. Management programs are the detailed plans and programs explaining how the objectives and targets will be accomplished. These usually note responsible personnel, milestones and dates, and measurements of success. The third element of ISO14001 EMS framework concentrates on the doing aspect of the standard which is the implementation and operation. The first step in the

implementation of an EMS is defining the structure and responsibility. ISO 14001 requires that the relevant management and accountability structure be defined in this element. Top management is expected to ensure that resources are available so that the EMS can be implemented, maintained, and improved. (EPD, 2005) The next step to the implementation of EMS is ensure the competence, training, and awareness of persons performing tasks that have or can have significant impact on the environment and/or relate to the legal and other requirements. The Standard requires that organizations ensure that training needs are identified, ensure that these planned needs are met, verify that the training has achieved its purpose increased awareness and verify that following training. (Whitelaw, 2004)

A study conducted by Hibadullah et al. (2013) showed how employees must be given a high proper training and general awareness level so as to generate the benefits from the implementation of the EMS. The organization needs to identify training needs as they relate to the EMS, the significant aspects, and the legal and other requirements and make sure this training is provided (records of such are to be maintained). According to Ken Whitelaw, means of communication, both internally and externally, are extremely important and that, if not formally addressed, may have negative effects on the success of the EMS. Procedures are required for both internal and external communications. ISO 14001 only requires procedures, and allows the organization to decide for itself the degree of openness and disclosure of information. Whatever the decision is in terms of disclosure, the decision process must be recorded. (EPD, 2005) EMS documentation is another step in the implementation which ensures that the organization has documented the system in either electronic or paper forms (Whitelaw, 2004) such that it addresses the elements of the standard, describes how the organization conforms to each element, and provides direction to related

documentation. According to Kenneth Whitelaw, organizations should establish and maintain information, in paper or electronic form, to describe the main elements of the environmental management system and their interaction, include documentation required by ISO 14001, documentation determined by the organization itself, records required by ISO 14001 and provide direction (or reference) to related documentation. Not all ISO 14001-required procedures need to be documented, as long as the system requirements can be verified. However, documentation must be provided such that

enough is available to ensure the effective planning, operation, and control of processes related to the significant aspects, and to demonstrate conformance to ISO 14001. (EPD, 2005) The organization is required to control documents, such as system procedures and work instructions, to ensure that current versions are distributed and obsolete versions are removed from the system. There is a requirement for a document control procedure that ensures documents are approved prior to use, are reviewed and updated as necessary, changes to versions are identified, that the current versions are available at points of use, that they are legible, identifiable, and that obsolete ones are so noted to avoid unintended use. In operational control, critical functions related to the policy, significant aspects, the legal and other requirements, and objectives and targets are identified and procedures and work instructions are required to ensure proper execution of activities. Lastly, emergency preparedness and response should be addressed since this element also requires that a process exist for actually identifying the potential emergencies, in addition to planning and mitigating them. Emergency incidents include those that may not be regulated, but may still cause significant impact as defined by the organization. As with any human undertaking, errors will occur and systems need to be in place to check that events are happening as they should and that, if errors do occur, suitable corrective actions could be undertaken. The following sub-clauses of the fourth element of the ISO 14001 EMS framework require such activities to be carried out in a structured fashion to ensure an effective EMS: monitor and measure environmental interactions; evaluate compliance; establish a nonconformance, corrective action and preventative

action system; maintain records; and perform periodic internal audit of the EMS. (Edwards, 1999) In order to properly manage and monitor the system, measurements must be taken of its performance to provide data for action. Procedures are required describing how the organization will monitor and measure key parameters of operations. These parameters relate to the operations that can have significant impacts, to monitor performance towards the objectives and targets, and to monitor conformance to the legal and other requirements and other EMS requirements. (EPD, 2005) Procedures also need to be performed to periodically evaluate its compliance with applicable legal requirements. Furthermore, procedures for acting on non-conformances identified in the system, including corrective and preventive action are also required. Non-conformances may be identified through audits, monitoring and measurement, and communications. The intent is to correct the system flaws by addressing root causes, rather than just fixing the immediate incident only. The standard also requires that trends in corrective actions be evaluated to see if deeper-rooted preventive actions can also be implemented. The procedure needs to make sure the non-conformances are not only first addressed to mitigate environmental impact; but that further investigation occurs to determine their cause, and action taken to avoid it happening again. Preventive actions would then be those actions resulting from an evaluation as to why nonconformities are occurring and taking action to prevent their recurrence. The standard states that the corrective action is appropriate to the magnitude of the problem and the impacts encountered; to avoid either over-compensating or under-compensating for a problem.

Records are also need to check or monitor the progress of the implementation of the EMS since it expected to exist to serve as verification of the system operating and the organizations conformance to the standard and its own EMS requirements. Procedures in this element are required for the maintenance of records, and specifically require that records are identifiable, retrievable, safely stored, and legible, retained as appropriate, and traceable. Lastly, internal audits should also be provided since this is to determine whether the system conforms to the requirements of ISO 14001 and the organizations own EMS detailed requirements, and if the EMS has been properly implemented and maintained. The procedure for internal audits has to address responsibilities and requirements for planning and executing the audits, reporting results, and what records will be generated (and maintained in accordance with 4.5.4). The procedures also address determination of audit scope, how often they will be conducted, and specifically how they will be done. (EPD, 2005) A management review involves a high-level evaluation of the management system as a whole to determine its overall effectiveness in terms of driving continual improvement and achieving business goals which is typically performed annually (Rendell & McGinty, 2004). Thus, this element of the EMS describes how an entity coordinates performance reviews by top management and drives the process of continual improvement. According to Clause 4.6: Management Review of ISO 14001 1. The organizations top management shall conduct a review of EMS to ensure its continuing suitability, adequacy and effectiveness.

2. The management review process shall ensure that the necessary information is collected to allow management to carry out this evaluation. 3. The managements review shall address the possible need for changes to policy, objectives and other elements of the EMS. 4. In making decisions, the management takes into account EMS audit findings, changing internal and external circumstances and its commitment to continual improvement. 5. Management review and discussions taken shall be documented.

Environmental management is defined by the West Coast District Municipality as a purposeful activity with the goal to maintain and improve the state of an environmental resource affected by human activities which further aims to ensure that ecosystem services and biodiversity are protected and maintained for equitable use by future human generations, and also, maintain ecosystem integrity as an end in itself by taking into consideration ethical, economic, and scientific (ecological) variables. Environmental management tries to identify the factors that have a stake in the conflicts that may rise between meeting the needs but protecting the environment.

The University of California, San Francisco defined environmental programs or projects are those that strive to promote environmental stewardship, ensure regulatory compliance and mitigate environmental liability. As defined by ISO 14001, environmental performance is all about how well an organization manages the environmental aspects of its activities, products, and services and the impact they have on the environment which can be improved by reducing its

negative environmental impact or increasing its positive environmental impact. Bran et al. said that environmental performance means to enforce measures that provide the protection of environmental factors air, water, soil, ecosystems. Environmental Compliance, on the other hand, is defined by the Sourcing Innovation as the process of adhering to environmental regulations in effect, environmental policies, and requirements that are expected to become law in the (near) future. According to Cheremisinoff and Bendavid-Val (2001), the model will enable an entity to systematically examine its operations, establish environmental objectives and targets that represent the entitys environmental management which is carried out through programs and projects, to reach its targets. Furthermore, environmental management programs generated by the EMS may result to improved environmental performance and regulatory compliance on the part of the entity, if such are well thought-out and carried-out.

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