May 27, 2026

ISO 14001:2026 Clause 6.1.2

SQMC Technical Faculty · 6 minute read

Explained: Environmental Aspects and Impacts

Clause 6.1.2 of ISO 14001 asks an organisation to identify the environmental aspects of its activities, products and services, and determine which ones can have significant environmental impacts. In plain English, this means understanding how the organisation interacts with the environment and which impacts matter most.

What is ISO 14001 Clause 6.1.2 trying to achieve?

Clause 6.1.2 is one of the core planning requirements in ISO 14001.

It helps the organisation identify:

what it does that can interact with the environment;
what environmental impacts could result;
which impacts are significant;
where controls, objectives or improvement actions may be needed.

The purpose is to make sure the EMS focuses on real environmental issues, not just generic environmental concerns.

What is an environmental aspect?

An environmental aspect is something about an organisation’s activities, products or services that can interact with the environment.

Simple examples include:

using electricity;
using fuel;
generating waste;
storing chemicals;
discharging water;
creating noise;
transporting goods;
using packaging;
buying materials;
disposing of equipment.

The aspect is the activity or interaction point. The impact is the environmental change that may result.

What is an environmental impact?

An environmental impact is the change to the environment that results, or could result, from an environmental aspect.

Examples include:

greenhouse gas emissions;
air pollution;
water pollution;
land contamination;
resource depletion;
habitat disturbance;
waste to landfill;
noise nuisance;
reduced biodiversity;
damage to ecosystem health.

Simple example

Activity: storing chemicals. Aspect: potential chemical leakage or spillage. Impact: contamination of land, drains or watercourses.

Why aspects and impacts matter in an EMS

Environmental aspects and impacts are the foundation of the EMS.

They influence:

operational controls;
competence and awareness needs;
emergency preparedness;
environmental objectives;
monitoring and measurement;
compliance obligations;
audit planning;
management review;
continual improvement.

If an organisation gets aspects and impacts wrong, the EMS may focus on the wrong priorities.

What does ISO 14001 expect?

ISO 14001 expects the organisation to determine the environmental aspects of its activities, products and services within the defined scope of the EMS.

The organisation should consider:

activities, products and services it can control;
activities, products and services it can influence;
planned or new developments;
new or modified activities, products and services;
normal operations;
abnormal conditions;
potential emergency situations, including reasonably foreseeable emergencies and relevant past incidents;
a lifecycle perspective.

The organisation should then determine which aspects have, or can have, significant environmental impacts.

Normal, abnormal and emergency situations

Aspect identification should not only consider routine day-to-day operations.

Normal operations

Normal operations are routine activities carried out as intended.

running machinery;
heating buildings;
using vehicles;
processing orders;
generating routine waste.

Abnormal conditions

Abnormal conditions are unusual or non-routine situations that are not necessarily emergencies.

start-up and shutdown;
maintenance work;
equipment failure;
temporary storage arrangements;
trial production runs;
unusual weather conditions affecting operations.

Emergency situations

Emergency situations are events that may require urgent response.

chemical spill;
fire;
flooding;
containment failure;
major leak;
pollution incident;
release to drains or watercourses.

A strong EMS considers all three, because environmental impacts can occur outside normal operations.

Lifecycle perspective

Clause 6.1.2 expects the organisation to consider a lifecycle perspective when identifying aspects and impacts.

This means thinking beyond the immediate site or process. Relevant lifecycle stages may include:

raw materials;
design;
procurement;
manufacturing or service delivery;
packaging;
transport;
use by customers or end users;
maintenance;
reuse, recycling or disposal.

The organisation does not necessarily control every lifecycle stage, but it should understand where it can control or influence environmental impacts.

Lifecycle example

A company may not control how a customer disposes of packaging, but it can influence the impact by choosing recyclable packaging, providing disposal information, or reducing unnecessary packaging at the design stage.

Control and influence

ISO 14001 expects the organisation to consider aspects it can control and aspects it can influence.

Control usually applies where the organisation directly manages the activity.

site operations;
chemical storage;
waste segregation;
equipment maintenance;
energy use in owned facilities;
employee work practices.

Influence applies where the organisation cannot fully control the activity, but can still affect environmental outcomes.

suppliers;
contractors;
transport providers;
customers;
landlords or tenants;
design partners;
waste contractors;
outsourced processes.

Auditors should check whether the organisation has sensibly considered both.

Significant environmental aspects

ISO 14001 expects the organisation to determine which environmental aspects have, or can have, significant environmental impacts.

The standard does not prescribe one fixed method for significance. The organisation should define and apply its own criteria.

Significance criteria may consider:

severity of impact;
likelihood or frequency;
scale or volume;
legal or compliance requirements;
interested party concerns;
potential for emergency impact;
environmental sensitivity of the location;
ability to control or influence the aspect;
past incidents or complaints;
business priorities or strategic importance.

Significant aspects should influence the EMS. They should not sit unused in a spreadsheet.

Practical implementation guidance

Organisations commonly use an aspects and impacts register.

A useful register may include:

activity, product or service;
environmental aspect;
environmental impact;
normal, abnormal or emergency condition;
lifecycle stage;
control or influence;
related compliance obligations;
significance score or criteria;
existing controls;
planned actions or objectives;
monitoring arrangements;
review date or trigger.

The register should be practical enough to help the organisation manage environmental performance, not just pass an audit.

What auditors typically look for

Auditors look for evidence that the organisation has identified relevant aspects, evaluated impacts and determined significance in a consistent way.

Evidence may include:

aspects and impacts register;
significance methodology;
process maps or site walkaround evidence;
risk assessments;
legal or compliance obligation registers;
operational control procedures;
emergency planning records;
objectives and action plans;
monitoring results;
incident, complaint or spill records;
management review records;
interviews with process owners and operational staff.

Auditor tip

Pick one significant environmental aspect and follow the trail. You should be able to see how it connects to controls, competence, communication, monitoring, compliance obligations, objectives, audits and management review.

Common weaknesses in Clause 6.1.2

generic aspect registers copied from templates;
aspects and impacts confused or used interchangeably;
failure to consider abnormal conditions;
failure to consider emergency situations;
lifecycle perspective mentioned but not applied;
supplier or contractor impacts ignored;
significance criteria unclear or inconsistently applied;
significant aspects not linked to controls or objectives;
aspect registers not updated after changes;
local environmental sensitivity not considered;
compliance obligations not linked to relevant aspects.

Weak example

“Waste, electricity and transport are environmental impacts.”

This is weak because it confuses aspects and impacts. Waste generation, electricity use and transport activity are usually aspects. The impacts may include resource depletion, greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution or waste to landfill.

Better example

“Activity: vehicle deliveries. Aspect: fuel use and exhaust emissions. Impact: greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution. Controls include route planning, vehicle maintenance, driver awareness and fuel monitoring. The aspect is significant due to fuel volume, emissions and customer carbon-reporting expectations.”

This is stronger because it clearly links activity, aspect, impact, control, significance and EMS action.

Real-world example: paint manufacturing site

A paint manufacturing site identifies several aspects:

storage and use of chemicals;
mixing and production processes;
washdown water;
volatile organic compound emissions;
packaging waste;
energy use;
contractor maintenance activities;
transport of finished goods;
emergency spill scenarios.

Potential impacts include land contamination, water pollution, air emissions, resource use, waste generation and greenhouse gas emissions.

The organisation determines significance based on legal requirements, severity, frequency, environmental sensitivity, volume, incident history and ability to control or influence the aspect.

An auditor could then check whether significant aspects are reflected in operational controls, emergency arrangements, competence, monitoring, audit trails and management review.

Real-world example: office-based organisation

An office-based organisation may identify fewer high-risk aspects, but Clause 6.1.2 still applies.

Relevant aspects may include:

electricity use;
heating and cooling;
business travel;
paper consumption;
IT equipment purchasing;
electronic waste disposal;
cleaning contractor activities;
remote-working energy and equipment considerations.

The organisation may determine that business travel, IT procurement and energy use are significant due to carbon emissions, cost, stakeholder expectations and ability to improve.

Auditor questions for ISO 14001 Clause 6.1.2

How does the organisation identify environmental aspects?
How does it determine associated environmental impacts?
How are normal operations considered?
How are abnormal conditions considered?
How are emergency situations considered?
How is lifecycle perspective applied?
Which aspects can the organisation control?
Which aspects can the organisation influence?
How are significant environmental aspects determined?
What criteria are used for significance?
How are compliance obligations linked to aspects?
How are significant aspects linked to controls and objectives?
When is the aspects register reviewed or updated?
Can you show an example of an aspect that led to a control or improvement action?

Related ISO 14001 clauses

Clause 4.1 — Understanding the organisation and its context
Clause 4.3 — Determining the scope of the EMS
Clause 5.2 — Environmental policy
Clause 6.1.3 — Compliance obligations
Clause 6.1.4 — Risks and opportunities
Clause 6.1.5 — Planning action
Clause 6.2 — Environmental objectives and planning
Clause 7.3 — Awareness
Clause 8.1 — Operational planning and control
Clause 8.2 — Emergency preparedness and response
Clause 9.1 — Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation
Clause 9.3 — Management review

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This page is part of SQMC’s ISO 14001:2026 guidance library for auditors, managers and QHSE professionals.

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