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.
Clause 6.1.2 is one of the core planning requirements in ISO 14001.
It helps the organisation identify:
The purpose is to make sure the EMS focuses on real environmental issues, not just generic environmental concerns.
An environmental aspect is something about an organisation’s activities, products or services that can interact with the environment.
Simple examples include:
The aspect is the activity or interaction point. The impact is the environmental change that may result.
An environmental impact is the change to the environment that results, or could result, from an environmental aspect.
Examples include:
Activity: storing chemicals. Aspect: potential chemical leakage or spillage. Impact: contamination of land, drains or watercourses.
Environmental aspects and impacts are the foundation of the EMS.
They influence:
If an organisation gets aspects and impacts wrong, the EMS may focus on the wrong priorities.
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:
The organisation should then determine which aspects have, or can have, significant environmental impacts.
Aspect identification should not only consider routine day-to-day operations.
Normal operations are routine activities carried out as intended.
Abnormal conditions are unusual or non-routine situations that are not necessarily emergencies.
Emergency situations are events that may require urgent response.
A strong EMS considers all three, because environmental impacts can occur outside normal operations.
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:
The organisation does not necessarily control every lifecycle stage, but it should understand where it can control or influence environmental impacts.
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.
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.
Influence applies where the organisation cannot fully control the activity, but can still affect environmental outcomes.
Auditors should check whether the organisation has sensibly considered both.
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:
Significant aspects should influence the EMS. They should not sit unused in a spreadsheet.
Organisations commonly use an aspects and impacts register.
A useful register may include:
The register should be practical enough to help the organisation manage environmental performance, not just pass an audit.
Auditors look for evidence that the organisation has identified relevant aspects, evaluated impacts and determined significance in a consistent way.
Evidence may include:
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.
“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.
“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.
A paint manufacturing site identifies several aspects:
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.
An office-based organisation may identify fewer high-risk aspects, but Clause 6.1.2 still applies.
Relevant aspects may include:
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.
This page is part of SQMC’s ISO 14001:2026 guidance library for auditors, managers and QHSE professionals.
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