Posted By srd Not strictly health and safety I know, but I'm hoping that at least a few of you are also environmental managers. When identifying aspects and impacts at my place of work, do I need to identify even those aspects where we have controlled them in order to to eliminate any impact, or do I need to identify only the aspects where we have not controlled them, or we have done our best to control them but there is still an impact? For example, with discarded vehicle batteries: The batteries contain highly toxic lead, and corrosive sulphuric acid, both of which are classified as hazardous. They are collected from the premises by a recycling company, who charge 50p per battery. During recycling, the batteries are broken down into: * Plastic - This is washed, dried and ground up into granules which are used in many different products, including new vehicle battery cases. * Lead - This is melted down to make various products including vehicle batteries. * Acid - This is treated and neutralised. * Distilled Water - This is purified and used again. So even though we send them away for recycling, where they are broken down into their component parts and mainly used to make new car batteries, is this still classed as having an impact, or do I disregard it as we have managed the aspect in such a way to eliminate (or very nearly eliminate) any impact? Also, if I need to list ALL aspects, even those where we have managed to eliminate any impact, how then can I use this list to judge which are the most significant - when I am looking at a list which may contain serious impacts (but they have been eliminated as they have been controlled) and may also contain lesser impacts (but they have not been eliminated)? Stephen.

Posted By corsa01 Hi, you have mail, hope it helps