What is the Five Star Environmental Sustainability Audit?
An independent, in-depth assessment of your organisation's environmental sustainability arrangements against contemporary best practice.
The Five Star Environmental Sustainability Audit examines an organisation's environmental sustainability policies, procedures and associated management arrangements, identifying strengths, opportunities for improvement and recommendations for action.
Going beyond the requirements of traditional environmental management systems, including ISO 14001:2015, the audit provides an independent evaluation of how environmental sustainability is managed and implemented across the organisation.
The findings help organisations demonstrate their environmental management commitment to customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, regulators and other stakeholders while establishing a structured route towards continual improvement.
Enquire now ↗WHO IS IT FOR?
Environmental assurance for organisations at every stage
The audit is suitable for organisations of any size or sector, whether they are beginning to establish environmental management arrangements or looking to strengthen and independently validate existing practices.
It supports organisations seeking to understand their current environmental sustainability performance against best practice and develop a structured approach to improvement.
STARTING THE JOURNEY
Establishing environmental management
For organisations developing their environmental sustainability practices, the audit provides an assessment of current arrangements and guidance for building more structured systems.
Outcome: A practical basis for short-term and long-term environmental improvement planning.
STRENGTHENING PERFORMANCE
Validating established arrangements
For organisations with established environmental management systems, the audit offers independent third-party evaluation of current policies, procedures and implementation.
Outcome: Independent insight and recommendations to support continual improvement.
Why the audit is right for your organisation
The audit goes beyond management system compliance to provide an independent perspective on your organisation's environmental performance and opportunities for improvement.
Independent recognition
External assessment of environmental management systems against best-practice standards.
Stakeholder confidence
Demonstrate commitment to environmental responsibility to stakeholders and interested parties.
Continual improvement
Establish a structured route towards stronger environmental management practices.
Legislative awareness
Identify opportunities to strengthen how environmental legislative requirements are monitored and addressed.
Management system improvement
Identify gaps and opportunities to improve environmental management processes.
Resource efficiency
Identify opportunities to use resources more effectively and improve operational practices.
ISO 14001 alignment
Assess arrangements and inform action planning against relevant ISO 14001:2015 requirements.
Demonstrable commitment
Communicate environmental responsibility to employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders and communities.
Achievement recognition
Eligible organisations may use the applicable certificate and achievement logo in line with scheme requirements.
AUDIT OVERVIEW
Independent assessment. Quantified findings. Clear recommendations.
49
Assessment elements
03
Assessment methods
05
Star rating scale
How does the audit work?
The audit examines the organisation's environmental sustainability arrangements through documentation review, stakeholder engagement and operational verification.
DOCUMENTATION
On-site documentation review
Review relevant environmental policies, procedures, management records and supporting documentation.
ENGAGEMENT
Stakeholder interviews
Interviews and discussions with relevant stakeholders, including top management, to understand responsibilities and implementation.
VERIFICATION
Operational sampling
Sample relevant activities to assess how environmental management arrangements are applied in practice.
AUDIT DELIVERABLES
What will your organisation receive?
The audit provides quantified findings, independent recommendations and documented outcomes to support organisational environmental management improvement.
Detailed audit report
A comprehensive record of the audit findings and assessment outcomes.
Recommendations and action planning
Detailed recommendations to support environmental performance improvement and action planning.
Quantified results across 49 elements
Element-level assessment results based on the applicable audit specification.
Performance benchmarking
An evaluation across different aspects of the environmental sustainability audit specification.
Certification of achievement
Certification reflecting the outcome of the audit, subject to scheme requirements.
Potential Globe of Honour eligibility
Five Star achievers may be eligible to apply for the Globe of Honour, subject to the relevant award criteria.
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE
Understanding the Environmental Audit
Hear from our audit expert
Keith Whitehead, Senior Consultant, discusses changes to the Five Star Environmental Audit.
Watch the interview for further insight into the audit's development and approach.
Discuss your Environmental Sustainability Audit requirements
Understand how an independent audit can support your organisation's environmental performance and improvement priorities.
BEST OF THE BEST
Recognition through the Globe of Honour
Organisations achieving a Five Star Environmental Sustainability Audit rating may have an opportunity to apply for the prestigious Globe of Honour, subject to the applicable award scheme's eligibility criteria and requirements.
The Honour Awards recognise organisations demonstrating outstanding performance and commitment to improving health, safety and environmental management.
Explore the Honour Awards ↗Why choose British Safety Council?
Our internationally recognised audit and consultancy services support organisations in assessing the suitability and effectiveness of their management arrangements and pursuing continual improvement.
TAKE THE NEXT STEP
Benchmark your environmental sustainability performance
The Five Star Environmental Sustainability Audit helps organisations understand their current environmental management arrangements, identify opportunities for improvement and establish a structured route towards best practice.
Request a call back to learn more about the audit and discuss its suitability for your organisation.
Enquire now ↗
FAQs
Here is a list of common questions that people ask us. If you can’t find what you’re looking for please email [email protected] or call us on +91 2241437969.
What consultancy services do you offer?
Our health and safety and environmental consultancy services are based entirely on customer needs and involve one of our experts helping to support improvements in performance in general or more specific areas (for example: risk assessments, training needs analysis, legionella surveys, asbestos management, permit to work processes, strategic planning, culture surveys, etc.).
What audits does the British Safety Council offer?
We currently offer a range of audit products and services including our best practice Five Star Wellbeing, Five Star Occupational Health and Safety, Five Star Environmental and Sustainability and Five Star Integrated audits. We also offer certification audits to the ISO 14001 (2015) standards and the ISO 45001 standard (when issued). A bespoke sector-specific systems review service (safety and environmental) is also available and provides a baseline indication of how effectively your safety, health and/or environmental systems are being implemented across multiple sites or within specific departments.
Five Star Occupational Health and Safety Audit - what is it?
Our Five Star Audit is an internationally recognised, quantified and comprehensive audit process used by organisations to compare their health and safety management system against best practice technique and current trends.
Five Star Occupational Health and Safety Audit - what is changing?
The current specification continues to offer you the opportunity to progress toward a best practice occupational health and safety management system(s) and the business benefits this can produce. The specification aligns best practice safety management indicators (including leadership and stakeholder engagement) against a Plan - Do - Check - Act management model.
As part of the British Safety Council’s commitment to the continual product-improvement, together with a recognition of recent developments in legislative and safety management trends, our five-star audit specification(s) are reviewed on an annual basis.
Five Star Environmental Audit - what is it?
Our Five Star Environmental Audit is an internationally recognised audit process used by leading organisations to compare their environmental performance against best practice and current trends.
What is the Sword of Honour?
The Sword of Honour is an award scheme available to organisations that have achieved a five-star rating in our Five Star Occupational Health and Safety Audit. A separate award process is independently adjudicated and only those submissions from five star organisations, which meet defined criteria, are awarded the sword of honour status. A true recognition of excellence in health and safety management.
Find out more...
What is the Globe of Honour?
The Globe of Honour is an award scheme available to organisations that have achieved a five-star rating in our Five Star Environmental Audit. A separate award process is independently adjudicated and only those submissions from five star organisations, which meet defined criteria, are awarded the globe of honour status. A true recognition of excellence in environmental management.
Find out more...
ISO 45001 - What is it?
A new international health and safety standard management system standard that is expected to eventually replace BS OHSAS 18001. ISO 45001 reflects contemporary health and safety management requirements and is currently due to be published in late 2017.
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