Environmental (waste) compliance control systems for UK SMEs
Environmental (waste) compliance control systems for UK SMEs
While the ‘environment’ is often perceived as a heavily regulated area of business, in reality, directly-regulated businesses represent a small proportion of the business community. This study aimed to evaluate and outline potential improvements to compliance controls for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly those involved in the waste sector. Forty-four SMEs from England were interviewed/audited between April-September 2008. Using a UK-based system as a case-in-point, the Environment Agency’s (EA) Operational Risk Appraisal (‘Opra’)/Compliance Assessment Report (CAR) system was analysed. Environmental compliance performance indicators and an initial assessment methodology for SMEs were developed. The study showed:
• Compliance with permitting legislation was poor in many areas.
• Regulatory authorities are either unable/failing to implement their enforcement policies or unable/failing to identify non-compliances due to the infrequency or limited nature of their inspections.
• Improvements are needed to the EA Opra/CAR system – control measures are not fully taken into account when calculating risk.
Recommendations to improve SME compliance controls include using internationally applicable general and specific compliance and non-compliance performance indicators, re-designing the Opra system and using an initial assessment methodology based on understanding the hazardousness of SME categories, compliance levels and operator competency.
contracts & law, risk and probability analysis, waste management & disposal
37-50
Wilson, Christopher D.H.
93952699-50db-452a-82e9-cb2c9661540b
Williams, Ian David
c9d674ac-ee69-4937-ab43-17e716266e22
Kemp, Simon
942b35c0-3584-4ca1-bf9e-5f07790d6e36
1 February 2015
Wilson, Christopher D.H.
93952699-50db-452a-82e9-cb2c9661540b
Williams, Ian David
c9d674ac-ee69-4937-ab43-17e716266e22
Kemp, Simon
942b35c0-3584-4ca1-bf9e-5f07790d6e36
Wilson, Christopher D.H., Williams, Ian David and Kemp, Simon
(2015)
Environmental (waste) compliance control systems for UK SMEs.
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Waste and Resource Management, 168 (1), .
(doi:10.1680/warm.14.00007).
Abstract
While the ‘environment’ is often perceived as a heavily regulated area of business, in reality, directly-regulated businesses represent a small proportion of the business community. This study aimed to evaluate and outline potential improvements to compliance controls for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly those involved in the waste sector. Forty-four SMEs from England were interviewed/audited between April-September 2008. Using a UK-based system as a case-in-point, the Environment Agency’s (EA) Operational Risk Appraisal (‘Opra’)/Compliance Assessment Report (CAR) system was analysed. Environmental compliance performance indicators and an initial assessment methodology for SMEs were developed. The study showed:
• Compliance with permitting legislation was poor in many areas.
• Regulatory authorities are either unable/failing to implement their enforcement policies or unable/failing to identify non-compliances due to the infrequency or limited nature of their inspections.
• Improvements are needed to the EA Opra/CAR system – control measures are not fully taken into account when calculating risk.
Recommendations to improve SME compliance controls include using internationally applicable general and specific compliance and non-compliance performance indicators, re-designing the Opra system and using an initial assessment methodology based on understanding the hazardousness of SME categories, compliance levels and operator competency.
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Accepted/In Press date: 17 October 2014
Published date: 1 February 2015
Keywords:
contracts & law, risk and probability analysis, waste management & disposal
Organisations:
Centre for Environmental Science
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 373665
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/373665
ISSN: 1747-6526
PURE UUID: 069219ea-8e3f-49c5-9ce0-bf5bde4e0546
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Date deposited: 27 Jan 2015 16:53
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:22
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Author:
Christopher D.H. Wilson
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