Image: Hydroelectric Project: EMS Audit and GAP Analysis

Sustainability1 min read

Hydroelectric Project: EMS Audit and GAP Analysis

Location
Powell River, BC
Client
Alterra Power Corp / Toba Montrose General Partnership
Timeframe
2014 – 2015

Two deliverables were provided to our client including an Environmental Management System audit report and an ISO 14001 Gap Analysis report.

Overview

An Environmental Management System (EMS) audit and gap analysis were conducted for a 235-megawatt run-of-river development on the East Toba River and Montrose Creek located north of Powell River, BC. The project involved conducting an audit to assess project conformance with its EMS, assessing the effectiveness of the internal audit process, and providing a gap analysis of the existing EMS against the ISO 14001:2004 standard.

Approach

The objective of the EMS audit was to provide an independent assessment of project conformance with Toba Montrose General Partnership’s (TMGP) EMS and determine the effectiveness of the internal audit process. The EMS audit involved:

  • Planning and Preparation: Set and review audit scope, objectives, and criteria; review of audit plan; identify environmental issues to be assessed; identify audit procedures to be used; identification of interviewees; document review, update internal audit criteria table, and familiarization with project operations.
  • Audit: Opening and closing meeting; introductions to facility staff; review of EMS documentation kept on-site; facility walk-through; interviews; audit project conformance to EMS using updated audit table; closing meeting and debrief.
  • Reporting: Completion of the audit report which included a description of the project scope and methodology, project limitations, evaluation and discussion, and an updated internal audit criteria table.

Results

Two deliverables were provided to our client including an EMS audit report and an ISO 14001 Gap Analysis report. The EMS audit report included the above-noted points and updated audit criteria table which identified conformance, non-conformances, and opportunities for improvement. An assessment of the current audit process was also included in the report.