Title: Emergency preparedness and response in ISO 14001 enterprises: an Estonian case study

Authors: Ants Tammepuu; Tanel Kaart; Kalev Sepp

Addresses: Rescue College, Estonian Academy of Security Sciences, Kase 61, 12012 Tallinn, Estonia ' Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, 51014 Tartu, Estonia ' Department of Landscape Management and Nature Conservation, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, 51014 Tartu, Estonia

Abstract: Emergency preparedness and response is one of the key elements of the 14001 standard of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). ISO 14001 requires participating organisations to implement procedures for emergency preparedness and response. Organisations implementing and certifying environmental management systems (EMS) are obliged to identify potential emergency situations and accidents that can impact the environment and plan an appropriate response. In this context, we studied Estonian enterprises to analyse the variety of approaches to emergency preparedness and response. The main aim of this survey was to examine the identification and assessment of, as well as the response to, accidents and emergency situations in a selection of Estonian organisations that had implemented the requirements of ISO 14001. As a result of this study, we reached a number of conclusions that organisations can consider during the implementation and later improvement of their environmental or integrated management systems.

Keywords: environmental management; systems; EMS; hazard assessment; risk assessment; emergency procedures; emergency preparedness; emergency response; ISO 14001; Estonia; case study; emergency management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEM.2016.074879

International Journal of Emergency Management, 2016 Vol.12 No.1, pp.55 - 69

Accepted: 17 Aug 2015
Published online: 22 Feb 2016 *

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