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Glossary of Terms A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z Accreditation – Procedure by which an authoritative body formally recognizes that a body or person is competent to carry out specific tasks. (ISO/IEC Guide 2) Accreditation Body – Body that gives formal recognition that an entity or person is competent to carry out specific tasks. Accredited – Formally recognized by an authoritative body that an entity or person is competent to carry out specific tasks. Administrative Requirements – The procedural and over-sight elements that provide information. Audit – Systematic, independent and documented process for obtaining audit evidence and evaluating it objectively to determine the extent to which audit criteria are fulfilled. (ISO-19011) Audit Criteria – Set of policies, procedures or requirements used as a reference against which audit evidence is compared. (ISO-19011) Certification – Procedure by which a third party gives written assurance that a product, process, or service conforms to specified requirements. (ISO/IEC Guide 2) Certification Body – Body that conducts certification of conformity. Certified – The EMS of a company, location, or plant is certified for conformance with ISO-14001 after it has demonstrated such conformance through the audit process. When used to indicate EMS certification, it means the same thing as registration. Chemical Waste – Nonradioactive chemical solids, liquids, or other waste types contaminated with hazardous chemicals. Command and Control – A system for dealing with environmental issues that relies on legislation, prescriptive regulation and strict enforcement of compliance. Compliance – An affirmative indication or judgment that the supplier of a product or service has met the requirements of the relevant regulation; also the state of meeting the requirements. (ANSI/ASQ-A3) (See also conformance). Usually refers to meeting regulatory requirements in the command and control system. Conformance – An affirmative indication or judgment that a product or service has met the requirements of the relevant specifications; also the state of meeting the requirements. (ANSI/ASQ-A3.) (See also compliance.) Usually refers to meeting requirements of the ISO-14000 management standards. Conformity Assessment – Conformity assessment includes all activities that are intended to assure the conformity of products or systems to a set of standards. This can include testing, inspection, certification, quality system assessment, and other activities. Consensus – The absence of persistent opposition by a significant stakeholder. Continual Improvement – Process of enhancing the environmental management system to achieve improvements in overall environmental performance, in line with the organization’s environmental policy. Note: The process need not take place in all areas of activity simultaneously. (ISO-14001) Deming Model – A systems approach that follows the plan, do, check, act cycle to help organizations develop a systems approach to continual improvement of quality or environmental management. Environmental Compliance Audit – A systematic, documented, periodic and objective review by regulated entities of facility operations and practices related to meeting regulatory requirements. Environmental Performance – The measurable results of the environmental management system, related to an organization’s control of its environmental aspects, based on its environmental policy, objectives, and targets. (ISO-14001). Environment – Surroundings in which an organization operates, including air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna, humans, and their interrelation. Note: Surroundings in this context extend from within an organization to the global system. (ISO-14001) Environmental Aspect – Element of an organization’s activities, products, and services that can interact with the environment. (ISO-14001) Environmental Impact – Any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from an organization’s activities, products, or services. (ISO-14001) Environmental Label/Declaration – Claim indicating the environmental attributes of a product or service that may take the form of statements, symbols, or graphics on product or package labels, product literature, technical bulletins, advertising, publicity, etc. (ISO-14020) Environmental Management System (EMS) – Organizational structure, responsibilities, practices, procedures, process, and resources for developing, implementing achieving, reviewing, and maintaining the environmental policy. (ISO-14001) EMS Audit – (See Audit) EMS Audit Criteria – (See Audit Criteria) Environmental Performance Evaluation – Process to measure, analyze, assess, report, and communicate an organization’s environmental performance against criteria set by management. (ISO-14031) Environmental Policy – Statement by the organization of its intensions and principles in relation to its overall environmental performance, which provides a framework for action and for setting of its environmental objectives and targets. (ISO-14001) Environmental Target – Detailed performance requirement, quantified wherever practicable, applicable to the organization or parts thereof, that arises from the environmental objectives and that needs to be set and met in order to achieve those objectives. (ISO-14001) Externally Interested Party – Individual or group concerned with or affected by the environmental performance of an organization (e.g., regulators, shareholders, customers, suppliers, special interest groups, residents, competitors, investors, bankers, media, lawyers, insurance companies, trade groups, unions). Lead Auditor (environmental) – Audit team leader. Life Cycle – Consecutive and inter-linked stages of a product system, from raw material acquisition or generation of natural resources to final disposal. (ISO- 14040) Life-cycle Assessment (LCA) – Compilation and evaluation, according to a systematic set of procedures, of the inputs and outputs of materials and energy and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life- cycle. (ISO-14040) Medical Pathological Waste (MPW)– Waste with actual or perceived presence of pathogenic agents. Some MPW, except for dense materials (e.g., body parts, animal carcasses or tightly packed material) can be decontaminated and then disposed of as general waste. Non-conformity – The non-fulfillment of a specified requirement. (ISO-8402) NEMS – National Institutes of Health (NIH) Environmental Management System (EMS), a double acronym. NEPA – Natoinal Environmental Protection Act of 1969 (NEPA), establishes policy and requirements for Federal agencies with respect to protecting the environment. Prevention of Pollution – Use of processes, practices, materials, or products that avoid, reduce, or control pollution, which may include recycling, treatment, process changes, control mechanisms, efficient use of resources, and materials substitutions. (ISO-14001) Process – A set of interrelated resources and activities that transform inputs into outputs. (ISO-8402) Product Environmental Criteria – Set of qualitative and quantitative technical requirements that the applicant, product, or product category shall meet to be awarded an environmental label. Product criteria include ecological and product function elements. (ISO-14024) Quality System – Organization structure, procedures, processes, and resources needed to implement quality management (ISO-8402) Radioactive Waste – Waste that contains or is contaminated with radioactive material. Registrar – Body that conducts certification of conformity. Responsible Care® – Comprehensive guidelines for environmental management systems adopted by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) in 1988. Participation by individual businesses is an obligation of membership in the ACC. Self-Declaration Environmental Claims – An environmental claim that is made without independent third party certification, by manufacturers, importers, distributors, retailers, or anyone else likely to benefit from such a claim. (ISO-14021) Solid Waste – Material free of any apparent or actual pathological/infectious, radioactive or hazardous chemical contamination. Note: Some MPW can be decontaminated and then discarded as general solid waste. Some general solid waste material can be recycled. Specification – The document that prescribes the requirements with which the product or service must conform. (ANSI/ASQ-A3) Standard – A recognized unit of comparison that provides a gauge of the “correctness” of those things we are comparing. System – Collection of unit processes that when acting together, perform some defined function; what an organization will do, who will do it, how will it be done. (ISO-14004) Third Party – Person or body recognized as being independent of issue involved, as concerns the issue in question. Note: Parties involved are usually supplier (“first party”) and purchaser (“second party”) and external auditor (“third party”). (ISO/IEC Guide 2) |
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 National Institutes of Health (NIH) 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20892 |
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