The Auditor’s and Supplier’s Role in Responsible Environmental Practices
An environmental audit is not the end of the environmental management process. It provides a point-in-time assessment of how effectively a business identifies and manages environmental risks, while also highlighting areas for improvement.
The SIZA Environmental Standard places clear responsibility on suppliers to establish environmental management systems, identify risks, assign responsibility and continuously evaluate and improve environmental performance.
The auditor: identify and verify
The auditor’s role is to provide an independent and evidence-based assessment.
This includes:
- verifying whether environmental policies are relevant and plans are implemented in practice;
- assessing evidence across records, site observations and interviews;
- identifying non-compliances and environmental risks;
- clearly linking non-compliances to the relevant SIZA requirement, and
- providing clear descriptions of corrections to address the root cause of the issue.
Non-compliance should accurately describe the observed evidence, provide the appropriate corrective action, and assign a risk rating relative to the severity of the identified risk.
The supplier: take ownership and act
The supplier remains responsible for managing the business’s environmental impacts. This means understanding why a problem occurred, addressing the immediate issue and strengthening the system to prevent recurrence. The SIZA Environmental Standard specifically requires businesses to understand their environmental risks and evaluate the effectiveness of existing Environmental Management Plans, including identifying where corrective actions are required.
A senior management representative should be responsible for implementing the environmental management policy and have the authority to make the necessary changes when corrective action is required. Effective implementation of the environmental management system stems from a strong and realised commitment from senior management within an agri-business.
Where the real impact happens
The audit identifies the gap. Improvement happens in what follows.
Corrective action should not simply be viewed as an administrative exercise to close a non-compliance. It is an opportunity to strengthen management systems, reduce environmental risk and improve environmental performance over time. This aligns with the broader purpose of the SIZA Environmental Standard, which is to establish a baseline and measure continuous improvement against identified environmental risks.
