Chapter 1 Developing An Effective Envirornmental Health And Safety Plan

Question 1

What does the term cradle to grave refer to?

Answer 1

A term used in life cycle analysis to describe the entire life of the material or product up to the point of disposal. Also refers to a system that handles the product from creation through disposal.

Question 2

Describe the distinctions between the three types of environments impacting the property and facility management industry and how they apply to EHS.

Answer 2

The physical or built environment is any artificial space that people occupy and that is constructed on the natural environment. This environment group contains tenants workers customers visitors and so on; which in turn creates the social environment.

The natural world consists of soils, vegetation,and air located around a site and within it.

The social environment consists of all interactions that occur between people and includes individual and group responses to environmental conditions.

Question 3

While developing an EMS for a new hospital building, Dave applies ISO 14001 in his planning process to ensure long-term quality management. Which of the following is not one of the elements associated with ISO 14001?

A. Evaluation and review
B. Continuous improvement
C. Commitment to policy
D. Mandatory compliance

Answer 3

D. Mandatory compliance

Question 4

Programs and organizations focused on sustainability provide many benefits to building managers. Select the statement below that is NOT one of those benefits.

A. Membership to private organizations the influence government agency regulations for sustainability programs
B. Monitor cost, benchmark, and identify performance issues through the use of online energy management tools
C. Provide independent verification that the building was designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human environmental health
D. Offer building environmental design tools that deliver on line assessments, reading systems, and guidance for green building design, operation, and management

Answer 4

A. Membership to private organizations the influence government agency regulations for sustainability programs

Question 5

One of the environmental management system guidelines is that you need to formulate EMS goals, objectives, and __________.

A. Action plans
B. Key concepts
C. Communication plans
D. Training plans

Answer 5

A. Action plans

Question 6

What five strategies are key for creating an effective EMS?

Answer 6

1. Identify organizational needs from an EMS
2. Identify commitment levels of management and staff to EMS
3. Develop an organizational inventory of the products, procedures, and activities.
4. Describe immediate and long-term health and safety risks
5. Formally EMS goals, objectives, and action plans

Question 7

A developer wishes to purchase the land next to a coal mine and is working with the various agencies to mitigate the effects of carbon monoxide on the property. This substance impacts which environmental hazard category?

A. Water
B. Fire
C. Air
D. Soil

Answer 7

C. Air

Question 8

What is the PDCA process, and how is this tool used in terms of EHS?

Answer 8

PDC a stands for plan – do – check – act

Plan – once a problem or opportunity has arisen, a series of planning activity should be explored and developed to address the problem or opportunity.

Do - the plan should outline a series of steps that can be implemented as a small scale study.

Check – assess the results of a small scale study for effectiveness and desired outcomes

Act – if the small scale study achieve the desired results, implement the initiative through the out the facility. If it doesn’t, return to the planning stage.

Question 9

An EMS is the __________of an environmental health and safety program.

A. Development
B. Review
C. Commitment to policy
D. Mandatory compliance

Answer 9

C. Execution

Question 10

What are the purposes and benefits of an EMS?

Answer 10

And EMS is an environmental management system.

Showing an organization and its environmental footprint
Cost savings
Eligibility for recognition/incentive programs with national organization such as BOMA
Improved environmental performance
Enhanced compliance
Prevention of pollution and conservation of resources
Reduce/mitigated risks
Increased efficiency
Reduced costs
Enhanced employee morale and possibly enhance recruitment of new employees
Enhanced image with public, regulators, lenders, and investors
Employee awareness of environmental issues and responsibilities
Attracting new customers and markets

Question 11

The escalator in the shopping mall you manage is out of order, causing shoppers to use the stairs at the other end of the mall. This describes which type of environment working against the others?

A. Built
B. Natural
C. Social
D. External

Answer 11

A. Built

Question 12

The roof of a strip mall is over 20 years old and has frequent leaks. Your team put together an RFP and obtains responses that identify a series of steps that can be executed on the limited scale before implementing a complete green blue solution. Which step of the plan-do-check-act PDCA cycle does this demonstrate?

A. Plan
B. Do
C. Check
D. Act

Answer 12

B. Do

Question 13

Julie has an environmental site assessment completed to identify problems with the shopping center she manages prior to it being listed for sale. The inspection will include interviews with the tenant and a collection of building material samples. What is this type of assessment called?

A. Building information modeling
B. Due diligence
C. Facility condition assessment
D. Phase I environmental site assessment

Answer 13

D. Phase I environmental site assessment

Question 14

Josh owns a residential apartment building on the lot next to an inactive gas station, and he is considering buying that property to expand his development. According to superfund liability, who is responsible for cleaning up the site of hazardous substances are present at the gas station?

A. PRPs
B. Josh
C. The sellers realtor
D. The EPA

Answer 14

A. PRPs

Question 15

What do most lenders require prior to the closing of the transaction to make sure no existing or potential environmental hazards compromise the value of an asset?

Answer 15

A phase 1 environmental site assessment.

Question 16

Name programs that have a focus on sustainability and the benefits they provide to building managers.

Answer 16

LEED – leadership in energy and environmental design-Provides framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design construction operations and maintenance solutions.

BREEAM – building research establishments environmental assessment method-Set standards for best practices in sustainable building design, construction, and operation.

Green globes-And assessment and rating system

BOMA 360Text operations in sustainability and incorporates a rating system to see where your building compares to other buildings.

Green seal-Develops lifecycle based sustainability standards for products, services, in companies and offers third-party certification for those who meet the criteria in the standard.

Energy star-Preeminent program to focus on energy and water conservation in United States

Question 17

The real estate group that Cindy represents is interested in buying a mixed use commercial building. Cindy hires an engineer who discovers lead paint in the oldest part of the building and reports this to the real estate group so they can mitigate this issue before completing the transaction. What health and safety process was followed in this scenario?

A. Plan-Do-Check-Act
B. Due diligence
C. Environmental audit
D. Property condition assessment

Answer 17

B. Due diligence

Question 18

What must be done with regards to due diligence in relation to environmental hazards in the exchange of property?

Answer 18

Everything possible to anticipate and avoid legal liability.

Environmental site assessment
Phase 1 – preliminary investigation
Phase 2 – preliminary contamination assessments
Phase 3 contamination assessments (Also commonly called remediation)

Question 19

The specific provisions of Superfund that pertain to inactive or abandoned hazardous waste sites focuses on what to key areas?

Answer 19

Establishing liability to recover the response and clean up costs from liable parties.

Authority to the EPA to act when there is a release or threatened release of a pollutant from a site that may endanger public health or the environment and to pursue cost recovery from private parties or capital PRPs to clean up contaminated properties.

Question 20

What are the goals of the ISO 14000 series?

Answer 20

The capital ISO 1400 series is a set of environmental standards applied to particular products and services.

The standards are aimed at promoting better environmental stewardship by reducing the harmful effects an organization’s daily operations on the environment. They consist of a series of performance initiatives your actions intended to help organizations to monitor and self evaluate the efficacy of their environmental management.

Question 21

The concept of taking a waste stream that may impact human health and safety from its creation throughout the lifecycle to disposal is referred to as:

A. Well to wheel
B. Gate to gate
C. Cradle to grave
D. Cradle to gate

Answer 21

C. Cradle to grave

Question 22

How are environmental hazards categorized?

Answer 22

Air pollution

Water pollution is divided into two categories. Period contamination – the originating source of contamination or hazard. Nonpoint contamination Dash water pollution that originates from some activity such as cars or houses and generates waste that can contaminate the environment; typically agricultural runoff and water discharge from mining activities and paved roads.

Question 23

Define sustainability.

Answer 23

Sustainability – the ability to continue without exhaustion, death, or extension within this definition or five specific areas that must be considered an addressed if sustainability is to be achieved.

Sustainability of energy
Sustainability of materials-Ability to continue harvesting materials at the same level as the growth or renewable rate.
Sustainability of land
Sustainability of recycling
Sustainability of health