Environmental Management Systems for Pork Producers

4.5.1 Monitoring and Measurement

It is important to monitor key activities that can have a significant impact on the environment. In order to improve environmental performance quantifiable measures must exist that reflect actual performance and trends.

Step 1

• Identify key indicators of your farm’s operations and activities. These should include indicators that can be monitored and measured on a regular basis for:

  • Compliance with relevant legal requirements (it is recommended that compliance with relevant environmental legislation and regulation be evaluated at least once per year);

  • Progress towards environmental objectives and targets;

  • Evaluation of environmental performance.

  Examples include:

  • Soil sample analysis.

  • Spills.

  • Feed consumption data.

  • Mortality rates.

  • Power bills.

  • Water consumption.

Step 2

• Identify monitoring equipment used on your farm and ensure the equipment is:

  • calibrated.

  • maintained.

  • records are kept. 

Monitoring and measuring ensure the creditability, reliability and accuracy of recorded data and information. Information collected may also be of use in planning future improvement goals. A chart to assist in keeping records is provided in the monitoring and measuring procedure.

Step 3

• Write a procedure that describes: 

  • personnel responsible for reviewing and reporting on environmental performance indicators;

  • personnel responsible for identifying and assuring necessary equipment is calibrated;

  • personnel responsible, timeframe and means for assessing compliance with environmental regulations. 

The responsible party within this procedure is often the management representative or EMS coordinator.

See the link below for an example of a monitoring and measuring procedure. 

• Monitoring and Measuring Procedure

(This procedure can be downloaded and customized by replacing the red highlighted areas with the specifics for your farm. You can incorporate your procedure for this element within your EMS manual or maintain it as a separate document. A small farm may decide to incorporate language within the manual that addresses this element as opposed to having separate documents.)

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