The environmental impacts of an organization refer to the changes which take place in the environment as a result of the activities and services of the organization. For example, an activity of handling of hazardous materials, which has potential for accidental spillage, may have an environmental impact on contamination of soil or water.

The identification of significant environmental impacts can be dealt with the following three steps:

1. Among the activities and services, select those which are large enough for meaningful examination and small enough to be sufficiently understood.
2. Identify as many environmental aspects as possible associated with the selected activities or services. (Note: an environmental aspect refers to an element of the organization's activities and services which can have a beneficial or adverse impact on the environment.)
3. Identify as many actual and potential environmental impacts as possible associated with each identified aspect.

Examples from the three steps above are shown as follows.

Activity Handling of hazardous materials Aspect Potential for accidental spillage Impact Contamination of soil or water

Service Vehicle Maintenance Aspect Exhaust emissions Impact Reduction of air emissions