Design of Software for Self-Assessment of Risks and Environmental Impacts

Background: The environment is subject to multifaceted aggressions. Industrial activities as well as the underlying processes generate various types of pollutants and waste causing increased levels of pollution. Large-scale mining is known to have negative impacts on water and soil quality, which is accompanied by significant changes in the composition of surface waters and soils due to their pollution with heavy metals, sulphates and other hazardous compounds. Unfortunately, in developing countries, there is generally no or low level of regulation (control) of mining activities, which are often carried out using outdated methods and basic tools and are accompanied by enormous environmental and social problems. Cameroon is rich in deposits of iron ore, gold, granite, sand, gravel, and other minerals, which contributes to the development of numerous large-scale mining operations across the country. To reduce the adverse impacts of mining activities on the health of the population and workers at these enterprises, it is critical to have up-to-date information on environmental degradation and to assess the risks and consequences for their prevention. Objectives: This study aims to design a computer tool to support companies in their environmental management, in particular software for self-assessment of environmental risks and impacts based on empirical methods, which work offline, free and completely free, to improve their environmental performance. Due to the fact that Granulats du Cameroun (GRACAM) is a leader in the aggregates industry and an example of environmental responsibility, this company was chosen as the subject of the study. The managerial interest of such a study is to show how IT tools facilitate the environmental management process, while reducing costs. These tools are still not widespread and considerable research and development work remains to be done in this area. Methods: The preliminary risk analysis method and the Fecteau matrix were integrated into the GRIENV software for the assessment of risks and environmental impacts respectively. Results: In current case study, 15 risks were assessed for 13 aspects and only 1 is acceptable and the other 14 require urgent action, which makes a percentage of more than 93% (detailed information on the identified risks is not provided because the company did not give consent). This results in the absence of an environmental management plan. The absence of a real environmental management plan would be one of the components responsible for 78.6% of this major and average importance of the 15 impacts assessed. Conclusion: The study achieved its goal by introducing and testing a new computer tool, GRIENV, to support companies in environmental management, specifically software for self-assessment of environmental risks and impacts based on empirical methods, with the goal of improving their environmental performance. Testing the developed GRIENV software application allowed for risk assessments at real workplaces within an operating enterprise in just a few hours, compared to the several days required with manual application. GRIENV is an effective solution because it delivers relevant results within an optimal timeframe.