Our immission control officer - A clear overview for you

Our imission control officers assist companies in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries in meeting the complex challenges imposed on them by the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG).

Immission control officers need broad expertise

Companies are required to regularly verify that their plant operations meet the following legal requirements:

• Air pollutant emissions
• Noise emissions and vibrations
• Odors and other environmental impacts of plant operations

The work done by immission control officers affects related areas such as health and safety, water pollution control, fire protection and waste management, due in large part to the integration of the circular economy and the cascading use of resources. In some cases, it may be necessary to retain a hazardous incident officer for the plant as well.

Immission control officers communicate regularly with managers and employees in charge of plant operations and environmental protection. They understand how plant conditions can affect the environment and so can help plant owners improve their plants’ environmental performance, both day-to-day and in planned projects.

Being an immission control officer at SMEs and large corporations is often a full-time job

First, few plant employees are equipped to properly perform all the complex tasks involved in being an immission control officer for a plant that operates under a permit issued under the Federal Immissions Control Act (BImSchG). Also, companies that fail to meet all their legal immission control responsibilities – whether due to negligence, tight scheduling or resources, or even simple ignorance – may face severe legal penalties and repercussions or have their plant operations restricted.

It makes more sense to bring in an external immission control expert who specializes in this area and is familiar with current and upcoming regulations as well as the specific requirements for the chemical industry regardless of manufacturer.

Immissions versus emissions – what’s the difference?

We have briefly summarized the difference between immissions and emissions:

• Emissions refer to the discharge of solid or gaseous air pollutants that contaminate the atmosphere, water or soil. Emissions are caused by processes in your plants and leave your establishment by various routes.
• Immissions, on the other hand, are the effects of airborne, waterborne and soilborne contaminants on organisms such as humans, wildlife and plants and on materials such as the fabric of your neighbor’s buildings.

Sound, vibrations, electromagnetic fields or radiation are non-material emissions and immissions. The noise produced by factory machinery, for example, is an emission. The noise level to which employees are exposed at work, on the other hand, is referred to as an immission, also known as an exposure.