Accessing and Configuring Foundational Technical Objects

• Application Area: Asset Management
• Sub Application Area: Environment, Health, and Safety
• Item Name: Foundation for Environment, Health, and Safety
• Short Description: Configure forms for integration into SAP EHS Management applications

This configuration activity allows you to define custom forms and document types used across SAP EHS Management applications.

These forms can support both of the following:

• Legal reporting
• Internal reporting

• Upload and secure documents (e.g., medical reports) in Incident Management.

• Provide form-based outputs in My Emission Declarations. (For SAP EHS Management, environment management).

• Ensure compliance with regulatory reporting structures.

• Form Name/Type: Technical form identifier used by SAP Smart Forms or Adobe Forms
• Form Controller/Data Provider: Backend ABAP classes for form execution
• Form Object: Represents the runtime form logic and structure

• Custom forms become available for selection in relevant SAP Fiori apps.
• Form definitions rely on backend ABAP classes (GET_DATA method) and must match expected interface structures.

• Ensure the Form Controller and Data Provider classes are active and return the correct structure.
• Form Object must be activated.

For technical guidance and supported interface requirements, refer to SAP Note: 3133253

This configuration activity allows you to define form groups and assign individual forms to them. You can also set one form per group as the default, which the system will preselect during data entry.

Grouping forms helps streamline user interaction during tasks such as incident documentation or environmental reporting, where users should only choose from relevant form sets.

• In apps like Manage Environmental Reports or Manage Incidents, users select from categorized form groups rather than from the full list.
• For example, the AUTHORITY_REPORTS group only includes official regulatory templates.
• The EM_SUMMARY_REPORTS group may contain internal summary forms, such as:
  • EM_EMD: Emissions Declaration Report
  • EM_GHG: Greenhouse Gas Report
  • EM_PRTR: PRTR Report

You can assign one form as the default form for automatic population.

• Once forms are grouped, users only see relevant selections per process.
• The default form simplifies and accelerates data entry.
• Groups like AUTHORITY_REPORTS and EM_SUMMARY_REPORTS are used across multiple SAP EHS Management apps.

• Forms must first be created and activated in the Specify Forms configuration.
• Ensure all linked form controllers and data providers are technically consistent and deployed.

This configuration activity allows you to enable email templates for system-generated notifications within the Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) component. These templates replace legacy workflow-based notifications and provide a modern, flexible messaging format.

Notifications are triggered by key events such as:

• Errors in data collection or calculations
• Deactivation or release of compliance scenarios

Optionally, you may assign a custom email template to any notification type, tailoring the layout or message content.

• An Environmental Manager receives automatic emails when:
  • Data is overdue
  • A compliance scenario is deactivated
• Users can disable standard workflow notifications and switch to centralized template-based messaging.

• Once enabled, the system will use email templates for the selected notification events.
• Switching between standard workflow and template-based notifications is possible at any time.
• Templates ensure consistent branding, formatting, and user targeting for alerts.

• If using custom templates, ensure they are already created in the Maintain Email Templates app.
• Email recipients must have valid addresses and roles defined in the system.

This configuration activity allows you to define location types used throughout the Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) apps.

Location types help categorize and visualize physical or organizational units such as buildings, equipment, or work centers. By defining location types, you enable filtering, grouping, and reporting based on logical entities that reflect your company’s structure.

• Users can select or filter by location type in the Manage Locations and Data Collection apps.
• Group monitoring and task assignment (e.g., reporting by Plant or Work Center).
• Enables meaningful visualization in dashboards and reports.

• Location types enhance user navigation and the reporting structure.
• SVG symbols assigned per type are rendered in SAP Fiori-based location views.
• These types become filterable attributes across several apps, especially when aggregating or analyzing environmental data.

• Review existing examples (e.g., Company, Production Unit).
• Add new types if your business units require custom categorizations (e.g., Warehouse, Laboratory).
• Ensure SVG paths are correctly linked for icons to appear.

This configuration activity allows you to define roles that can be assigned to persons responsible for specific environmental and safety tasks at company locations. You can also control whether multiple users can hold the same role at a given location.

This ensures clear, role-based accountability for EHS-related actions, such as data collection, incident response, or compliance verification.

• Roles like Environmental Technician or Environmental Manager are used to determine responsibilities in processes.
• You can configure the system to allow either single or multiple assignments of persons to each role.

• All roles shown have multi-person assignment enabled by default.
• These roles appear as assignment fields in location-related applications.
• If Allow Mult. Respons. is not selected, only one user can be assigned to the role per location.
• The assigned person(s) may receive system notifications or appear in dashboards and overviews.

• Review existing roles to match organizational structure.
• Add new roles if your EHS process model includes additional responsibility areas.
• Use naming conventions to ensure clarity between technical role ID and business-facing description.

This configuration activity allows you to define which responsibility roles can inherit assigned persons from superordinate locations within the location hierarchy.

If a subordinate location does not have a person assigned to a given role, the system will automatically use the assignment from the next higher location level, which ensures continuity of responsibility without manual duplication.

Simplifies maintenance of responsibilities across large or frequently changing location structures.

• The following standard roles have inheritance enabled by default:

  • Environmental Technician (SAP_EHSM_ENV_TECHNICIAN)
  • Environmental Manager (SAP_EHSM_ENVMGR)
• Inheritance is evaluated dynamically at runtime when responsibility data is queried.
• If a role is assigned at a parent location, and missing at the child level, the parent’s assignment is used.
• Once a specific person is assigned at the child level, it adds the inherited one.

• Only assign roles where inheritance behavior is desired and makes business sense.
• Avoid assigning roles with highly local or unique responsibility models.
• Combine with the Specify Roles of Persons Responsible for Locations activity to fully control role definitions and assignment logic.

This configuration activity allows you to create standardized categories for tasks that may lead to follow-up actions, such as additional inspections, incident handling, or corrective measures.

Categorizing triggering tasks improves consistency in workflow documentation and makes it easier to analyze patterns, prioritize responses, and guide users through regulated response procedures. These categories act as metadata and can later be used for process analytics and workflow filtering.

Use in task and issue tracking to classify root causes or context behind follow-up actions.

Categories are stored as metadata and selected during task creation or closure.

• Review pre-delivered entries and rename if needed.
• Align new categories with internal escalation or issue-handling processes.
• Avoid overlapping labels to ensure consistent analytics.

This configuration activity enables you to classify the procedural approach of sampling events used within the SAP EHS Management system.

Sampling methods, such as grab sampling, composite sampling, and continuous monitoring are often regulated and must be documented precisely. Each sampling type can carry attributes that influence how measurements are interpreted and reported. By clearly defining method types, you ensure operational clarity for field technicians and consistency in regulatory reports.

Used in environmental sampling (e.g., emissions, water quality) and test plan creation.

Sampling method types are used as filters and classifiers in sampling data apps.

• Use meaningful names that reflect operational practices.
• Avoid deleting active types to prevent data inconsistencies.
• Document sampling procedures aligned with each type.

This configuration activity determines how early users are notified when permits approach their expiration date. It helps prevent lapses in legal compliance due to overlooked renewal windows.

The notification period defines how many days before expiry the permit lifecycle switches to For Renewal. Optionally, you can enable email notifications to assigned users. This helps automate proactive monitoring and reduces the administrative burden of manually tracking permit deadlines.

Ensures timely renewal of critical permits and licenses.

Applies globally, unless overridden in the permit master data.

• Align notification days with organizational review cycles.
• Enable email only if mail configuration is complete.
• Test with dummy permits before go-live.

This configuration activity allows you to define authorization groups and use them to segment access to location-specific data in EHS processes.

Authorization groups act as access-control tags assigned to locations and ensure that only users with appropriate roles can view or modify data for a given site, department, or legal entity. For example, a user assigned to a European plant should not automatically see or be able to edit locations in North America.

Used when different teams or regions should have controlled access to location-specific records.

Applies to both locations and their sublocations through hierarchy inheritance.

• Match authorization groups to roles (e.g., EU, Asia, HQ-only).
• Avoid excessive segmentation, which complicates role design.
• Coordinate with SAP security team to map to roles and catalogs.

This configuration activity allows you to build reusable templates for file-based reports by bundling a data selection, file format, and optional Excel layout into a single export profile.

Export profiles support structured reporting needs such as regulatory compliance submissions (e.g., PRTR or GHG inventories) or internal audits. The profile not only defines the content, but also how the data is processed (foreground vs. background) and in what format the output is delivered (e.g., XLSX, CSV).

Used to produce standardized regulatory or audit-ready output (e.g., PRTR, GHG reports).

Combines configuration from file formats and data selections into a profile.

• Choose a descriptive export profile ID (e.g., PRTR_2024).
• Ensure consistency between lead object and assigned selections.
• Upload and test Excel templates before productive use.

This configuration activity controls global system behavior for file-based report exports.

You can define two key parameters:

1. The maximum size of email attachments to avoid email delivery failures
2. The retention period for downloadable reports generated in the background

These settings ensure secure and efficient report distribution, particularly in high-volume reporting environments.

Improves performance and security for background exports.

Affects all file-based exports regardless of profile.

• Set realistic attachment size (e.g., 10 MB) to avoid delivery errors.
• Align report lifetime with company record-keeping policies.

This configuration activity allows you to define what specific data elements are extracted during report generation. You build a selection by choosing a lead business object (e.g., Emission Declaration), and then specifying its relationships to other nodes (e.g., locations, parameters, measurements). Each level allows you to choose fields for export.

This modular and hierarchical configuration supports flexible reuse of selections across multiple reporting formats and export profiles.

Feeds into export profiles to ensure that data is extracted in a logical, reusable format.

Only one 1:n relationship allowed per node level to maintain table flattening.

• Start with the ROOT node of the business object.
• Use clear naming for selections (e.g., EM_LOC_EMISSIONS).
• Test export output to validate node structure.

This configuration activity allows you to define which types of notifications the system can generate during EHS processes.

Notification types act as event identifiers. For example, alerting users to expired compliance requirements, failed calculations, or overdue data submissions. Each type is mapped to an underlying business event and may be linked to workflow or email triggers. These definitions help ensure timely response and clear communication.

Supports maintenance, permit, or compliance workflows.

Links notifications to triggering events defined in business logic.

• Map notification types to your business rules.
• Use consistent ID formats (e.g., EHS_NOTIFY_PERMIT_RENEW).

This configuration activity allows you to create paragraph types used to classify regulatory and internal compliance content.

Paragraphs in permits, policies, or legal texts may represent appendices, guidelines, legal mandates, or definitions. By categorizing them properly, environmental managers can structure their compliance documents in a way that improves traceability, usability, and reporting logic across regulatory regimes.

Used to organize content in regulations or internal policies.

Allows filters and structured views in reporting apps.

• Use clear and familiar legal terms: Guideline, Article, Appendix.
• Avoid overlapping meanings between types.

This configuration activity defines the auto-generated number range for classifier objects in SAP EHS Management.

Classifiers are used to categorize data such as emission types, substances, or regulatory classes. Each classifier needs a unique identifier. This configuration ensures the system assigns sequential IDs automatically without manual tracking, supporting consistent and auditable classification structures.

Ensures each classifier has a unique ID used in tagging and categorization.

Internal number ranges automatically incremented.

• Do not overlap with other number range objects.
• Monitor current number level to avoid exhaustion.

This configuration activity defines the range of auto-generated sample IDs for use in SAP EHS Management processes, such as field sampling, laboratory analysis, or quality testing.

Unique sample IDs are essential to link sampling activities with their results, timestamps, and regulatory records. This configuration ensures system integrity when handling large volumes of sample data.

Used in environmental sampling or inspection data entries.

System assigns next available number in the range.

• Reserve enough range to cover long-term use.
• Avoid adjusting range once in productive use.

This configuration activity controls the internal number range for identifying different sampling methods.

Sampling methods are part of the metadata that governs how environmental data is collected and interpreted. With this configuration, you ensure that each sampling method created in the system is uniquely identified and traceable throughout the data lifecycle.

Used to assign IDs to methods like composite or automated sampling.

System handles numbering internally.

• Do not use ranges that collide with other master data.
• Track assignment consistency with method master records.

This configuration activity defines how the system assigns unique internal numbers to each newly created compliance requirement.

These requirements represent regulatory obligations, permits, or internal policies within the SAP EHS Management, environment management system. Assigning a structured and traceable number to each record ensures consistency in documentation, avoids duplication, and supports audit trails. Since compliance requirements may be referenced across various apps (e.g., incident management, emissions tracking), a robust numbering scheme is critical to data integrity and traceability.

Automatically assign unique identifiers to newly created compliance requirements in the Manage Compliance Requirements app.

Numbers are issued sequentially and recorded based on system-defined intervals. The system prevents reuse of numbers within the same range.

• Choose a wide enough range to accommodate future regulatory expansions.
• Maintain a consistent format across regulatory domains.
• Avoid manual reassignment of number levels.

This configuration activity governs the automatic assignment of IDs to locations, including buildings, sites, and operational units.

Since location records serve as foundational master data across SAP EHS Management applications (supporting emissions tracking, compliance, and risk evaluations), ensuring they have unique, system-managed identifiers is essential. These identifiers also assist with integration into logistics, maintenance, and corporate hierarchies.

Assign system-generated location IDs when creating new entries in the Manage Locations app or during data imports.

The system uses a pre-configured internal number range to assign each location a unique technical ID upon creation.

• Define a number range that reflects organizational or regional groupings if needed.
• Avoid overlapping ID ranges with other master data (e.g., equipment).
• Ensure traceability across data integrations.

This configuration activity configures the internal ID generation for regulatory lists (reglists), which catalog legal thresholds, substance restrictions, or specific permit conditions.

These lists are central to how compliance is validated and managed in the system. Each list must be uniquely identifiable to link it to rules, reporting formats, and control indicators.

Assign internal IDs to new regulatory lists referenced in compliance requirement definitions or substance evaluation.

System-generated IDs help manage versions and maintain linkage across compliance records.

• Use a reserved number range exclusively for reglists.
• Monitor current number level periodically.
• Do not delete number ranges in use.

This configuration activity provides the structure for assigning internal IDs to task definitions, which are predefined instructions or workflows used in compliance processes.

These definitions ensure repeatable, standardized actions are available across different EHS activities such as corrective actions, monitoring tasks, or audit findings.

Automatically generate unique task definition IDs for use in compliance plans or follow-up activities.

Each new task template receives a system-assigned ID based on the internal range defined here.

• Align task categories with numbering logic (e.g., 100000–199999 for audit tasks).
• Lock ranges once deployed to production.

This configuration activity sets the numbering scheme for location aggregation IDs, used when combining environmental data from multiple sites or sublocations.

Aggregation structures allow for hierarchical analysis and reporting (e.g., by region, country, or operational unit).

Create unique identifiers for aggregated location entities used in emissions roll-ups or consolidated views.

The system assigns aggregation IDs from a dedicated number range without user interaction.

• Ensure this range is distinct from location master ID ranges.
• Use descriptive metadata to clarify aggregation purpose.

This configuration activity manages how IDs are assigned to calculation definitions used in Emissions Management.

These definitions represent reusable formulas or logic that calculate environmental KPIs, such as pollutant concentrations or GHG equivalents.

Assign system-generated IDs to new calculation rule sets used in reporting and validation.

Each calculation rule receives a unique ID upon creation to ensure integrity in result headers.

• Separate regulatory vs. internal calculation ranges if needed.
• Audit and review calculation IDs annually to avoid legacy confusion.

This configuration activity configures ID assignment for listed substances, such as regulated chemicals or monitored compounds.

These records are used in compliance checks, risk evaluations, and inventory assessments. A unique ID for each substance ensures consistent referencing across datasets.

Create new listed substances and link them to reglists, thresholds, or risk assessments.

System-generated ID assigned automatically upon substance creation.

• Ensure global uniqueness if integrating with external SDS or chemical databases.
• Do not modify number ranges after data creation begins.

This configuration activity establishes ID ranges for physical environmental parameters, such as temperature, humidity, or flow rate.

These identifiers are essential in data logging, parameter mapping, and regulatory comparisons.

Assign unique IDs to measurable parameters for later use in data collection or formula design.

System uses internal logic to assign and track the next available identifier.

• Match with standard environmental engineering parameter codes if possible.
• Reserve ID blocks by media (e.g., air, water, soil) for manageability.

This configuration activity controls ID generation for physical and chemical property records (e.g., pH, boiling point, solubility) stored in the system.

These properties inform compliance logic, risk classification, and calculation inputs.

Define and manage property records linked to substances and compliance requirements.

A unique BCO_ID is issued by the system for each new property entry.

• Maintain documentation of properties per regulatory source.
• Avoid changing number ranges after data loads.

This configuration activity classifies compliance requirements by domain, such as air emissions, water discharge, or waste disposal.

Domains help environmental managers structure regulatory responsibilities and reporting requirements.

Use domains to filter and categorize permits, laws, or internal policies.

Domains can be selected when creating or modifying compliance requirements and are visible in related reporting apps.

• Use clear domain names aligned with legal or operational frameworks.
• Limit the number of domains to maintain manageability and avoid overlap.

This configuration activity enables the use of structured identifiers to label locations for regulatory tracking, integration, and operational clarity.

Identifiers support labeling schemes like site codes, plant IDs, or legally recognized location numbers.

Assign or maintain location identifiers in the Manage Locations app to match internal or regulatory reference systems.

Identifiers can be added manually or via import and are displayed in key apps and reports.

• Match with local regulatory or tax authority plant codes if applicable.
• Maintain consistent formatting for integration with external systems.