Environmental management systems (EMSs) are designed to ensure that companies manage their environmental issues in a consistent and effective manner.
Many sites will be doing this already without a formalised system, but those with certified EMSs will be using an accredited external body to check that their system is effective, nothing has been overlooked and constant progress is being made.
This certification gives a couple of major benefits. Firstly, it is easier for the site to maintain the momentum of improvement programmes as a certain degree of progress has to be achieved before the next visit of the assessor. Without this ongoing pressure, it is all too easy for projects to be shelved because of production issues.
The second benefit of certification is that it effectively provides a badge of achievement which is becoming ever more useful for the tendering process. Companies trying to sell to government organisations and larger com-panies are increasingly finding that ISO 14001 is a pre-requisite.
ISO 14001 is the international standard for EMSs. There are perhaps around 10,000 companies certified to the standard world-wide – around 1,500 are in the UK. The standard replaced BS 7750, the original British Standard for EMSs. Companies were first certified to the latter in March 1995. In addition, there is a European scheme – the Eco Management and Audit Scheme – though this has not proved as popular in the UK with around 50 companies verified.
Development of EMSs
The term ‘environmental management’ covers a wide range of disciplines and in the business context it can encompass information from many diverse sources. Due to the wealth of information involved, it is unlikely that any one individual could manage this on their own. Indeed it would not be beneficial for one person to take responsibility for environmental matters whilst isolated from operational and other day-to-day activities, as the environment impinges either directly or indirectly on every activity and on every member of an organisation.
Therefore, effective environmental management should involve the co-ordination and control of the activities and efforts of all members of the organisation in achieving the desired level of environmental performance. This co-ordination and control should be carried out in a structured way to ensure that significant omissions do not arise and hence the need for a documented, systematic approach: the EMS. This should ensure that everyone is working towards the same policy, targets and standards, using the same procedures and work instructions – and that relevant information is documented, retrievable and auditable.
Having established the need for EMSs at a company level, it was only logical to develop a standard system recognised nationally or internationally. Such standards ensure that all relevant issues are addressed, avoid the need for each company to reinvent the wheel and provide a recognised badge of achievement.
These systems have two principal aims: to enable a company to secure legal compliance and achieve ongoing improvements in environmental performance.
The achievement of full legal compliance is promoted through the requirement for companies to keep abreast of legal developments, often through the maintenance of an environmental legislation register. Systems must then be in place to achieve ongoing compliance and to check that this is the case. If a good compliance record can be achieved, the company faces much lower risk associated with prosecutions, fines, clean up costs, longer term liabilities and bad publicity.
Furthermore, the timely identification of legal requirements should mean adequate time for developing cost effective upgrade programmes. Certified companies may also receive increased regulator tolerance as the organisation can be seen to take environmental management seriously.
Less stringent regulation
There is increasing discussion regarding the potential for more lenient regulation of companies possessing certified EMSs. For example, the revised process guidance notes for both wood combustion and the ‘manufacture of timber and wood based products’ are likely to mention EMSs. An early draft of the latter note suggests that the use of the Best Available Techniques entails a commitment to establishing objectives, setting targets and the measurement and revision of those targets according to results – ‘this systematic approach may be aided by the achievement of management standards such as ISO 14001’.
Moreover, the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions is currently consulting on a revised system of Local Air Pollution Control fees. At present, all companies pay a flat fee, eg £796 per year in England and Wales. Consideration is being given to a risk-based system, where higher risk processes will pay larger fees on the basis that they require more regulation. Companies with a certified EMS are likely to be perceived as lower risk.
Ongoing environmental performance improvements should equate with cost savings. Typical issues that EMSs will focus on in a manufacturing business will include waste and energy management. On average, waste accounts for around 4% of company turnover, and relatively simple measures can be used to reduce this figure by 1%. Such improvements mean that the EMS can be self-financing – with the implementation and maintenance time being offset by savings generated through improvements. In addition, good environmental performance will usually result in an improved work environment, with less nuisance such as noise, dust and odour etc.
Marketing benefits
In sectors such as furniture manufacturing – where around 30 companies are certified, marketing benefits have been the main driving force. Virtually all of those certified are involved in office and contract markets – where customers have increasingly been asking for certification.
Finally, one benefit that is often forgotten: a certified EMS should help to reduce your company’s impact on the environment.
ISO 14001 identifies five main phases in EMS implementation. These follow a cyclical pattern of plan, act and check which should result in continual improvement over time:
The first issue to address is that of sound commitment from top level management, as EMS implementation will require time and resources. Managers that have tried to implement a system without adequate top level backing have generally experienced frustration, with systems being shelved at the first hint of production problems.
Once commitment is secured, a prepar-atory review will generally be undertaken. This will investigate all areas of environmental management in order to establish the baseline conditions of the site. This baseline must be documented, as the EMS is aiming to secure ongoing environmental performance improvement – and it is only possible to assess improvement if it is known where the company started from.
Environmental aspects
The outcome of this review will be the identification of a long list of environmental aspects and their associated impacts. An environmental aspect is defined as an ‘element of an organisation’s activities, products or services that can interact with the environment’, whilst an impact is a subsequent change to the environment. Thus for the activity of woodworking there may be a number of environmental aspects – such as the consumption of energy, generation of noise and the release of wood dust – each of which will lead to a number of environmental impacts.
It will not be possible or desirable to try and improve on each of the environmental aspects identified. Therefore, a filtering mechanism must be used to decide which aspects are currently ‘significant’ and which can be sidelined for the time being.
Significant environmental aspects are the ones that the bulk of the EMS will focus on. Targets and objectives will be set for each, and programmes will be established to secure the required improvements. A range of individuals are likely to be involved in the improvement programmes, so training and awareness raising will be required. The whole of this process will require documentation.
Constant monitoring
Once the system is up and running, audits will be conducted periodically to ensure that the EMS has been implemented and is being maintained in the manner laid down within the system and that it complies with the requirements of ISO 14001. As with quality systems, audits actively seek out deficiencies which can be put right through the use of corrective and preventive actions.
The implementation process will typically take six to 12 months to complete, with the actual time being dictated by variables such as the size of company, complexity of processes and resources available. The task will be made much simpler by the presence of ISO 9000, as personnel will already be familiar with a systems based approach.
The main implementation costs relate to the man hours needed to set up systems and there will also be fees for certification. However, these can be offset against savings resulting from implementation of improvement programmes. Layezee Beds estimates that EMS is saving it £250,000 per year.