There is an increasing emphasis on the management of
environmental factors affecting our personal lives, our
community and the world at large. As individuals, it is
difficult to see how our contribution can have any effect
on the grand scheme of things, but equally, any large scale
change comes about as a consequence of numerous small
changes. Individual initiatives tend to be focussed more on
cash savings than on the general good - no harm in that,
but overall, no great benefit either.
At the administrative level, much is being done by
government and by local authorities to conserve energy and
limit waste, particularly through recycling schemes, and
because this has a financial benefit to local authorities
through the levy on buried waste, and on individuals
through the reduction in energy costs, this will continue
for the foreseeable future.
The focus of this article is on the corporate approach to
environmental management.
Clearly, the benefits that accrue to individuals through
waste reduction and recycling schemes are available to
commerce and industry; however, additional benefits can
come from an independent recognition of an organisation's
commitment to environmental management. Stockholders have
come to recognise that a corporate concern for the
environment is good management practice, and that this good
practice can be a sign of excellence across the
organisation. Share price - a measure of management
success, is enhanced by this recognition. Share value
equals company value.
But what of this independent recognition? How is it
achieved and at what cost, and are the costs really matched
by the benefits?
Organisations large and small have adopted the ISO9001
Quality Management Standard as a mechanism to demonstrate
in some way their concern for customer and stakeholder
interests. Few companies of significance now operate
outside the ISO9001 registration scheme, and while some
might argue that ISO9001 has not materially affected their
business performance, a large proportion claim to hold on
to their registration simply because the market believes
differently.
Whatever the real truth may be, this one fact is clear;
companies holding an ISO9001 registration are well on the
way to being qualified for ISO14001 (Environmental
Management System) registration if the implementation is
carried out efficiently and effectively.
ISO14001 appears to be similar to its companion Standard
(ISO9001), but in detail its requirements are structured
with a different emphasis. While the 9001 document appears
to demand certain attributes and actions, its companion, in
essence, requires only that the organisation develops a
working program to move towards a series of environmental
improvements, over a time scale agreed amongst the
interested parties. In this way environmental improvement
is a steady improvement process structured to suit the
ability of the organisation to achieve its goals. This
steady improvement is in opposition to the ISO9001
structure that demands compliance from the outset.
ISO14001 has a number of documentation and operational
requirements, the 'housekeeping requirements 'aimed at
managing and monitoring the improvement in environmental
performance that already exist within the Quality
Management System, requiring comparatively little
adjustment to fit into an integrated management system.
Integrating the Environmental aspects of ISO 14001 into an
existing ISO9001 Quality Management System should therefore
be a straightforward task, dependant only on the manner in
which the original documentation was assembled. The
application of these Standards can be a straightforward
matter, however, only when there is a clear understanding
of the intent, as opposed to the letter, of each
requirement, with effort being applied to minimising the
bureaucracy of the application. Unfortunately, the reverse
was often true during the early days of ISO9001
implementation, with the quality of the application task
being measured by the quantity of documents produced.
For achieving maximum benefit from a Dual Standard
management system, a review of the original documentation
followed by a rationalisation exercise is the ideal route.
Having reached a stable and acceptable system, compliant
with the Quality Management Standard, the development of an
integrated system combining the Standard for Quality and
Environment is comparatively straightforward.
Organisations determined to adopt this route should beware
of consultants offering to carry out the task for the
traditional 'Daily Rate' compensation. That method of
payment for services leads inevitably to overpayment, due
either to greed or a lack of understanding on the part of
the contractor.
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Meon Consulting, founded by Ed Bones, was formed to assist
clients with managing their businesses in a manner
compliant with ISO9001/14001. Ed had earlier held a number
of senior posts with Hi-Tech companies in the UK, Europe
and USA. He has written and lectured on full range of
topics on quality improvement and TQM.
http://www.rent-an-auditor.co.uk .To obtain your FREE
Presentation please visit
http://www.rent-an-auditor.co.uk/contactus.html
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