Businesses around the world are positioning themselves for the green economy.  This article presents Part 2 of a 3-part series.  It provides an outline of primary elements required to acheive sustainability as it relates to your business under the ISO 14001 standard (Environmental Management System). Presented is a step-by-step process to reduce your carbon footprint. If you think its easy, its not.  But, it will pay-off.

 

ISO 14001 Certification (continued from, “Green Certification Part I: Here’s How To Do It”):

 

Resources, Roles, Responsibility and Authority:

 

“Structure and Responsibility” must be emphasized when developing your Environmental Management System (EMS).

 

•  Emphasis is on management to ensure adequate human,

    infrastructure, technology and financial resources are

    available

•  Lessons Learned: Make sure that roles and responsibilities

    are defined and documented up and down the organization

•  Make sure that the Management Representative is

    specifically appointed in writing and knows his/her

    responsibilities

 

Competence, Training and Awareness:

 

Competence, training and awareness (CTA) addresses any person performing tasks for it or on its behalf that have the potential to cause a significant environmental impact. No longer limited to direct employees.

 

•  Lessons learned. CT&A may be demonstrated by

    education, experience, training or a combination

•  Common pitfall. Assigning a person to a critical task

    without the requisite qualifications and failure to document

    qualifications on individuals

 

Communication:                    

 

•  Communication is required both internally and externally

•  Internal communication must be throughout the

    organization

•  Extent of external communication must be determined and

    this determination documented

 

Documentation:

 

Documentation must include:

 

•  The environmental policy, objectives and targets

•  Scope of the environmental system

•  Main elements of the EMS and their interaction (linkage)

•  Lessons Learned: There needs to be a linkage from top

    level documents (manual) through standard operating

    procedures to work instructions

•  Common pitfalls: “Short circuits”

               

Control of Documents:

 

•  Documents must be approved prior to use

•  Reviewed and updated as necessary

•  Identified to changes and current revision

•  Available at point of use

•  Legible and readily identifiable

•  Removed when obsolete

•  Lessons learned: Modern software documentation

    programs eliminate most of the mechanical glitches

    common in manual document programs

 

Operational Control:

 

•  Operations that are associated with identified significant

    environmental aspects must be identified.

•  Documented procedures must be in place to control

    situations where their absence could lead to deviation from

    the environmental policy, objectives and targets.

•  Lessons learned: Make sure that suppliers and contractors

    are included when considering operational controls

 

Emergency Preparedness and Response:                      

                       

•  There must be a procedure to identify potential emergency

    situations and potential accidents that can have an impact

    on the environment.

•  There must be a periodic review of emergency

    preparedness and response procedures

•  Common pitfall: The emergency preparedness system

    hasn’t been tested

 

Please get ready for “Green Certification Part III:  Here’s How To Do It”.