Environmental Management Systems
When asked if they are implementing an Environmental Management System many SMEs reply that it would be inappropriate or unnecessary for their business. But is this correct?
The activities of every organisation have an environmental impact, some negative but some positive. Even if it is only the energy you consume through heating and lighting, or the office paper you recycle, your activities have an impact. Considering the benefits to the organisation, let alone the environment, that can be gained by thinking about and managing an organisation’s environmental impact, every company ought to be considering the risks to which it is exposed and be taking action to minimise or mitigate those risks. What are the risks? Usually the first that springs to mind is legislation. The onus is on companies to know which pieces of legislation apply to their operations, and to take steps to stay within the law. The amount of legislation is growing fast in quantity and in scope. Do you know which regulations apply to your business, and the penalties for non-compliance? Directors and business owners can end up in prison in some cases. Another risk is loss of profitability through failing to reduce waste, energy and water consumption, emissions, raw materials; by having higher than necessary insurance premiums; and by missing-out on the spin-off management benefits that often arise from adopting Environmental Management. Is your company missing-out on business? Are you at risk of losing business from customers who prefer to deal with environmentally aware suppliers? Is your image and dialogue with stakeholders impaired because you aren’t ‘speaking their language’ on environmental issues? Are you losing out on the increased innovation that assessment of business processes and implementation of new techniques can bring? How does your company demonstrate its Corporate Social Responsibility? Could your company been seen in a more favourable light by customers and employees? Do you address community expectations regarding environmental matters and could your company have a positive impact on local, regional and global environment issues? Is your company missing-out on the good PR available through consistent and credible reporting to stakeholders about constantly improving environmental performance? And lastly, but by no means least, what about staff retention? There are many reasons why people wish to change jobs, but an increasingly important reason (especially among the younger workforce) is their employer’s environmental performance. Could you be missing-out on improving the company culture; improving working conditions; having a driver for motivating, involving, awareness-raising, and skills development, and the improvements in communication channels, knowledge and attitude experienced by companies that adopt Environmental Management? If you feel your company lacks the human resources, skills, sector specific knowledge, or you feel that the costs to implement a system will outweigh the benefits, why not talk to an advisor who can support you and guide the implementation of a cost-effective Environmental Management System tailored specifically to your company? With the right advice, you can improve your profitability, avoid legal penalties, win new business, re-invigorate your PR, galvanise your workforce, and be recognised as a environmentally sound organisation through certification to the international standard ISO 14001. D.G.Edworthy Associates have been successfully designing and implementing management systems for SMEs in the South East since 1994 and have an enviable track record of customer satisfaction. Doug Edworthy, Principal, is a certificated Lead Auditor of ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems. We’re waiting to hear from you! | 
