Why is it important and should your organisation consider implementing an EMS system.
In this blog we are going to look at what an environmental management system (EMS) is, the purpose of EMS, the benefits of implementing an EMS and should you and your organisation consider implementing an EMS.
Introduction
The Purpose of an EMS
Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) Methodology
Benefits of Implementing an EMS
Who Should Implement an EMS?
Summary
Introduction
If your organisation is looking to reduce its impact on the environment, an environmental management system (EMS) can be one of the most efficient and successful ways to determine and control your environmental impact.
It doesn’t matter what the size of your organisation is, its geographical location, the core business day to day activities or where your current level of environmental awareness, all organisations will benefit from implementing an EMS.
The Purpose of an EMS
An EMS I a framework that is designed to help all organisations, no matter how large or small, plan, manage, monitor and control their environmental performance whilst also outlining key principals for continual improvement.
EMS will help identify ways to reduce your environmental impacts whilst also reducing operational inefficiencies and improving overall performance.
EMS also demonstrate to interested parties and stakeholders such as the local community, wider society, insurers, investors and clients that you have a clear commitment to reducing your organisations impact on the environment whilst demonstrating that real and measurable action is being taken.
Implementing an EMS involves considering all environmental issues that are relevant to your day-to-day operations, including elements such as:
Resource use
Energy consumption
Water consumption
Waste generation
Carbon emissions
Local biodiversity.
Recycling
Lifecycle analysis of your product or service
Elements to consider when implementing an EMS
Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) Methodology
Just like safety management, plan do check act when applied to EMS is a four-step process with the main focus being a commitment to continual improvement.
Plan
Look to recognise and plan an environmental action.
Determined by the assessments undertaken into your assess environmental impact
Includes opportunities that you may have identified for improvement.
Do
Having agreed on your plan, carry out the planned action/s.
Generally beneficial to start off small-scale and work towards set goals over an agreed timescale.
The pace of actions will be determined by resources available.
Check
Review and analyse the performance of the planned action/s. (are we achieving our performance goals?).
Identify what the organisation has learned from the process.
Act
Act based on what you have learned in the previous steps.
If your initial plan was not effective, you can go through the PDCA cycle again and adjust your plan and actions.
If your plan was successful, you should start looking to incorporate what you have learned and implement larger organisational changes.
Plan new improvements and begin the cycle again.
It is a circle with no end and should be systematically repeated to ensure continuous improvement in your environmental performance.
Benefits of Implementing an EMS
Environmental Performance and Compliance
Implementing an Environmental Management System will help an organisation take the necessary steps to control environmental risks associated with the organisations day to day activities whilst working towards continual improvement.
When implemented effectively, it places environmental concerns as a key value within your organisation. It will ensure that all of the required controls implemented and that all statutory legal requirements have been met/
Business Reputation
An EMS can help to improve your organisation’s reputation and the confidence of stakeholders and shows that you are taking your organisation’s environmental impact seriously.
Reducing Operational Costs
Implementing an EMS can provide a competitive and financial advantage.
An EMS assesses how your organisation uses resources and identifies ways to reduce elements like waste, ensuring more efficient use of resources. An EMS will also identify ways to recycle what cannot be reduced and help with designing out waste when planning new products or services.
EMS will identify ways minimise unnecessary consumption which will result in reduced costs. For example, improving your consume energy consumption though reduction measures will lead to reduced spending on fuel, electricity, gas and water.
Enhanced Employee Morale
Environmental performance is now a core value that organisations are looking to share with their employers.
Employees are increasingly looking for organisations to deliver on sustainability commitments.
Who Should Implement an EMS?
The short answer is any organisation looking to mitigate its environmental impact.
An EMS is beneficial to organisations of all sizes and benefits all industries, regardless of what stage you organisation is at in its environmental journey.
An EMS is suitable for new and mature organisations and the complexity of the system implemented should be relevant to the size and complexity of the organisation.
Summary
By implementing a system of continuous improvement, your company will have the opportunity to consistently raise environmental standards and policies and make a positive impact on people and the planet.
Yorkshire Health and Safety can assist you in the successful implementation and delivery of all your EMS concept to completion.
At Yorkshire Health and Safety, we build strong relationships with clients based on communication, collaboration, commitment, trust and aligning with your key safety performance goals.
With over 30 years’ experience delivering successful projects for clients and working with clients’ principal contractors, we know the challenges that come with delivering successful projects, be it commercial, industrial, construction manufacturing, housebuilding, refurbishment, shopfitting and office interiors.
If you require further assistance with any of the topics raised in this post, please get in touch.
Yorkshire Health and Safety