Monday, September 30, 2013

Making sure your business is environmentally aware

By Frank Leon


At the moment companies are not legally obliged to have their own environmental policy. However, in order to tender for jobs, third party contractors may often be mandated by their clients to produce environmental policy documentation as one of the key conditions to obtain work.

Environmental policy documentation is generally short, and in most cases does do not need to exceed one page. These policies normally outline a company's plans of managing its environmental impact in a positive manner.

There are no pre-defined set of rules pertaining to environmental policy design, but in order for this document to be effective, it should incorporate a framework for action together with the environmental objectives and targets. It is also vital to understand that an environmental policy document should be customized for use with a specific company naturally reflecting on the organizations philosophy.

You should desist from duplicating other people's policy, or buying some online "off the shelf" policies, because it is very embarrassing when you realize that a competitor inside the tender room is also holding an identical environmental policy document.

You should begin by giving a brief introduction of your company by describing its history, and products and services. In case there is a parent company or subsidiaries, do not forget to mention them.

In case your company is seeking to attain an ISO 14001:2004, which is regarded as the most established standard for environmental management system, then your must adhere to certain requirements. One of these key requirements is that the company must comply with environmental legislation, prevent pollution, and enhance its environmental performance.

In case you company is planning to obtain ISO14001:2004 (the foremost standard when it comes to Environmental Management System), then the environmental policy must adhere to certain rules and regulations, and one of these is that the company should be committed towards prevention of pollution, and complying with the rest of the environment legislation.

Your company should aim for ongoing better environmental methods. Your company should be aiming to consider any industry specific regulations as well as compliance with environmental legislations and rules. You should state all your objectives and targets while considering using natural resources such as solar and wind in order to minimize waste. It is also advisable to use recycled materials provided that they are commercially justified.

Also try your level best to minimize on vehicle movements, and regularly service your fleet in order to maintain their efficiency. It is also proper to collaborate with partners and suppliers in order to explain and ensure that they recognize and minimize on environmental impacts arising from using some of their products.

The completed environmental policy document should be signed and dated by the most senior person in the company so that it can have more weight when being read. This senior person can be the Managing director, operations manager, or head of finance. This same document should be widely distributed to all employees working for the company, and if possible should be published on the company's internet, intranet or website for easy retrieval.




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