• Achieved ISO 14000 certification within specified time frame
• Training built facility-wide awareness of corporate environmental policy
• Identified procedures for achieving environmental management objectives, documentation, monitoring and corrective action
• Facilities gained company-wide recognition as "examples" of how to succeed with ISO14000 implementation and practice
• International market position now enhanced as ISO 14000 "Vendor of Choice"

Environmental Management Systems - An Integral Part of Business

It’s no secret that environmental management systems (EMS) can provide unique benefits for companies. What is becoming clearer every year is that an EMS is most effective when it’s developed strategically, rather than reactively, and implemented as an integrated part of an overall business plan.

Environmental
Management has evolved since the 1960s when companies needed a mechanism for responding to regulations. More recently, environmental management systems have become a strategic tool and have been used proactively by companies that find value in integrating environmental protection with economic performance goals . . . changing the environmental department from a cost center to a profit center.

Since EMS first became formalized, researchers have studied the effects. Some argued that companies located in areas where regulations were strict would gain a competitive edge over those in areas where regulations were weak. Being forced to innovate in response to environmental regulations would yield advantages, it was argued, a world where creativity and innovation are ever more crucial. Some predicted that advantages would be gained in greater efficiency, less waste, broader social approval, and ultimately, better performance.

The predictions proved true when companies found correlation between environmental compliance and financial success as measured by stock performance. Companies save money through improving operations and reducing waste. They also found significant benefits in avoiding penalties, reducing litigation risks, decreasing liability insurance rates, and increasing public good will and shareholder value.

Implementation is Key
However, just instituting an EMS is not all it takes. The key to gaining a competitive edge lies in how the system is developed. The most successful EMSs contain the following elements:

• Planning by each business unit, conducted as rigorously as that done for product development, sales management, or any other aspect of the business
• An environmental policy, developed by senior management and overseen by a steward
• Goals for each unit that are specific and measurable
• Regular assessment of environmental performance
• Accountability, including rewards for meeting goals and consequences for nonattainment
• Staff support within each unit
• An active commitment by managers at every level, from the CEO down, to making the EMS successful

Such an EMS ought to be an integral part of the business from initial planning through year-end accounting. In many companies where this has been accomplished, the responsibility for environmental management has migrated from the maintenance level upward to the corporate management level. In such organizations, you might now find a V.P. of Environmental Health and Safety, whose position was created only recently, but who has growing responsibilities. As these companies progress, environmental performance will be integrated into everyone’s job requirements.

A fully integrated EMS can help serve the purpose of gaining ISO 14001 certification, which is an increasingly important requirement, according to Michael Bacon, National Director of Environmental Management Services at RMT.

"One of RMT’s services is assisting companies with the development of environmental management systems," says Bacon. "And, of all the EMS work that RMT will do in the near future, 80 percent will involve ISO 14001."

Six Figure Savings
Companies are discovering that ISO 14001, which benefits from ISO 9000 experience in areas such as documentation, is good for their bottom lines, as well as for the environment. For example, after identifying their primary environmental impacts, a leading pharmaceutical firm installed a chilled water system and eliminated chlorofluorocarbons, saving over $150,000 a year. By reducing its waste stream, particularly in packaging, the company saved another $1 million annually.

Similarly, a major oil and gas supplier eliminated a phosphate pretreatment plant for wastewater, at an annual savings of $100,000. They saved another $1 million per year by converting from silk-screen labels to vinyl decals. In another case, an oil drilling company made process improvements in order to lessen its environmental impacts. The resulting cost reductions also led to new revenue, when they patented the new process and sold it to other companies.

None of these activities would have been identified as high priority under a reactive environmental compliance system. But these types of efforts are easily highlighted when environmental aspects are identified using the strategic goals of the company as a backdrop.

The bottom line lesson from these stories . . . which literally does involve the bottom line . . . cannot be overemphasized. Along with all the other tools at your disposal, a strategically integrated EMS can give you a real boost in surpassing both your environmental and financial goals.

NETWORK