Implementation and Benefits of Environment Mangement System

(ISO14001)

Steps to implement:

Training -> Awareness -> Conceptual -> Environmental Policy -> Environmental
planning -> Implementation of EMS plans -> EMS Audits -> Management Reviews
-> Improvements

• Planning by organization leaders for the space, equipment, and resources

needed to safely and effectively support the services provided. Planning and
design are consistent with the organization's mission, vision, and values.
• Educating staff about the role of the environment in safely and effectively
supporting care. The organization educates staff about physical characteristics
and processes for environmental monitoring and reporting.
• Developing performance standards to measure staff and organization
performance in managing and improving the environment of care.
• Carrying out plans to create and manage the organization's environment of
care while continuously measuring, assessing, and improving the status of the
environment.

Benefits of Environment Management System

· Cuts energy cost

· Reduces emissions and discharges
· Reduces risks & accidents
· Better community relations
· Cuts wastes and disposal costs
· Cuts water use and costs
· Ensures compliance with legislations
· Improve staff /employee morale
· Demonstration of care for environment protection

ANIL KUMAR
(Mechanical Engineer)
Associated with A.B. Associates,
Ambala city
Email: kutkut02@yahoo.co.in

How To implement ISO-14001

 • Awareness programme for requirements of ISO-14001:1996
• Documentation
1. Applicable Regulatory requirements & initial reviews
2. Environmental aspects identification & its impacts
3. Environment Policy
4. Environment objective
5. Environmental Management System manual
6. Set targets
7. Establish plans
8. Different Procedure for Communication ,Operational controls etc.
9. Implementatation of EMS
10. Plan for change
• Continuous improvement through internal audit& review meeting
• Checking effective ness of environmental management system
• Record keeping

• Third party certification

ISO 14000: should your company develop an

environmental management system?
By Graff, Susan
Publication: Industrial Management
Date: Saturday, November 1 1997
Subject: Environmental policy (Standards), Environmental management
Product: Environmental Management

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Integrating environmental aspects into business management systems is

essential for 21st century manufacturing, and manufacturers need to decide
now on an environmental management system such as ISO 14000 to
accomplish their company's goals.

This article covers several concerns that need to be addressed when making
this decision. These include the following: What does 14000 require?
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Why are companies investing in environmental management systems? What

will an environmental management system cost? Consider stakeholder
needs and sustainable development concerns.

Some questions to ask before investing company time and resources in

EMS development include: Are your customers and stakeholders likely to
demand you have an environmental management system in place? What
are the costs associated with product that was lost to the environment? Are
the environmental impacts of your processes creating a liability that put you
or your company at risk?

The trend has been established. Think about your company's goals and
marketplace, and make a business decision now.

More and more companies today are using environmental management

systems such as ISO 14000 to integrate environmental aspects into their
business plans. More than 1,200 companies worldwide have registered
environmental management systems in place, and many more are putting
systems in place without formal registration. "Environmental issues are
business issues," states the Southern Company, America's largest producer
of electricity, in its Environmental Performance Strategy.

However, managers at a forward-thinking company, striving to maintain a

market edge into the 21st century, still must answer some basic questions to
evaluate the environmental management system trend and decide how to
respond: What do our customers want? Will this approach improve the
product and increase our company's market share? And truly progressive
companies are looking beyond their immediate customers to address the
needs of stakeholders, including future generations, as well.

Environmental management systems: ISO 14000 requirements

Environmental management systems and the tools you choose to implement

them address the environmental impacts of a company's activities and
processes and identify opportunities to conserve materials and energy.
There are several different environmental management system models from
which to choose: Sweden's Natural Step, the Chemical Manufacturer's
Association Responsible Care, and ISO 14000 are some examples.
The ISO 14000 environmental management system model was developed to
meet the demand for a single international standard, and it was developed
through consensus by an international technical advisory committee of
industry, government, consumer interest groups, and the general public. ISO
(the International Organization for Standardization), a worldwide federation
of national standards bodies, issued the final specification standard in the fall
of 1996. While 14000 is the series, 14001 is the actual specification that
companies either self-declare or to which they register through third-party
confirmation. Demonstration of successful implementation of 14001 can be
used by any organization to assure interested parties that an appropriate
environmental management system is in place.

The ISO 14001 environmental management system model (Figure 1) follows

a logical progression of steps that begin by developing a company
environmental policy. The most prescriptive part of the model, 14001
requires that the environmental policy include commitments to prevention of
pollution, regulatory compliance, and continual improvement.

Next planning begins, and the first step is critical - identification of significant
environmental impacts from the organization's activities, products, or
services. Companies are using a variety of methods, from brainstorming to
risk-ranking schemes, to prioritize these environmental impacts and plan
budgets and schedules to address the most significant. Legal and other
requirements with which the company complies are also identified during
planning. Objectives and targets are developed for the significant impacts,
and an action plan for accomplishing them is required.
Implementation puts the plan in action through alignment of resources and
development of documentation to minimize environmental impacts.
Checking, corrective action, and management review further reinforce the
Deming model of Plan-Do-Check-Act upon which 14000 is based to ensure
continual improvement.

ISO 14000 is a marriage of quality systems with preventive environmental

management. Many companies' chief objection to ISO 9000 was the
burdensome documentation requirement. The authors of 14000 tried to take
that into account, requiring written documentation of policy and/or
procedures in only four or five instances in the model. In addition, companies
that are 9000 registered have administrative elements such as document
control and recordkeeping systems already in place and are at a major
advantage in implementing 14000.
Reasons for environmental management systems

The major driver behind the environmental management system trend is the
marketplace. In a 1995 survey of 99 U.S. businesses considering 14001
implementation, 50 percent reported customer demand or a competitive
advantage as the reason for certification. Companies with a high percentage
of sales in European or Asian markets should investigate what their
customers expect - for example, China, the home of 20 percent of the
world's population, recently adopted ISO 14000 as state policy. Xerox
Corporation states customer demand drove its decision to seek registration.
On the U.S. front, the "Big Three" auto manufacturers are expecting their
Tier 1 suppliers to have environmental management systems. Other global
companies are making similar demands on suppliers, including leaders in
the pulp and paper industry. According to one corporate manager of
environmental affairs, the supplier who inappropriately manages its
environmental aspects or ignores opportunities for pollution prevention may
pass significant environmental liability and a negative image on to its
customer.

Improved risk management and t

Improved risk management and the reduced liabilities associated with it are
other important reasons why U.S. companies are implementing
environmental management systems. In 1996, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) reported the highest level of enforcement activity in
the history of the agency. More than $172 million was collected in fines and
penalties.

Furthermore, state and federal environmental agencies often use corporate

penalty structures that put the chief executive officer (CEO) and top
management at risk personally in the event of a release to the environment.
Environmental management systems are preventive, and several elements
contain spill prevention and emergency preparedness procedures that
manage risk and influence liability. Companies have received monetary relief
in federal penalties for having certain environmental management system
elements in place, such as self-audits. In a recent landmark case involving
GTE, $2.3 million was reduced to $53,000 in penalties because the
company conducted self-audits. Companies are also receiving reductions in
insurance premiums - Akzo Nobel Chemicals and Synthetic Industries
reported premium reductions after ISO registration.

Finally, internal efficiencies and waste reduction are driving the trend.
Product lost to the environment equates to dollars down the drain or up in
smoke. Unnecessary waste of natural resources is a major business
concern of progressive companies. For example, Southwire Company
annually reports significant cost savings from the pollution prevention
programs essential to implementing its environmental policy. Most often the
best ideas come from within, which also results in enhanced employee
satisfaction. Team-based management studies have shown that having input
to and ownership of company goals enhances employee job satisfaction and
decreases the likelihood of employee turnover.
What will an environmental management system cost?

The cost of implementing an environmental management system is highly

variable, but is often proportional to the size and complexity of the operation.
A range of costs between $15,000 and $150,000 per site has been reported.
Formal registration adds to these costs, as a third-party audit program and
surveillance are required to maintain the registration.

Companies are finding the major environmental management system

development cost is employee time. ISO requires that all employees be
informed about the company's environmental policy, and specialized
knowledge is required among those whose job may have a significant
environmental impact. Training programs can be resource intensive in time
lost from production plus costs of instruction, and it takes time to document
procedures for certain critical operations. Companies with high employee
turnover or multiple sites may find knowledge transfer intranet/extranet
technologies and self-directed learning tools effective to develop and
maintain employee capabilities and minimize some of these costs.

Capital costs of environmental management system development are

relatively low in comparison, assuming companies already have appropriate
control equipment and monitoring instrumentation in place to be in
compliance with federal, state, and local requirements. The costs and
benefits of environmental management systems can be difficult to measure.
How do you measure the value of a preventive system? The costs incurred
in the course of complying with regulations such as monitoring and permit
requirements are potentially hidden among other items, such as overhead
accounts. Intangibles such as enhanced consumer response indeed have
value, but that value may depend on how your company is currently
positioned on these issues as well as the company's goals.
Consider stakeholder concerns and sustainable development needs

Environmental performance is important to many consumers and

stakeholders. Evidence is found by noting the push on parliaments and
congresses around the world to effect a culture change, or perhaps even a
second industrial revolution, toward sustainable development. Simply put,
sustainable development is providing goods and services to meet the needs
of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs. The President's Council on Sustainable
Development was appointed last year to lay the groundwork for a national
strategy. Twenty-five leaders from business, government, environmental,
civil fights, and Native American organizations are looking for new ways to
achieve this goal through performance-based solutions.

Manufacturers in the twenty-first century are looking at ways to reduce the

consumption of materials and energy in production processes, and recycle
their waste product into new product uses. Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface
Inc., a major manufacturer of floor coverings, cites staggering figures in the
use of raw materials: 1.2 billion pounds of materials extracted per year, with
two-thirds of it burned up in fuel production. Anderson and Interface are
pioneering changes in technology to become completely sustainable by the
year 2000. Use of solar energy, providing raw material needs by harvesting
and recycling carpet and other petrochemical products, and eliminating
waste and harmful emissions are all part of Interface's strategy to attain this
goal.

Environmental management systems that employ tools such as life-cycle

assessment and performance measures can be used to accomplish
sustainable manufacturing goals and report meaningful results to your key
stakeholders
Conclusion

The trend toward environmental management systems is well established.

While your company may already have a few key elements of a system in
place, many companies are finding considerable value added through
implementing a complete system that integrates environmental aspects into
business planning. As is true with other areas of industrial management,
planning and prevention on the front end may translate to significant gains in
the long run. Think about your company's goals, marketplace, and the
bottom line - numerous studies over the past few decades have shown a
positive correlation between financial and environmental performance. But
also think a few steps beyond today's bottom line, and to the needs of future
generations. The time is here to make an informed business decision.

Figure 1
Environmental Management System Model (ISO 14000)

* Environmental Policy

* Planning

* Implementation

* Checking and Corrective Action

* Management Review

For further reading

ANSI/ISO 14000 Series, Environmental Management Systems and

Environmental Auditing, 1996.

Hemenway, C.G., ed., ISO 14000 Questions and Answers, 3rd ed., CEEM
Information Services, 1997.

Stapleton, P.J., A.M. Cooney, and W.M. Hix Jr., "Environmental

Management Systems: An Implementation Guide for Small and Medium
Sized Organizations," NSF International, 1996.

www.ISO14000.net - An Internet resource for information, training, and

online services.

Susan Graff is president of Environmental Resource Services Inc., an

Atlanta, Georgia-based environmental