Workshop Discussion
EMS Essentials
- Wanting to make the change, commitment
- Culture change
- “System elements” common language
- Needs to position you for the future – capacity building
- Enabling process
- Facilitation and support
- Know who/what you want to change
- Whole of enterprise assessment
- A systematic approach to managing the impacts of any enterprise on the environment
- Flexible and self-directed, voluntary action
- Plan Do Check Act cycle
- Environmental policy or statement
- Risk based approach and broader view
- Considers “compliance” issues
- Measurable objectives and targets that akign with the business plan
- Looks at internal ‘business management’ including roles, responsibility, resources, communication and training
- Documentation, documentation and operational control
- Emergency/contingency planning and response
- Based on continuous improvement
- Communication in relevant context
- Reporting externally
- Making it mainstream and integrating with business
Getting and staying engaged in EMS
- Desire for recognition and recognition for things already being done
- Seeking better business outcomes
- Seeking better environmental outcomes
- Regulatory and community pressure
- Keeping flexibility in management
- Seeking improved partnerships
- Looking for information
- Market edge – access or premium
- Market linkages
- Gaining a management process
- Enhancing management capacity
- Explicit recognition of the need for sustainability and contin. improv. (continuous vs continual)
- Importance of a network – variety of methods used to do this
- Being part of a community
- Sense of place
- Telling the ‘good stories’ – cross industry learning
- Need for a ‘coach’, mentoring, ‘kitchen table’ relationships
- Recognition of ‘self-satisfaction’, recognition of psych. impact - “spirituality’
- Initial motivations for getting involved are likely to be different to those that ‘keep you in’
- Incentives to have an EMS – who should get, what other sorts could be applied
- Change of thinking required –bigger picture; outside the ‘usual’ business operational sphere
- Making environmental mgt. part of routine
- Engagement with stakeholders
- Good information and education – need to address perception problems – about ISO 14001, EMS, landholders roles/actions etc.
- Support for implementation
- Tools to assist
- Keeping up with competition
- Recognition important
- Boundaries between ‘EMS’ and ‘business plan’
- Ensure that the business benefits are ‘built in’ – risk reduction, profits, growing business
- Private/public good; partnerships; public investment in env. outcomes
- Reduce/eliminate confusion (If possible)
- International recognition needed for what we use
- Need to enhance recognition of the tool within the various industry groups and how do we get them onside/aligned?
- Need to allow time for things to happen BUT may not have too much more time for addressing some of these issues
- Need to recognise that everyone is at a different level
- Talk in a ‘single line of policy’
- Use relevant language for the user
- Need to embed env. mgt. for ALL part of the business (whatever it is) – not just the e-team role
- Policy objective is to bring about environmental outcomes, but not all at the same stage in their thinking through regarding the awareness and reasons for EMS adoption
- Incentives are a two-edged sword - ‘if you have to pay me to do it, then it must be bad’
- Build and grow critical mass
- Integration with other systems – system to assist business
- Order of implementation of EMS need not slavishly follow the order of presentation of ISO 14001
- Grow me the money’ program – based on eco-efficiency – marketing of programs important