Environmental Protection and Management

Good environmental practice involves managing those aspects of the environment over which a company exerts control or influence. Global issues such as tropical deforestation and ozone depletion, important though they are, are not the central theme of an organisation's environmental management system (EMS). Rather it is focussed on issues such as environmental noise, air quality, watercourse pollution, recycling, wildlife protection, energy efficiency and protection of the natural and built heritage as it applies to how the business operates. The aim of  environmental management is to ensure that a company’s activities take place in a way that does not cause harm to the environment. This means that there is:

• A policy that commits everyone to the principles environmental protection and sustainability;
• A set of arrangements that assigns roles and responsibilities and outlines the way in which the policy is to be implemented;
• Procedures for monitoring and reviewing the efficacy of the arrangements and activities; and
• A commitment to continual improvement.

The key benefit for a company having an EMS is that it gives a structure to effectively manage environmental performance in a systematic, proactive, and continually improving way. Every company or organisation has some impact on the environment therefore it is important that the business is managed to mitigate negative impacts on the environment and where practical to enhance the environment. The key questions for a company to address are:

1. How will the organisation benefit from implementing an environmental management system?
2. Where does it fit with best value principles (i.e., How much is it going to cost and will it save money)?
3. How much staff time will be involved?
4. What are the training implications?
5. Will it enhance the organisation's public reputation?
6. How does it fit with sustainable development objectives?

Environmental Management Procedures

The following list of environmental management procedures are made available for download and use within your organisation. They are presented as a guide to help you to develop your own company specific environmental management arrangements and procedures. They are to be modified to reflect your own arrangements, which must be checked against and integrated with the statutory requirements in your legal jurisdiction. 

They are 'Copyleft'  documents, which means that you can modify them and use them within your own organisation and you may pass them on without fee or charge to others for their use, providing they to are made aware of the stipulations set out in the  paragraph (above).

EMP01- Environmental Management