Green Certification Part II: Here's How To Do It

Businesses around the world are positioning themselves for the green economy.  This article presents Part 2 of a 3-part series.  It provides an outline of primary elements required to acheive sustainability as it relates to your business under the ISO 14001 standard (Environmental Management System). Presented is a step-by-step process to reduce your carbon footprint. If you think its easy, its not.  But, it will pay-off. ISO 14001 Certification (continued from, "Green Certification Part I: Here's How To Do It"):   Resources, Roles, Responsibility and Authority:   “Structure and Responsibility” must be emphasized when developing your Environmental Management System (EMS).   •  Emphasis is on management to ensure adequate human,     infrastructure, technology and financial resources are     available •  Lessons Learned: Make sure that roles and responsibilities     are defined and documented up and down the organization •  Make sure that the Management Representative is     specifically appointed in writing and knows his/her     responsibilities   Competence, Training and Awareness:   Competence, training and awareness (CTA) addresses any person performing tasks for it or on its behalf that have the potential to cause a significant environmental impact. No longer limited to direct employees.   •  Lessons learned. CT&A may be demonstrated by     education, experience, training or a combination •  Common pitfall. Assigning a person to a critical task     without the requisite qualifications and failure to document     qualifications on individuals   Communication:                       •  Communication is required both internally and externally •  Internal communication must be throughout the     organization •  Extent of external communication must be determined and     this determination documented   Documentation:   Documentation must include:   •  The environmental policy, objectives and targets •  Scope of the environmental system •  Main elements of the EMS and their interaction (linkage) •  Lessons Learned: There needs to be a linkage from top     level documents (manual) through standard operating     procedures to work instructions •  Common pitfalls: “Short circuits”                 Control of Documents:   •  Documents must be approved prior to use •  Reviewed and updated as necessary •  Identified to changes and current revision •  Available at point of use •  Legible and readily identifiable •  Removed when obsolete •  Lessons learned: Modern software documentation     programs eliminate most of the mechanical glitches     common in manual document programs   Operational Control:   •  Operations that are associated with identified significant     environmental aspects must be identified. •  Documented procedures must be in place to control     situations where their absence could lead to deviation from     the environmental policy, objectives and targets. •  Lessons learned: Make sure that suppliers and contractors     are included when considering operational controls   Emergency Preparedness and Response:                                               •  There must be a procedure to identify potential emergency     situations and potential accidents that can have an impact     on the environment. •  There must be a periodic review of emergency     preparedness and response procedures •  Common pitfall: The emergency preparedness system     hasn’t been tested   Please get ready for "Green Certification Part III:  Here's How To Do It".   2008-12-10T00:58:39Z

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green-certification-part-ii-heres-how-to-do-it

2008-12-10T22:34:09Z

Businesses are positioning themselves for the green economy. This article is a continuation from Part I regarding primary elements for developing an Environmental Management System. If you think its easy, its not. But, it will pay-off.

Green Certification Part II: Here's How To Do It

2009-02-24T09:47:49Z