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Have you ever sat
down and figured how much time (and money) you spend each
year dealing with regulators, explaining how what you're doing
meets their standards on one project, and then having to go
through the whole exercise again with somebody else on your
next project? Ditto when it comes to fielding complaints and
doing make-good work.
How
would you like to go through an entire year without any regulatory
hassles, without spending your valuable time fielding complaints,
without having to go back and redo work you've already completed?
"Fairy-tale stuff," you're probably thinking. Still a pretty
nice thought, isn't it, and maybe it's not so far-fetched,
particularly if you consider that many of your troubles are
rooted in a lack of standardization.
A
Case for Standardization
As
explained by the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO):
Standards
are documented agreements containing technical specifications
or other precise criteria to be used consistently as rules,
guidelines, or definitions of characteristics, to ensure that
materials, products, processes and services are fit for their
purpose.
For
example, the format of the credit cards, phone cards, and
"smart" cards that have become commonplace is
derived from an ISO International Standard. Adhering to the
standard, which defines such features as an optimal thickness
(0,76 mm), means that the cards can be used worldwide.
International
Standards thus contribute to making life simpler, and to increasing
the reliability and effectiveness of the goods and services
we use.
Put into the context
of construction, ISO 14001 - an internationally accepted
environmental management program - is the system of greatest
potential benefit to contractors. For a quick look at the
process you might want to go to www.iso.ch
and follow the thread to the specifics of ISO 14001.
ISO 14001 is a
management systemrather than a performance standard.
As such, it involves what I tend to characterize as a cultural
rather than strictly behavioral process centered on proactive
management and total employee participation. Rather than a
proscriptive, "top-down" set of rules and regulation, ISO
14001 asks all people involved in an operation to define their
roles from the bottom up, relative to the organization's environmental
policy.
In
much the same way ISO 9001 addresses quality, ISO 14001's
framework allows you to identify and control significant environmental
aspects of a project. At its core, it is a system that allows
a company to set out its environmental objectives and then
implement programs for measuring, correcting, and reporting
on performance. But that's only the surface. When fully
implemented, the system allows you to anticipate and prepare
for the kinds of challenges you're likely to face in
any project - especially the ones that get you in trouble
with regulators, often require corrective action, and invariably
take you away from what you get paid to do.
Under ISO 14001,
an environmental management system (EMS) contains
the following elements:
- An
environmental policy supported by top management
- Identification
of environmental aspects and significant impacts
- Identification
of legal and other requirements
- Environmental
goals, objectives, and targets that support the policy
- An
environmental management program
- Definition
of roles, responsibilities, and authorities
- Training
and awareness procedures
- Process
for communication of the EMS to all interested parties
- Document
and operational control procedures
- Procedures
for emergency response
- Procedures
for monitoring and measuring operations that can have a
significant impact on the environment
- Procedures
to correct nonconformance
- Record
management procedures
- A
program for auditing and corrective action
- Procedures
for management review
Cashing
In on Your EMS
Aside
from the obvious advantages of standardization - reduction
of pollution related incidents, decreased cost of remediation,
fewer complaints, less regulatory hassle, and reduced insurance
rates - there are a number of related benefits that will
come from increasing the visibility of those standards throughout
your entire operation. For instance, standards can help you
define "best practices" that, in addition to helping
complete the present project, become benchmarks for future
projects. A well-constructed EMS can identify instances of
redundancy in day-to-day efforts for regulatory compliance
and includes procedures and metrics for measuring and evaluating
wastes and the costs of environmental emissions. This information
can help you choose proper BMPs and determine beforehand their
probable results. Standards can be used to guide daily action
and determine the overall appropriateness of pollution prevention
strategies. And finally, a properly implemented EMS will lead
to predictable environmental performance that can reduce and
almost certainly limit the severity of incidents. That leads
straight to an increase in your bottom line.
You
can, of course, develop and manage your own EMS rather than
going to all the effort of obtaining an ISO 14001 certification,
but let me offer two thoughts here: (1) Consider the advantages
of having an independent auditor oversee your EMS and help
you refine your processes on an ongoing basis and (2) when
asked about your EMS, think how much easier and more effective
it is to say, "We're ISO 14001 certified"
rather than trying to explain the details of your company's
program. There are other benefits, of course, but none so
important as what you can take to the bank.
Send
John an Email
GEC
- January/February 2003
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