Environmental Management System
An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a framework that helps organizations manage their environmental responsibilities in a systematic and comprehensive manner. It involves establishing policies, procedures, and processes to identify, monitor, and control the environmental impacts of an organization's activities. The goal of an EMS is to promote sustainable practices and minimize the organization's environmental footprint.
6 Key excerpts on "Environmental Management System"
eBook - ePub- Alan Griffith, Paul Stephenson, Paul Watson(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Companies in those countries have a headstart in environmental management as legislation begins to tighten. As the construction industry will, without doubt, face tougher environmental standards, it will be those organisations which support environmental management and use EMS which will respond best to the demands and which are most likely to be successful. Environmental Management Systems and standards Environmental Management Systems An Environmental Management System (EMS) is ‘the organisation’s formal structure that implements environmental management’ (Griffith, 1997). BS 7750/ISO 14001: Specification for Environmental Management Systems requires that the organisation develop, implement and maintain an EMS to ensure that its activities conform to the environmental policy, strategy, aims and objectives that it has set. Moreover, it should warrant that the system meets all current environmental legislation that regulates its business activities. The organisational ethos should be founded on the premise that all businesses impact upon their environment; management systems control all aspects of business; and standards can be set for and achieved by Environmental Management Systems...
eBook - ePubEnvironmental Impact of Mining and Mineral Processing
Management, Monitoring, and Auditing Strategies
- Ravi Jain(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Butterworth-Heinemann(Publisher)
...Chapter 3 Environmental Management System Implementation in the Mining Industry Abstract An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a component of a mining management system that creates a framework for the procedures, responsibilities, and processes required to prevent adverse environmental, economic, and social impacts and allows for continuous improvement. Successful implementation of an EMS requires some initial capital costs and extensive planning and working together with governmental agencies, industry, and other stakeholders to achieve the desired outcomes. An EMS can ultimately reduce the overall long-term operating and rehabilitation costs associated with adverse environmental, economic, and social impacts. Not all EMSs are alike, as goals and objectives can vary based on the location and needs of various stakeholders unique to each project. This chapter provides guidance on implementing an effective Environmental Management System using an 8-step approach. Keywords Environmental Management System; Best practices; Implementation; Cost and benefits; Project planning; Assessment 3.1. Introduction An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a component of a mining management system that pertains to the procedures, responsibilities, and processes for preventing harmful environmental, economic, and social impacts. An Environmental Management System helps the mining company achieve leading practices by providing a framework for continuous improvement (Australian Centre for Sustainable Mining Practices, 2011 ; Environment Australia, 2002 ; Hilson and Nayee, 2002 ; National Mining Association, 2012). In the past, economic and financial gains were heavily emphasized in the mining industry and little emphasis was placed on mitigating mining impacts on the environment, resulting in environmental degradation...
eBook - ePubInternational Standards for Design and Manufacturing
Quality Management and International Best Practice
- Nick Rich, F. Tegwen Malik(Authors)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Kogan Page(Publisher)
...Large or small, it does not matter what sector you are in – due consideration must be given to the environment and a full systems approach needs to be adopted to support the business in these endeavours. From business needs, EMS systems have evolved to help focus business leaders, their staff and their organizational resources on conformance with environmental management ‘best practice’. Implementing environmental policies to set out the direction of improvement needed and to support a company’s overarching objectives is a wise business decision but so too is the development of practices that support better environmental management actively and for all staff. An effective EMS can reduce the negative impact of an organization’s operations and outputs and it can release enormous savings too – a common falsehood is that being environmentally responsible costs money and is a drain on business resources! Enlightened and modern businesses see the environment as a source of innovation, supporting better design and improving operational efficiencies to save money whilst making money through delighting customers. 6 Using an EMS not only benefits the organization but also the employees, the consumers and the community by delivering sustainable solutions that comply with environmental regulations. Having a framework through which to achieve this is very important and that is why companies turn to tried and tested EMS frameworks that they can tailor to their own personal needs, be that their objectives, policies, targets or continual improvement of their environmental performance. One such framework is the standard ISO 14001, but there are others out there too that organizations turn to, such as BS 8555 or Eco Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS II)...
eBook - ePubSustainability in the Hospitality Industry
Principles of sustainable operations
- Willy Legrand, Philip Sloan, Joseph S. Chen(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...14 Environmental Management Systems, sustainability performance indicators and auditing Chapter objectives The objectives for this chapter are: • To define Environmental Management Systems (EMS) • To review ISO and EMAS • To explore the PDCA cycle and EMS methodology • To identify the key benefits in establishing an EMS • To discuss the implementation of EMS in hospitality • To identify and discuss environmental performance indicators (EPIs) • To define and identify sustainability performance indicators (SustPIs) • To define auditing and environmental auditing • To explore the potential for self-auditing • To introduce online environmental self-auditing platforms Environmental Management Systems (EMS) A corporate Environmental Management System (EMS) embraces both technical and organizational activities aimed at reducing the environmental negative impacts caused by a company’s operations. EMS is a management tool that allows a company to be organized in a way so as to control and reduce its environmental impacts. An EMS is also an engagement towards continuous environmental improvement. The five principal objectives of an EMS are: 1 To identify and control the environmental impact of activities, products or services. 2 To respect regulations and go beyond the initial objectives set out in the company’s environmental policy. 3 To implement a systematic approach to setting environmental objectives and targets. 4 To continuously improve environmental performance. 5 To ensure transparent communication towards employees, communities and consumers. In short, any management plan or set of actions that benefit the environment can technically be called an EMS...
eBook - ePubEnvironmental Management Systems
Understanding Organizational Drivers and Barriers
- Stephen Tinsley, Ilona Pillai(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...He felt that this has helped the organization to be more transparent when environmental information has been requested by customers and the general public. Communication A lack of environmental awareness and the selling of the EMS's benefits, particularly to managers, impedes the development of the EMS. According to the interviewee: in the early days of EMS implementation this was considered important and during the implementation process it was a benefit, but what seems to have been forgotten is that these issues are still important particularly as personnel, departments and corporate objectives and targets change. Resources Like all companies, Company B has faced business difficulties. To date it has not announced any redundancies but they are watching the electronics industry closely. Four people make up the EMS team and they are still in position. The environmental manager suggested that: while there is a restriction on expenditure, there is a reluctance to interfere with the EMS because it is fundamental to the whole manufacturing process. If the economic conditions persist the rate of continual improvement may slow but the integrity of the systems would remain. Isolated EMS profile An isolated EMS (Table 5.4) is separated from other quality and health and safety systems. Individual project groups are ‘quality circles’ responsible for environmental considerations...
eBook - ePubThe CBI Environmental Management Handbook
Challenges for Business
- Ruth Hillary, Ruth Hillary(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...The Environmental Working Group worked with Entropy International to refine the module to reflect the company’s own requirements and through the self-establishment of the significance level it has formed a timesaving, effective device. Once the significance assessment was complete, a comprehensive and completely up-to-date Register of Environmental Aspects was automatically generated. (Miles Watkins) Figure 23.4 Envoy EMS: the system A tool for improved environmental performance Setting, follow-up and evaluation of objectives and targets, action plans and non-conformances are central features of an Environmental Management System. In an intranet-based system this is easily done. When asked to evaluate the performance of the system the Environmental Working Group commented: ‘Owing to our single certificate registration to ISO 14001, we need to track the site management programmes centrally. Review and target dates are quickly accessible in Envoy EMS and therefore we can spend more time on environmental improvements and less time on the phone.’ To Miles Watkins, the single store of data is the key: ‘With upwards of 140 sites and only six environmental staff the effective management of information is critical. Envoy EMS provides a consistent framework into which the essential data can be entered and accessed by all with zero time delay.’ Documentation and document control Envoy EMS is compliant with ISO 14001 and the standard system structure worked well for Aggregate Industries. According to Miles: a few customisations to the interface were made and our existing EMS documentation was simply cut and pasted into the system. This solved the problem of transition from a paper-based system to Envoy and reduced the time spent on administration...
