Monday, January 7, 2013

How to structure the best environmental policies

By John Smith


Environmental policies are not compulsory for companies the way health and safety related policies are. However, contractors are often required to implement environmental policies as one of the conditions stipulated before being given any new contract. Environmental policy documentation is generally short, and in most cases does not exceed one page. These policies normally outline a company's plans of managing its environmental impact in a positive manner.

There are no pre-defined set of rules pertaining to environmental policy design, but in order for this document to be effective, it should incorporate a framework for action together with the environmental objectives and targets. It is also vital to understand that an environmental policy document should be customized for use with a specific company hence naturally reflecting on the organizations philosophy.

You should completely refrain from duplicating someone else's policy, or even buying "off the shelf" policies, because chances are high that when tendering you are likely to encounter a rival firm also using the exact "off the shelf" policy.

Introduce your enterprise

Introduce the company you work for and describe its main products and markets. If the organization is part of a conglomerate, you can begin with the parent company and then describe the rest.

Acknowledge environmental impact

This environmental impact may be in terms of raw material processing, water and waste generation, and at the end you should show practical ways in which your company is planning to mitigate these environmental degradation challenges.

In case your company is planning to obtain ISO14001:2004 (the foremost standard when it comes to Environmental Management System), then the environmental policy must adhere to certain rules and regulations, and one of these is that the company should be committed towards prevention of pollution, and complying with the rest of the environment legislation.

Some Considerations

Clearly outline what your organization is planning to implement so that continual development may be achieved. This may involve complying with all regulation and codes of conduct and practices that are relevant with the specific industry that you operate within.

Enact a framework

You should state some of your key objectives, in particular how you plan to utilize natural resources and also conserving energy and water, while completely minimizing on wastage.

Also try your level best to minimize on vehicle movements, and regularly service your fleet in order to maintain it's efficiency. It is also proper to collaborate with partners and suppliers in order to explain and ensure that they recognize and minimize on environmental impacts arising from using some of their products.

Sing and date

A complete environmental policy document should be signed and dated by the person holding the highest rank in the company in order to give more weight to the document's purpose. This same document should be distributed to all people working with the company, and if possible, published on the corporate website.




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