Environmental Management System Explained

Going green has recently been a big part of many businesses' ways of conducting their daily activities. With an environmental management system (EMS), an organization can continue to operate profitably while also being aware of its impact on the health of the environment and the creatures that thrive in it. This provides benefits for both the company and the environment, creating success for the company and healthy living for people, animals and nature.

Developing an Environmental Management System

• To successfully implement an EMS takes several steps. It involves careful evaluating, planning, acting and revaluating. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calls this the "Plan, Do, Check, Act" model. Planning is first and foremost for carrying out any action in a company. Although considerable time and resources may be required, the benefits of the planning stage are significant. A company creates an agenda with a set of goals for the business and for the environment. Having this list enables the team in charge of the EMS to come up with solutions that make sense and are effective. A strong commitment from managers and employees is also important for the success of an EMS because eventually everyone's involvement will be required to effectively carry it out.
  Once the planning stage is done, the company then has to implement the ideas the EMS team came up with. The team may have come up with several solutions that will all be put into effect. The "do" stage will therefore involve training personnel, purchasing equipment, hiring auditors and organizing the new systems to make the EMS work. Employees must be trained on the policies and elements of the EMS. Because there will be multiple elements, an organized system must be developed so they work effectively together rather than just alone. Auditors will be the key players in the "check" stage. An audit system must be in place for auditors to evaluate the success of the EMS and suggest changes to make it better---for both the company and the environment. Once these suggestions are made, the "act" stage will ensure a company keeps up with its new policies and procedures implemented by the EMS.

Benefits v. Costs

• As with any new system introduced to a company, benefits and costs must be weighed. However, an EMS has far more benefits than costs, including a healthier environment, less pollution, reduced costs, higher efficiency, higher employee morale, a better public image and more appeal to customers. The disadvantages of an EMS are the costs of training personnel, purchasing new equipment (if necessary) and hiring new personnel to audit the system. However, these costs will be more than made up for by the benefits. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), whose main mission is to protect human health and the environment, supports the establishment an EMS. It has one to let each of its members understand his role in the environment and how each can be individually responsible for the world we live in.