Putting the Employee Back Into the EMS
The following article is
published in New England's Environment Journal October/November 2000
As organizations race along to develop
Environmental Management Systems (EMS) in conjunction with their
established timetables, one vital component may be getting neglected, the
employees who will ultimately be an integral part of the system. With the
emphasis on developing effective documentation, understanding aspects and
impacts, and attempting to conform to the 17 elements of the ISO 14001
Standard, the EMS Implementation Team often gives the average employee
scant attention.
Although the emphasis of ISO 14001 is to
create a system to manage an organization’s environmental issues, it is
the people who will ultimately operate within the system that will dictate
whether the EMS will be truly successful. One mistake that is commonly
made is to not make the entire population of an organization aware of the
development of an EMS until it is actually completed. The typical attitude
from the general population that could be anticipated in this scenario is
“what are they getting us into now”. The lack of understanding and
preexisting knowledge can lead to apathy, which will not bode well for
long-term success.
One of the keys to success, in the opinion
of this writer, is to get all of the people of your organization on-board
while you are developing the system. There are many simple ways to do this
and foster communication within the organization, which is an element of
the ISO Standard. When the decision is made to develop a system, the
senior management should communicate this to all employees and express
their strong support for the system. Management can declare this
commitment to develop an EMS at routinely scheduled communications
meetings, in a memorandum, by the company newsletter, or by any vehicle
that is used to inform employees of important announcements. Employees
should be kept abreast of EMS development progress by regular updates,
posted on the ISO bulletin board, discussed in the newsletter or in
regularly scheduled meetings.
An innovative method I have seen used is to
gain employee involvement early in the EMS development process is by
soliciting their input in a survey after conducting EMS awareness
training. The completion of the survey on what employees consider to be
aspects and impacts of their operations not only reinforces the training,
but also can give valuable insight to the EMS Implementation Team as to
what employees perceive to be the major issues facing an operation.
Another method that will generate employee interest in the EMS, and train
and communicate at the same time is to pose EMS or relevant environmental
questions in the company newsletter. By offering a minor incentive, such
as gift certificates, employees will eagerly attempt to answer these
questions.
Keep in mind that all of these “documented”
activities to communicate details of the EMS development can be used as
hard evidence to satisfy the internal communication requirements of your
program. Finally, if you are doing a good job of communicating your EMS as
you develop it, you will not have to “cram” it in at the last moment
before the certification auditor arrives. The Implementation Team can then
feel confident that, their employees, when asked a question by the
certification auditor, will have sufficient awareness of the system and
their role in it to answer the question in a satisfactory manner.
|
