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ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
As I explain in the theory pages, environmental issues have a scientific as well as a moral dimension. The effective management of environmental issues requires that both dimensions are addressed. Attempts to manage environmental issues objectively are doomed to fail.
This has significant implications on the design of an environmental management system (EMS). Many organizations already have ISO-14001 accredited environmental management systems, which are based on the dynamic cyclical process of plan, implement, check and review as shown below.
The advantage of ISO-14001 is that it offers a systematic approach, but that does not guarantee effectiveness. Some ISO-14001 management systems indeed fail to deliver and are only maintained for the sake of accreditation. I suggest that this is because ‘reducing environmental impact’ is not always an effective environmental management strategy. ISO does not help its cause by placing such a strategy at the heart of its 14001 standard.
An effective environmental management system is built around an effective environmental management strategy; i.e. one that is based on the reality of conflicting interests and one that offers a constructive way of managing these. The method of managing environmental issues suggested here does exactly that.
The suggested method is based on the understanding that environmental issues have a significant emotional content, and addresses these emotions as part of the management strategy. Addressing the emotions that underlie environmental issues improves their understanding and informs a more effective response.
The method consists of the following six successive steps:
- The identification of risk sources and associated hazards;
- The identification of environmental aspects;
- The identification of environmental issues;
- The characterization of environmental issues;
- The formulation of environmental management strategies; and
- The implementation of environmental management programs.
The Environmental Management Overview page provides an overview of these six steps and links to a more detailed description of each.
Please note that the suggested approach meets all of the requirements of the ISO standard, including the requirements of its 2004 revision.
EMS 1 2 3 4 5 6
