Friday, September 27, 2013

Creating an environmental policy

By Frank Leon


Today organizations are not legally obligated to have their own environment specific policy. However, there are certain companies which require that their third party contractors should have an environmental policy in place as one of the conditions for obtaining work. In most cases policies are short documents equivalent to 1 A4 page written in precise and concise language. This policy normally lays out all the rules and regulations that a company should adhere to in order to manage its environmental impact in a responsible manner.

There are no sets of rules that spell out how an environmental policy should be designed, but in order for this document to be effective it should incorporate frameworks of actions and involve specific environmental objectives and targets. It is also proper to understand that an environmental policy should be tailored for a specific company reflecting on an organization's mission and vision.

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 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.

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 on these environmental degradation challenges.

In case your company is seeking to attain an ISO 14001:2004, which is regarded as the most established standard for environmental management system, then your must adhere to certain requirements. One of these key requirements is that the company must comply with environmental legislation, prevent pollution, and enhance its environmental performance.

In case your organization is planning to receive ISO 14001:2004 accreditation, then your company's must meet certain requirements, and among them is commitment to improve on environmental performance, preventing pollution, and complying with all environmental legislations.

Your company should aim for ongoing better environmental methods. Your company should be aiming to consider any industry specific regulations as well as compliance with environmental legislations and rules. You should state all your objectives and targets while considering using natural resources such as solar and wind in order to minimize waste. It is also advisable to use recycled materials provided that they are commercially justified.

Also try your level best to minimize on vehicle movements, and regularly service your fleet in order to maintain their 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.

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 documents 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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