Sustainable Development for Business

Assignment 3

Environmental Management System(EMS)

Section H
Submitted by –

T Sai Mohith Naag (2002249)

Thummala Vijay Sai Reddy (2002250)
Yalla Uma Deepthi (2002255)
V.Ramakrishnan (2002256)
Vignesh Balagi S (2002264)
RQ2. What are the strategies for adoption of EMS/sustainability?

An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a organizational framework that helps an

organization achieve its environmental goals through consistent review, evaluation, and
improvement of its environmental performance. Consistent review and evaluation will
identify opportunities for improving and implementing the environmental performance of the
organization. An EMS focuses resources towards meeting the commitments identified in the
organization’s policy, which include reducing or eliminating the negative environmental
impacts of its products, services, and activities and/or increasing their positive effects.

The five main stages of an EMS, as defined by the ISO 14001 standard are described below:

1. Commitment and Policy - Top management commits to environmental improvement and

establishes the organization's environmental policy. The policy is the foundation of the EMS.

2. Planning - An organization first identifies environmental aspects of its operations.

Environmental aspects are those items, such as air pollutants or hazardous waste, that can
have negative impacts on people and/or the environment. An organization then determines
which aspects are significant by choosing criteria considered most important by the
organization. For example, an organization may choose worker health and safety,
environmental compliance, and cost as its criteria. The final part of the planning stage is
devising an action plan for meeting the targets. This includes designating responsibilities,
establishing a schedule, and outlining clearly defined steps to meet the targets.

3. Implementation - A organization follows through with the action plan using the necessary
resources (human, financial, etc.). An important component is employee training and
awareness for all employees. Other steps in the implementation stage include
documentation, following operating procedures, and setting up internal and external
communication lines.

4. Evaluation - A company monitors its operations to evaluate whether targets are being met.
If not, the company takes corrective action.
5. Review - Top management reviews the results of the evaluation to see if the EMS is
working. Management determines whether the original environmental policy is consistent
with the organization's values. The plan is then revised to optimize the effectiveness of the
EMS. The review stage creates a loop of continuous improvement for a company.

Once implemented, an environmental management system will help your business achieve:

a. Real cost savings: EMS programmes can not only reduce your organization’s use of
resources, but they can also streamline your workflows and processes. This can
translate into lower shipping and purchasing costs, improved productivity, and less
product lost due to spoilage or error.
b. Scalable, sustainable growth: Effective environmental management can have
economic benefits, too. Through the ongoing cost savings inherent in a cycle of
continual improvement your organization is better positioned to manage the
challenges of expanding your market share or moving into new territories.
c. A smoother path to compliance: An EMS based in industry-recognised best practices
for environmental management — such as those outlined in ISO 14001 — can help
you comply with future environmental regulations as they come into force within your
industry.
d. An improved reputation: Environmental issues have come to the forefront in recent
years with greater awareness amongst legislators, investors, customers, employees,
and the general public. The international community is looking at ways of reducing the
impact on the environment to ensure it is protected for future generations.
Implementing a formal EMS creates greater engagement with staff and stakeholders
and positions you as an environmental leader in your field.

The strategies for adoption of EMS are as follows:

1) End to End Support: The whole organization and its stakeholders should work together to
utilize and implement the EMS into the backbone of the organization. This will help in
integrating EMS as a habit into organization’s working methodology. A step-by-step
process will include:

a. Identification of project penal authorities looping in every resource from both

Managerial and Operation Teams
b. Proper Training and Knowledge transfer sessions to promote the EMS
c. Maintaining internal standards and commitments from the Top Management with
regular audits
d. Integration of EMS into the environmental policy of the organization.

2) Steadfast Implementation: The conceptualization and implementation are both equally

important phases of EMS integration. It includes assigning a project manager for the same
and timebound reviews. Executing this will demand the manager to coordinate with
 stakeholders of different SBUs, transparent reporting and upgradation, acknowledgement
of the members who contribute to achieving the goals of EMS, and regular innovation and
industry benchmarking.

3) Policies: Overall the policy makers can choose from the following options:

a. Leave the development of management systems to the private sector without

government guidance or intervention.
b. Government can mandate the adoption of EMSs, at least in certain sectors or to
address specific problems.
c. Government can pursue a "middle way" between the two extremes, encouraging but
not requiring the adoption of certain types of EMSs.

RQ3. How can you involve the employees working in service sector as well resources from
other organization for EMS?

Whenever contributing towards environment is discussed, a general misconception is deeply

embedded in the minds of individuals and that is the contribution of one single individual will
not have any significant impact.

It is often forgotten that if everyone performs his or her duty towards environment
judiciously, the cumulative effort will have a huge impact. One needs to start by making small
changes in our daily habits such as using resources judiciously thereby reducing the waste
generated.

This change will become evident when an Environment Management System (EMS) is
adopted by an organization. EMS is a system which serves as a guide for the operations of an
organization and works towards making the operations more sustainable. Employee
participation in the following elements of the EMS can have a great impact in achieving the
sustainability goals of an organization.

1. Environmental policy: This reflects how an organization feels about the environment and
the commitment it makes to reduce the environment risk. Involve the employees in making
the policies.

2. Environmental requirement and voluntary initiatives: This aspect tries to align the
employees with the goals of the organization and encourages its employees to contribute to
the programs that help is making company sustainable.

3. Objective/Targets: This aspect calls for the firms to set a clear objective and set a pathway
that would give employees the idea to proceed towards achieving sustainability. Firms must
set the timeframe to meet the objectives of the EMS plan. Resources can be used for planning
the milestones and setting achievable targets within fixed timeframes.
4. Structure, Responsibility and Resources: The firm should ensure that it has the personnel
and resources needed to meet objectives. Make managers responsible for the environmental
performance of their unit Develop procedures for attaining objectives.

5. Communication: Establish processes for internal and external communications on

environmental management issues.

6. EMS documentation: Maintain information on your EMS and related documents. Ensure
effective management of procedures and other system documents of the service sector

7. Operational Control: Firms should establish a procedure to ensure the proper waste
management hierarchy is followed and should develop simple procedures to measure and
report environmental impacts of processes and products.

8. Training, Awareness and Competence: Train staff whose roles affect meeting objectives
and make certain staff that can carry out required duties.

9. Organizational Decision-making and Planning: Use life-cycle analysis to identify the impact
products make on the environment. Empower all employees to make pollution prevention
improvements that do not require significant resources.

10. Continuous Evaluation and Improvement: Conduct and document periodic objective-
based audits of the organization's performance Use audits to assess pollution prevention
efforts.