An Environmental Management System or ‘EMS’ is a formal way in which your organisation can identify, monitor and more closely manage its priority environmental impacts – to help you reduce your overall environmental footprint in the fastest, cheapest and simplest way possible.
An EMS can be implemented either at a basic ‘informal’ level, or certified to best-practice international standards (ISO14001) which is regarded as the best, and most comprehensive of all green accreditations.
A basic EMS generally comprises:
- An environmental policy document (link to info);
- An environmental training and awareness program for your staff;
- An environmental risk assessment - identifying your existing legal requirements, and priority environmental impacts for you to manage (link to info);
- An environmental monitoring and reporting program – to record your environmental performance over time; and
- An environmental action plan – to identify the best ‘bang for buck’ actions you can implement to reduce your environmental footprint.
ISO14001 certification is a more detailed and holistic process which incorporates legislative and other requirements to which your organisation subscribes, emergency preparedness and response measures, and an environmental audit program. Further, ISO14001 can only be obtained through a two stage independent certification audit process.
Next step
Business SA has fee-based environmental experts who can help your business develop informal or formal environmental management systems capable of being certified to ISO14001.
Training
Business SA delivers environmental training courses focusing on the development of EMS and ISO14001, which are supported and partially subsidised by the South Australian EPA. Learn more about our Environment Improvement Program here.
Find out more information about our Green Accreditation Scheme here.
Furthermore, we can also tailor in-house environmental training to suit your organisation’s needs – from basic green team training sessions, to specific training on legislative requirements or raising staff awareness of existing environmental management systems. Brett Miller is a Business SA Environment and Sustainability specialist helping businesses to identify ways in which they can become more sustainable. Contact Brett via email or call the Customer Service Centre on 08 8300 0103.
