It has become clear to me why many companies do not see the benefit in implementing an Environmental Management System (EMS). Based on my consulting experience, an extensive review of the literature and a survey I conducted of ISO 14001 certified companies in New Zealand – most (if not all) systems are far from effective in terms of facilitating the continual reduction of an organisation’s environmental impact.

Those of you who have implemented an EMS or have experience with health & safety (OHSAS 18001) or quality (ISO 9001) management systems will most likely know what I am talking about. In many companies, the ‘EMS” consists of a folder on the shelf of the person responsible for the environment. A few weeks out from a third party external audit, people are scrambling around the company trying to pull together evidence that their ‘system’ is working.

I have found many paper-based sustainability risk management systems to be ineffective in terms of communication and staff engagement. Many traditional ‘folder on the shelf’ systems are only good for ‘getting the tick from auditors’. However, to engage staff and make real environmental improvements the focus needs to be on effective collaboration and culture development rather than bureaucracy.

This focus on meeting the requirements of an EMS standard rather than making real environmental improvements is obviously not the intention of having a system. While there are business benefits of being able to tell your customers that your EMS is independently certified to ISO 14001 – organisations are often not reaping the real benefits such as cost reductions, improved stakeholder relationships, healthier and safer workplace etc. In addition to this many companies who have health & safety, quality and environmental management systems – operate these systems independently from one another – this can create inefficiency and confusion amongst staff. The three standards for these systems are based on the system principles and requirements so that they can be integrated into one overall business risk management system.

By having a traditional ‘folder on the shelf’ system – companies are creating a range of difficulties for themselves. In terms of document control, it is difficult to update your procedure manual every time a minor change is made and also ensuring that everyone in the company has access to the same versions. In addition to this – most SME’s in particular don’t usually have all these bureaucratic processes in place. It is therefore difficult for such a system to become part of their day-to-day operations.

This month I am presenting at a seminar hosted by International Certifications and ecoPortal aimed at providing companies with practical advice on how to implement an effective EMS. I will talk about the typical barriers that companies face in implementing an EMS and give examples of the tools and insights (such as the baseline assessment, ecoWheel framework and ecoPortal) that I have developed to help overcome these obstacles.

Feel free to share and discuss any experiences you have had with the barriers to implementing an effective EMS. I intend to delve deeper into the specific barriers that companies typically face in a post coming soon.