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What is an Environmental System?
Why Develop EMSs?
EMS Pros/Cons
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Environmental System?
An EMS is a continual cycle of planning, implementing, reviewing and improving the processes and actions that an organization undertakes to meet its business and environmental goals. Most EMSs are built on the "Plan, Do, Check, Act" model. This model leads to continual improvement based upon:
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Planning, including identifying environmental aspects and establishing goals [plan]; |
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Implementing, including training and operational controls [do]; |
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Checking, including monitoring and corrective action [check]; and |
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Reviewing, including progress reviews and acting to make needed changes to the EMS [act]. |
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EMSs allow organizations to systematically manage their environmental, health and safety matters. EMSs can result in benefits to both business and the environment. It is important to note, however, that there are pros and cons to consider when determining whether to develop an EMS for your organization. See the section below for benefits and costs of an EMS.
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Does your organization need an EMS? Well, ask yourself the following questions:
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Is your organization required to comply with environmental laws and regulations? |
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Are you looking for ways to improve your environmental performance? |
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Is the state of your organization’s environmental affairs a significant liability? |
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Does a lack of time or resources prevent your organization from managing its environmental obligations effectively? |
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Is the relationship between your organization’s environmental goals and other goals unclear? |
If you answered YES to one or more of the above questions, an EMS can help your organization.
Interest in environmental protection and sustainable development is growing each year. You might hear about these issues from customers, the public or others. Like many, your organization may be increasingly challenged to demonstrate its commitment to the environment. Implementing an EMS can help you meet this challenge in several important ways.
First, an effective EMS makes good sense, whether your organization is in the public or private sector. By helping to identify the causes of environmental problems and then eliminate them, an EMS can help you save money. Think of it this way:
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Is it better to make a product (or provide a service) right the first time or to fix it later? |
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Is it cheaper to prevent a spill in the first place or to clean it up afterwards? |
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Is it more cost-effective to prevent pollution or to manage it after it has been generated? |
Second, an EMS can be an investment in long term viability of your organization. An EMS can help you to be more effective in achieving environmental goals. And, by helping businesses to keep existing customers and attract new ones, an EMS adds value.
Here’s some good news: Much of what you need for an EMS may already be in place! The management system framework required might include many elements that are common to managing many organizational processes, such as quality, health & safety, finance, or human resources. You will probably find that your organization has many EMS processes in place, even though they may have been designed for other purposes. Integrating environmental management with other key organizational processes can improve financial, quality and environmental performance.
The key to effective environmental management is the use of a systematic approach to planning, controlling, measuring and improving an organization’s environmental performance. Potentially significant environmental improvements (and cost savings) can be achieved by assessing and improving your organization’s management processes. Many environmental “problems” can be solved without installing expensive pollution control equipment.
Of course, there is some work involved in planning, implementing and maintaining an EMS. But many organizations have found that the development of an EMS can be a vehicle for positive change. Many organizations have seen that the benefits of an EMS far outweigh the potential costs. And while these EMS concepts certainly apply to the private sector, a number of public sector organizations (including municipalities) have found that they can benefit from an EMS.
In the Total Quality Management (TQM) world, they say that “quality is free” — as long as you are willing to make the investments that will let you reap the rewards. The same holds true for environmental management.
Some reasons that municipalities have implemented an EMS:
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Improved compliance performance |
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Enhanced management confidence |
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Increased efficiency |
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Public image concerns |
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Growth management |
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Desire to be seen as leaders and innovators |
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POTENTIAL COSTS
Internal
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Staff (manager) time |
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Other employee time |
(Note: Internal labor costs represent the bulk of the EMS resources expended by most organizations)
External
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Potential consulting assistance |
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Outside training of personnel |
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Costs for technical resources to analyze the environmental impacts and improvement options |
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POTENTIAL BENEFITS
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Improved environmental performance |
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Enhanced compliance |
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Fewer Accidents |
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Reduced liability |
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Competitive advantage |
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More favorable credit terms |
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Prevention of pollution/resource conservation |
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New customers / markets |
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Meet customer requirements |
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Increased efficiency / reduced costs |
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Enhanced employee morale |
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Enhanced image with public, regulators, lenders, investors |
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Employee awareness of environmental issues and responsibilities |
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We already have a compliance program – why do we need an EMS?
An EMS can help you to comply with regulations more consistently and effectively. It also can help you identify and capitalize on environmental opportunities that go beyond compliance.
How big does an organization need to be to successfully implement an EMS?
EMSs have been implemented by organizations ranging in size from a couple of dozen employees to many thousands of employees. The elements of an EMS are flexible by design to accommodate a wide range of organizational types and sizes.
Will an EMS help us to prevent pollution?
A commitment to preventing pollution is a cornerstone of an effective EMS and should be reflected in an organization’s policy, objectives and other EMS elements.
To implement an EMS, do we have to start from scratch?
Much of what you have in place now for environmental management probably can be incorporated into the EMS. There is no need to “start over”.
How will an EMS affect my existing compliance obligations?
An EMS will not result in more or less stringent legal compliance obligations. But an EMS should improve your efforts to comply with legal obligations, and, in some cases, may lead to more flexible compliance requirements.
Do we need to be in 100% compliance in order to have an EMS?
No. The concept of continual improvement assumes that no organization is perfect. While an EMS should help your organization to improve compliance and other measures of performance, this does not mean that problems will never occur. However, an effective EMS should help you find and fix these problems and prevent their recurrence.
EPA encourages the use of EMS that improve compliance, pollution prevention and other forms of environmental performance. The Agency is assessing how EMS can be used to strengthen environmental programs and policies.
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