Welcome to Salus Consulting
Salus Consulting is a network based health, safety, environmental and management consultancy based in Wrexham, North Wales and supporting clients across the UK. The company was founded by Wayne Jones who has extensive experience in the field of health, safety and environmental management having worked as a practitioner and consultant since 2001.
Environmental Management - BS EN ISO 14001:2004
Establishing trustworthy environmental procedures has become a major factor for companies who wish to gain and maintain business with other organisations who themselves wish to be seen as green responsible players in the marketplace.
ISO 14001:2004 is an internationally recognised standard which if adopted by a company will help them to establish their environmental credentials.
For companies who are required to register under IPPC, they will find that their application and annual charges will be determined by how good their environmental management systems are, and the optimum savings will come to those companies who establish ISO 14001 or EMAS.
By operating a good management system, just short of ISO 14001, with external auditing, can also be very beneficial for the IPPC permit holder.
Salus Consulting can assist you with all or part of an environmental management system of your choice.
Benefits of Environmental Management Systems
Environmental Management Systems (EMS) can offer a variety of benefits to an organisation. These may include:
- Reduction in bottom line costs through the systematic evaluation and reduction of energy, water and wastes.
- Reduction of potential liabilities by ensuring that the organisation is kept aware of relevant legislation and codes of practice and routinely monitors its performance against these.
Where EMS are certificated to one of the accepted international or European standards such as ISO 14001 or EMAS they may offer additional benefits, since the operation of the EMS is verified by an external accredited body. These benefits might include:
- Meeting the requirements of customers who want all their suppliers to be certificated to an environmental standard.
- Obtaining easier insurance and finance, since insurers and banks may ask for additional sureties where they believe that potential environmental liabilities are inadequately controlled.
- Improved company image through being seen as environmentally responsible.
- The potential attractiveness of company shares to ethical investment groups.
Introduction to 14001
The international standard ISO 14001 specifies a model for an environmental management system (EMS) which may be applied to any type or size of organisation. It is based on an implementation model of PLAN ~ DO ~ CHECK ~ REVIEW and follows a simple and logical sequence.
The ‘PLAN’ part of the process starts by understanding the effects or impacts which the organisation’s activities have upon the environment and by identifying the legal and other similar constraints on the organisation. This must include the organisation’s usual operating conditions and also reasonably foreseeable emergencies.
Once the environmental impacts and applicable legal requirements have been identified, the impacts must be evaluated to decide which of them rate as ‘significant’ for the organisation and therefore require to be managed. This can be likened to a process of sieving to separate the ‘significant’ from the ‘not currently significant’. This process of evaluation is crucial to the further development of the EMS since it is upon the results of this that the management system will be founded.
After this evaluation process the Environmental Policy for the organisation can be drafted, since it will now be based on the particular issues found to be relevant for the organisation.
Now comes the ‘DO’ part of the implementation cycle. All of these significant issues must now be managed. For this there is a choice: either they can be earmarked as improvement projects and subject to Objectives, Targets and Management Programmes, or they can be controlled by Operational Control procedures. (On some occasions both these mechanisms can be applied.)
In addition, those issues identified as potential emergencies will need to be managed by processes of emergency prevention and possibly by emergency plans and procedures.
Now comes the ‘CHECK’ part of the process. This includes measuring, monitoring and calibration procedures to ensure that the controls and programmes are functioning as intended. It also includes a check on compliance with legislation.
Another part of the checking process is the Internal Environmental Audit when the developed system is audited in detail to verify that it is operating as planned.
Following the audit comes the ‘REVIEW’ part of the process where the whole system is reviewed to ensure it is functioning, delivering what is required and is still up-to-date and appropriate for the organisation.
Underpinning these major parts of the EMS are essential supporting systems which help to ensure effective and repeatable control. These include:
4.4.4*, 4.4.5* Production, and control of the system documentation
4.4.2* Training awareness and competence of the people concerned in the EMS
4.4.1* Details of responsibilities and authority, roles and resources
4.5.4* Requirements for records to be generated and retained
4.4.3* Processes of internal and external communications
4.5.3* Non-conformity, corrective action and preventive action
Overall these elements when properly applied will lead to good environmental management.
Environmental System Implementation
A typical approach to a Environmental System implementation project can be summarised as:
Salus Consulting Ltd has experience in developing and implementing Environmental Management Systems for companies both large and small!
Environmental System Maintenance
Many businesses, having achieved certification, find that the activities associated with the continuous review of the environmental system, i.e. internal audits and procedure amendment, etc. take a considerable amount of their valuable production and administration time. Managers need to be constantly looking to the operational matters relating to their business, such as production, maintenance, financial control, recruitment, etc. and find that the requirements to maintain their environmental system either do not get the attention necessary or interfere with the day-to-day operational arrangements.
Employing a member of full time staff as a quality manager, even in a part time role, can be expensive. This position does not need to be a core business activity.
Salus Consulting Ltd can assist in this regard. We can be your environmental managers in a non-core business role. Our skilled, experienced and qualified staff can visit your premises on a regular basis, to a programme agreed with yourselves, to carry out the environmental system maintenance duties such as internal auditing, advising and dealing with system weaknesses or introducing procedural changes. Whatever level of involvement you require.
We can look after your environmental management system while you get on with looking after your business!
Don’t waste the effort already put into to achieve certification by falling behind in maintenance and don’t waste money on developing and supporting internal expertise. Let Salus Consulting Ltd maintains your environmental management system for you.