• You don’t have to implement the whole EMS at once – start off with some small scale initiatives which save money.
• Waste minimisation – look at reducing your waste disposal bill by reusing materials where possible and recycling.
• Looking at your utility use is a good way of achieving quick savings and improvements, particularly with the introduction of the Climate Change Levy.
• Use these savings to justify further improvements.
• If you have a quality system, adapt it to include environmental impacts.

Assessing your impacts

• Identifying all your environmental impacts is vital to managing them effectively.
• You can identify many of your impacts by walking around your site and observing exactly what is going on.
• Consider all operating conditions, including start up / shut down, shift change, potential incidents and past and future activities.
• Utility bills, waste records, material invoices, purchase orders and production statistics will all help you assess your environmental performance.
• Consider:

- Emissions to air / water

- Waste management

- Land contamination.

- Use of raw materials and natural resources

- Local environmental and community issues.

•  Look at each of your process and think about what goes in and what comes out.
• If you have a number of complicated processes, break them down into stages and look at inputs and outputs at each stage.

Your policy

• Your environmental policy is the public face of your EMS, so keep it short and clear – one page of A4 is usually enough.
• Don’t commit yourself in your policy to things you can’t achieve.

Legislation

• There are several sources of information that will keep you up to date on legislation including:-

- Environmental Compliance Manual

- Croners Environmental Management

- SIEnA news – free quarterly newsletter including legislative updates.

Objectives

• Choose 3 – 5 objectives to start with so the goals are realistic and achievable.
• Monitor your improvements and measure against your initial assessment.
• Communicate success to all staff to raise awareness and motivation, and encourage further action.