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Cross-border ISO 14001 project benefits environment and business

by Wesley Best

The STEM sustainable environmental management project has succeeded in bringing seven Northern Ireland and two Republic of Ireland councils together in a joint ISO 14001 EMS implementation and certification programme that also helped 287 local SMEs to implement an EMS, with significant benefits in legal compliance, waste and energy savings, reduced environmental risk and increased competitiveness.

In 2004, climate change and environmental sustainability began to feature more prominently in the media, and in the minds of the general public.

Recognising this, the Southern Group Environmental Health Committee (SGEHC) in Armagh, Northern Ireland, headed by Group Chief Environmental Health Officer Sam Knox, received funding from the East Border Region INTERREG IIIA Partnership for what became known as the STEM (Sustainable Together through Environmental Management) Project.

Its objective is to work with local government and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to implement environmental management systems (EMS) and improve their environmental performance.

Since then, seven Northern Ireland Councils – Ards, Armagh, Banbridge, Craigavon, Down, Dungannon, Newry & Mourne – and two large County Councils in the Republic of Ireland – Louth and Monaghan — have implemented a single EMS under the guidance of the STEM team, controlled centrally by the SGEHC. To date, 30 key services from the councils fall within the scope of the system.

The first of these services were certified to ISO 14001 in October 2005, with further services being certified over the next four years. In addition, the team helped 287 businesses implement an EMS, of which 233 were certified to either ISO 14001:2004 or BS 8555, Environmental management systems – Guide to the phased implementation of an environmental management system including the use of environmental performance evaluation, which builds on ISO 14001.

Training the STEM team

The STEM Project provided each business and council with an EMS officer to work with them through EMS implementation to external certification. A major challenge was to recruit, train and develop a team of officers to work effectively with local businesses and councils.

Most of the EMS officers recruited to the project were recent graduates with little or no previous work experience. There were insufficient financial resources to employ qualified consultants, so a training package had to be designed that would enable the team of officers to work confidently with businesses, deliver a high level of training, instigate a change in culture, and maintain their commitment.

The training programme included an understanding of ISO 14001 and BS 8555, the principles of auditing, environmental legislation (European Union, United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland) and how this legislation applies to different business sectors.

Due to time constraints, there was heavy emphasis on “on the job” training and mentoring from the management team. The wide range of business sectors provided yet another challenge because EMS Officers had to be trained in environmental issues specific to many different sectors, with no opportunity to adopt a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

We outsourced some of the training to include a week long IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment) approved “Lead Auditor” course which provided officers with a detailed knowledge of ISO 14001.

One key element involved officers working as a team to develop a set of three workshops covering parts of BS 8555, which were subsequently delivered to the businesses. The task of producing training materials was key to officers gaining a deep understanding of the standard and how it could be presented to small business representatives in a simple but effective way.

Workshop attendees completed feedback forms which were assessed for possible changes to future workshops. As a result the workshop process and content was completely revised in the second year of the project.

Subsequently, six officers and two senior project officers provided training to businesses and councils on their key procedures and controls to prevent pollution and minimise negative environmental impacts.

Working with councils

The STEM Project has been extremely effective in showing councils from across the Province and both sides of the border how to work together to tackle problems.

To date, the seven Northern Ireland and two Republic of Ireland councils mentioned above have worked together with the SGEHC to implement a single ISO 14001-based EMS. Collaboration was a key element of the process and a Cross-Border Steering Group (CBSEMT), made up of senior officers from each council, met regularly to provide strategic direction.

Although the councils faced similar issues with regard to waste, energy use and pollution control, differences in legislation and the scope of services presented the STEM team with particular challenges in developing a single all-encompassing EMS.

With audits of all councils being carried out every three years, each was reliant on the others to comply with ISO 14001 requirements to achieve and maintain certification. However, this also meant significant savings in audit costs since one EMS, rather than many individual systems, was audited. The nine councils hold joint certification to the standard, which I consider to be an exemplary model of partnership working across borders.

Each council received a certificate detailing its services within the overall scope, presented to the mayors of each council by Jan Gustav Strandenaes, the Senior Policy Advisor on Sustainable Development and NGO policy for ANPED (The Northern Alliance for Sustainability) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Commission.

Working with SMEs

For the success of the project it was also essential to recruit SMEs, and a Marketing Officer was employed to co-ordinate this process. A series of business seminars at which the Senior Project Officers explained the benefits of an EMS and how STEM would help SMEs with implementation, proved successful in each council area.

Legislation was both a driver and a barrier to recruitment. Many SMEs recognised that more environmental legislation was being implemented each year, and were unsure how this would impact them. These businesses wanted help to identify and comply with legislation.

Others were reluctant to join because of concerns about the cost of legal compliance and the prospect of making themselves known to the regulator, thus leaving them open to possible prosecution.

STEM provided all these businesses with a method by which they could address their concerns, as well as providing free confidential advice which would not leave them open to the scrutiny of regulators. This confidentiality was crucial.

We recruited from a wide range of business sectors with varying degrees of success.

Complying with legislation

Based on an analysis of the participating STEM businesses, the average SME is expected to comply with almost 30 significant pieces of environmental legislation.

When they first joined the STEM Project, only one of the participating SMEs could demonstrate full compliance with all pieces of relevant environmental legislation. The most significant area of non-compliance was waste, such as the burning of waste on site, an absence of waste transfer notes, inappropriate identification and disposal of hazardous waste, and the absence of a license to cover waste management activities.

Each business was provided with a legal register listing all legislation that applied to their activities, and, where necessary, an action plan to achieve compliance. Advice on how to keep up to date with changes to legislation was also provided.

As a result of the STEM Project, the participating SMEs have moved away from a reactive and passive approach to a more proactive response to environmental legislation.

More competitive

The vast majority of the SMEs, some 80 %, reported that their EMS had made them more competitive, with 35 % able to access new markets for their products or services.

In a survey of businesses which achieved BS 8555/ISO 14001 certification through the STEM Project, 76 % were either making, or expecting to make, savings in energy use and 71 % savings in waste management.

By ensuring that pollution control measures are in place, the participating councils and businesses have helped protect the local environment and minimise the risk of prosecution and fines resulting from a pollution incident.

Pollution control measures

Many organizations are at serious risk of creating pollution as a result of deficiencies in their working practices. The STEM team worked with businesses to put various pollution control measures in place to minimise the risk of pollution and ensure that if an incident does occur, suitable equipment and procedures are available to contain the pollutant and remediate any damage.

Such measures include:
-  Written procedures and associated training
-  Provision of spill kits
-  Bunding (containment) of oil and chemical storage areas
-  Introduction of appropriate signage
-  Installation of oil interceptors
-  Use of less hazardous materials.

The number of measures introduced by the team depended on several factors. Some business sectors were more likely to have considered the need to minimise their potential to pollute and, as a result, had already instigated pollution control measures such as appropriately bunded chemical and oil storage areas

This was true, for example, in the engineering sector where the use of oil and chemicals is routine. Hotels and food and drink companies tended not to have dealt with pollution issues as rigorously, and as such there was greater scope for improvement. In the main there was an absence of written procedures and appropriate staff training to minimise the risk of pollution.

Sharing knowledge and experience

Over 10 000 employees (7 882 business and 2 500 public sector) were trained on environmental issues during the course of the STEM project – either through presentations to large numbers of staff, at “Tool box talks”, or on a one-to-one basis in small companies. These trainees are now aware of how they impact the environment and the measures they can take at work and home to minimise that impact.

We organized two conferences which attracted representatives from participating councils and businesses as well as other local and central government organizations, NGOs and businesses.

These provided a means to highlight the improvements they had made since ISO 14001 implementation, and a forum at which organizations exchanged ideas on environmental issues.

Awards

Since start-up, STEM has won a number of awards in recognition of the contribution it has made to improving the environment, to sustainable development, and to increasing the competitiveness of SMEs.

These include a UK regional and national training award, the “Leadership in Sustainable Development” award from Sustainable Ireland magazine, a “Green Apple” gold award, the “Best innovative training project” at the Northern Ireland local government awards, and the “Small business training award” sponsored by Invest Northern Ireland.

Looking forward

Three members of the STEM team have been retained by the SGEHC to work with the existing nine councils to extend the EMS further, and help two new councils – Omagh and Antrim – implement ISO 14001. A further 10 businesses in those two areas will also receive BS 8555/ISO 14001 EMS implementation assistance.

With the forthcoming changes to local government structure in Northern Ireland resulting from the reorganization of public administration, it is anticipated that those newly involved councils will ensure that their EMS is extended to areas previously under the control of other councils.

Conclusions

Most SMEs benefit from the implementation of an ISO 14001-based EMS in terms of legal compliance, waste and energy savings, reduced environmental risk and increased competitiveness. However, the cost of certification audits at approximately GBP 750 per day can be a disincentive to a small business implementing an individual EMS, and may prove too much when combined with the cost of an external consultant.

Nevertheless, the project has demonstrated that local government can collaborate to develop a standard method of addressing environmental issues in a single EMS across several organizations which offers benefits to those involved in terms of sharing ideas and expertise, and cost savings in auditing.