Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government is not doing enough to reduce carbon emissions, fight climate change and regulate oil and gas emissions, a series of audits from a federal watchdog have found. Read More
Category: Environmental Management Systems
Where Do Ontario Political Parties Stand on Environmental Issues?
THE PAST DECADE has taught environmentalists a hard truth about voting patterns, one that many have been trying valiantly to change: the environment takes a backseat when issues surrounding jobs and the economy are front and centre. Read More
ISO 14001:2004 for SMEs
So you want to be environmentally responsible, but aren’t big enough to warrant (or afford) a full-blown ISO 14001 program yet? There is a perfect stepping stone for the environmentally conscious – ISO 14001:2004. It’s an ideal Environmental Management System for self-determination. Your industry may not be subject to extensive requirements, but you have standards […]
Meet the Wizard of EMAS
So your munchkins found ISO14001 a breezy walk, and want to take your organization further down the green brick road. Meet the Wizard of EMAS. EMAS is Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, developed more than 20 years ago by the European Commission. It enables organizations to assess, manage and continuously improve their environmental performance. It also […]
Continual Improvement Programs for Waste Reduction and Pro-active Environmental Management
Always be better! Business demands it! Business operations are always expected to improve: regular productivity gains, constant decrease in waste and cost, risk reduction and control measures. Your production, operation and staffing plans adjust targets year over year – shouldn’t your environmental and waste reduction plans do the same? In order to ensure continual improvement, […]
Plan-Do-Check-Act
Most management systems, like ISO, follow a similar path to success. Plan-Do-Check-Act. For environmental management systems, ISO 14001 is a perfect example of this philosophy in action, and it’s worth taking a look at how it manages to bring about superior performance in almost all cases. Plan. This is the thinking part – figuring out […]
EMS Managerial Training
We’ve all heard someone say “My boss doesn’t know anything!” But once you become a manager – if you are a good one, you begin to realize that you don’t have to know how to do the work yourself, if your people know their jobs. Instead, you need to focus on how the different people, […]
When Compliance Isn’t Enough, Responsibility Is
Even when you think you are doing the right thing, environmentally, ensuring legal compliance can be tricky. And even if you are compliant, in the event of an incident you may still be subject to fines and legal action. How do you protect yourself? If the landmark Bata Shoe case taught us anything, it’s the […]
What's Your QMS Quotient?
Quality Management Systems were rarely heard of 25 years ago, except in multi-national megaliths. Today, virtual all manufacturing, and most mid to large sized companies have a QMS. There are several popular ones, each with a unique focus (Six Sigma, EFQM, Baldrige, ISO 9000). And they are not mutually exclusive. ISO 14001 is the de […]