One of my EMS audit clients has set themselves a 5 year goal to become a benchmark in their industry. They want to be considered the best in all areas of their business - delivery, quality, price, reliability, safety, costs, etc., etc.

At the close of an EMS audit at this client's site I decided to put together a list of characteristics that I would expect to see if their EMS was among the best that I have seen. I challenged them to also aspire to have a benchmark EMS. The attached powerpoint file outlines some of the characteristics I mentioned to my client.

I would welcome Covers comments/ideas/suggestions/additions to the items outlined in the PP. As auditors we have seen some fair/poor/ok systems and some really good systems. What characterizes the best EMS's? What I am getting at here is not simply meeting the requirements of the standard - all certified/registered companies meet the standard. Some companies go well beyond simple conformance and the characteristics I outlined are an attempt to put together some of the best features I have seen.

Thanks

One of my EMS audit clients has set themselves a 5 year goal to become a benchmark in their industry. They want to be considered the best in all areas of their business - delivery, quality, price, reliability, safety, costs, etc., etc.

At the close of an EMS audit at this client's site I decided to put together a list of characteristics that I would expect to see if their EMS was among the best that I have seen. I challenged them to also aspire to have a benchmark EMS. The attached powerpoint file outlines some of the characteristics I mentioned to my client.

I would welcome Covers comments/ideas/suggestions/additions to the items outlined in the PP. As auditors we have seen some fair/poor/ok systems and some really good systems. What characterizes the best EMS's? What I am getting at here is not simply meeting the requirements of the standard - all certified/registered companies meet the standard. Some companies go well beyond simple conformance and the characteristics I outlined are an attempt to put together some of the best features I have seen.

Thanks

First of all, I am not an EMS expert. But if an organization really wants to excel, they should be an example and inspiration for other organizations in their geographic area. I would expect them to be EMS educators to others and take an active leadership role. For example sponsoring "Green and Clean" campaigns and sharing best practices and lessons learned. Just some thoughts.

Stijloor.

I'm no expert either but I'll give it a shot

Well if they want to be a benchmark then they will need to say "this is how much we do or this is what we do" and say it more with numbers more than with words. And in a method or fashion that they can be easily reviewed.

The slides you have are nice except that the questions should be at the front and not end of the EMS.

Also to be "The Benchmark" what is the level of performance necessary for them to truthfully be able to make that statement....What's the Target.

Speaking of Targets, I would fully expect that henceforth their O&T's line up with "The Benchmark" expectations........Especially if they're going to boldly proclaim it like in their Policy....It's feet in the concrete time.