Benefits of Corporate Office ISO 14001 Certification

[E Wall]

Randy,

Being in a mfg plan with a corporate office that is not certified I can tell you there have been concerns relating to new product/material instroduction without adequate review by someone with the appropriate knoweledge and experience to perform the assessment up-front.

Involving someone after the fact adds to other waste and project delays that could have been avoided. There is a direct impact to the bottom line. This can come into play regarding business growth as well, depending on your manufacturing requirements with all the legal/env issues that play into it.

Additionall, IMHO, when looking at 'impact' to an organization, community, etc... one should also considered travel and how new technologies that make face-to-face meetings less necessary.

Eileen

 

[Randy]

Re: Benefits of corporate office certification

Does this not follow the thin line of consultancy, even though you can't do the auditing yourself, but your Organization is the CB?

Naaaaaaaa, they're not getting anything different than they would in a public course....just examples of what others have done and what I've seen......this is acceptable.

It is a tightrope that we have to walk but basically as long as we don't say "do it this way or else" we're OK. I think the others that do what I do will agree on that.

 

[tigerfan51]

In addition to consistency with their manufacturing facilities, there are lots of other potential environmental benefits/activities/initiatives for a head office, such as:

1. Green office buildings - everything from retrofitting existing to new buildings - things like solar (active and passive), geothermal, grey water systems, eco friendly building materials, furnishings, etc.

2. Recycling - Self explanatory

3. Green Purchasing - Could start with the corporate office and then spread the program to the rest of the company/manufacturing sites

4. Green corporate / lease vehicles - I've seen many instances of large vehicles leased by Corporate offices because they need a vehicle to transport visitors. I've suggested lease small / fuel efficient vehicles and short term rentals when visitors are on site

5. Carpooling / vanpooling - Some companies facilitate carpooling / vanpooling by leasing / providing vehicles for use by their staff (Chrysler Canada, Enbridge, for ex.) others provide fuel rebates for carpoolers, encourage bicycling/other transportation methods and provide facilities for bikers, like showers, bike storage, etc.

6. Working from home to reduce traffic / fuel use

7. Corporate offices typically take the initiative for company carbon footprint / CO2 reduction programs

8. Corporate offices can also lead the way with community involvement programs such as civic beautification efforts, supporting watershed clean-ups, supporting organizations like Ducks Unlimited, supporting school districts with their environmental initiatives, etc.

9. A Corporate office can have a positive impact on the practices of their staff, encouraging and rewarding them for individual environmental efforts at home or in their community.

So to answer the question - what potential benefits are there for a corporate office ISO 14001 system/registration - a whole range of benefits in areas such as emissions reductions, corporate image, employee satisfation/retention, community outreach/enhancement, carbon footprint etc.

 

[Sidney Vianna]

In addition to consistency with their manufacturing facilities, there are lots of other potential environmental benefits/activities/initiatives for a head office, such as:

Excellent points. In addition to all the items you listed, a corporate office can also impact environmental performance by:

• setting and enforcing policies related to their suppliers, in terms of environmental performance, e.g., greening the supply chain.
• setting and enforcing policies in terms of product design, i.e., design for the Environment and Life Cycle Analysis.

 

[Randy]

Pretty good stuff, thanks all

I'm sure they will enjoy the high level of response.

 

[Coury Ferguson]

I'm sure they will enjoy the high level of response.

And you will provide their analysis/comments, right?

 

[joshua_sx1]

tigerfan51, nice approach… and quite informative inputs there too…

 

[Rainer]

Hi guys;
Haven't been active for a while but back in full strength now.

You might want to check out the American Chemistry Council's Responsible Care requirements which include environment, health, safety and security. Members of the ACC are required to certify a number of production facilities & the corporate office to either RC14001 (ISO 14001 based) or RCMS technical specification (non-ISO). Having worked with them for many years as a trainer, consultant and auditor, I've seen tremendous benefits on the corporate side. This goes beyond your basic recycling or energy savings. It's more about the overall direction of the company and making sure corporate folks are also involved in EHSS. Where applicable, look into key corporate functions which can make a difference, e.g. purchasing, product stewardship, internal/external communication, senior management (overall corporate EHS objectives & targets). The list certainly goes on.

If there is interest, I'm happy to share more insights.

Regards,
Rainer