10 em march 2005 awma.org

This month, EM explores the worldof environmental management systems (EMSs), with threein-depth feature articles. With its broad organizationalreach, cutting across all aspects of the environmental (andoften, health and safety) business, the familiar EMS “plan-do-check-act” cycle has a growing number of companiesin search of continuous improvement.

Starting on page 12, Teresa Savage-Tate presents “Get-ting the Most Value from Your Environmental Manage-ment System,” in which she considers the reasonsorganizations might choose to implement EMSs. What-ever drives an organization to implement an EMS, thesesystems can help business achieve competitive advantagewith strategies that improve financial, environmental, andsocial performance. To make sure that an EMS deliversvalue, organizations need to understand their objectivesand seek tangible benefits. The article provides an excel-lent overview of EMSs, including the various models andstandards, from the well-known ISO 14001 standard tothe American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Carespecifications, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) and state initiatives. In a sidebar to the article, Sav-age-Tate summarizes upcoming changes to the ISO 14001standard.

Speaking of state initiatives, nearly 20 states now haveEMS programs. In “Using ISO 14001 to Define Wisconsin’sWaste Management Policy” on page 18, Suzanne Bangert

of the Wisconsin Department of NaturalResources (WDNR) describes how her agencyintroduced an EMS into its own regulatorywork and day-to-day business, implementingISO 14001 initiatives at four sites. The EMShas proven invaluable by changing the waythe agency thinks, and the way it communi-cates with stakeholders, such as industry,local government, EPA, and the environmentalcommunity. The EMS also has providedfocus in an agency where staff resources have

declined 30% over the past six years. Bangert describeshow WDNR applied ISO 14001 requirements to the state’swaste management program and the challenges theyencountered. And she offers this advice to other stateregulatory agencies considering an EMS: Go for it, withdeliberation.

In “An Environmental Management Information Sys-tem That Mitigates Risk for Southern Power” on page 22,Brian Toth presents an industry case study of how a utilityautomated its EMS using state-of-the art software. Hedescribes how Southern Power leverages technology tomeet both regulatory compliance and EMS continuousimprovement objectives. Southern Power evaluateddiverse options for its environmental management infor-mation system (EMIS) from internally installed client/server solutions to “hosted” Web-based solutions. TheEMIS is a tool that automates data collection, analysis,distribution, retention, and reporting—an integral ele-ment of an EMS. Ultimately, Southern Power selected acommercial hosted solution that best met the company’sneeds. The software is flexible and configurable, and pro-vides benefits in the areas of institutional knowledge cap-ture, training management, document management, andreporting. Automating these environment, health, andsafety business processes has streamlined operations,saving time, enhancing compliance, and ultimately,reducing business risk.

Jill Barson Gilbert, QEP, is president ofLexicon Systems, LLC, and a member of

EM’s Editorial Advisory Committee.E-mail: JBGilbert@Lexicon-Systems.com.

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EnvironmentalManagement Systems:

In Pursuit of Continuous Improvementby Jill Gilbert

Copyright 2005 Air & Waste Management Association