Environmental Policy
The final task in laying the groundwork for an EMS implementation is to develop and formalize an environmental policy for the organization. The environmental policy is a statement of an organization’s commitment to the environment, people, organization, and customers.
An environmental policy statement provides a foundation for the organization’s environmental goals similar to a mission statement. It provides a unifying vision for the employees to achieve the environmental goals of the organization. The policy statement should cover three key elements:
- Continuous improvement of the system to meet its environmental goals,
- Pollution prevention, and
- Compliance to environmental laws and regulations.
The policy should not be a flowery prose; it should be in simple, specific language, and provide a sense of direction for the organization. The policy should be related to the organization’s activities, services, products, etc. The policy should be easy to communicate to employees at all levels of the organization, and it should possible to demonstrate the policy through the organization’s activities. The policy statement should be signed and dated by an administrator in charge of the organization to indicate the organization’s approval of the policy and its commitment to it.
|
