Environmental management systems
An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a system you can set in place to manage your current and future environmental impact. An EMS integrates environmental management into your business' daily operations, long term planning and other quality management systems. You can develop a simple plan for managing your EMS or a more comprehensive one that can be certified under the international standard ISO 14001.
There are a number of components in an EMS, including:
- environmental impact identification
- objectives and targets
- operational and emergency procedures
- responsibilities and reporting structure
- continual improvement.
Your business can benefit from implementing an EMS in a number of ways including rationalising resource use, making licences and permits easier to obtain and helping you meet your own environmental and quality targets.
If you think you might want to have your EMS accredited, make sure you consider the following questions:
- Do your customers think having a certified EMS is important?
- Do your competitors have a certified EMS?
- Have your competitors benefited from being certified?
While an accredited EMS can give your business more recognition from your customers, if you are a small business it may take up a considerable amount of time and effort for you to implement.
What to do...
- Read about developing an EMS in the Profiting from Environmental Improvement in Business information kit.
- Find out about Environmental management systems on the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts website.
- Visit the business.gov.au Government statistics page for statistical information to help you plan.
- Check what tools and resources could help you by visiting our Tools & resources webpage.
- Find information on Environmental management systems in your state or territory.
