The effects of environmental legislation, directives and guidance on

an organisation

Presented by:

The economics of adopting a policy ofenvironmental awareness in organisations

• What is environmental management? – It refers to the responsibility taken up on by

an organization to use measures that would protect the environment from being harmed by its activities.

(Chartered Management Institute ,2010)

The economics of adopting a policy ofenvironmental awareness in organisations

• Environmental issues were previously thought of as a border concern.

• However, as global warming is taking place, it is being recognized how the business practices are harming the environment, thus making this topic a major concern for businesses. (Chartered Management Institute ,2010)

The economics of adopting a policy ofenvironmental awareness in organisations

• The Human Resource Management survey showed that more and more organizations are now implementing environmental friendly policies.

• ‘Being green’ could become a standard in the next few years according to them. (Gurchiek, 2011)

The economics of adopting a policy ofenvironmental awareness in organisations

• Environmental friendly policies is also a way to build favourable relations with consumers and in general with the public, adding to their goodwill.

• The Human Resource management survey showed that 61% of the employees are ‘likely’ to work at an organization that have such programs, making it a good retention strategy.(Gurchiek, 2011)

The economics of adopting a policy ofenvironmental awareness in organisations

• However, there maybe some barriers to adopting such environmentally friendly policies such as:– The cost of implementing and maintaining

the programs– Lack of management(Gurchiek, 2011)

Actions that need to be taken by organizations to maintain the environment

• There are a number of international and national institutions in order to protect the environment, that are imposing policies and procedures that need to be followed by organizations.

Actions that need to be taken by organizations to maintain the environment

• An example of an international institution would be the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP).

• UNEP supports governments to make environmentally friendly decisions by providing all sorts of information, thus developing environmental cooperation at a national and international level.(UNEP, 2010)

Actions that need to be taken by organizations to maintain the environment

• Apart from complying with the environment programmes, organizations can take the following measures to maintain the environment:– Create awareness in the firm for the need to be

environmentally friendly– Training and encouraging employees for practices

that will make them environmentally friendly for example, photocopying on both the sides of the paper, conserving energy and so on

– Promoting using public transport or pollution free transport such as bicycles

Actions that need to be taken by organizations to maintain the environment

– Working with suppliers that are environmentally friendly– Sponsoring events that promote preservation of the

environment– Recycling – Installing environmentally friendly machinery and

equipment– Having an automatic shutdown system for equipments– Using water conserving fixtures such as low-flow toilets(Gurchiek, 2011)

Measures that exist to improve workplace health and safety practice

• The main things that need to be done in order to promote health and safety at work includes:– Managing hazards by recognizing, analysing

and preventing them– Create awareness about health and safety at

work– Training employees to follow the procedures

required to create such a environment(ACC, 2003)

Measures that exist to improve workplace health and safety practice

• In the United Kingdom, the health and safety practices that have to be followed by organizations are influenced by the European Union (EU).

• On the basis of Article 137, EU encourages organizations to adopt policies that would improve the health and safety of employees at work, with minimum standards set by EU itself. (UEA, 2011)

Measures that exist to improve workplace health and safety practice

• The International Labour Organization is one more of such institutions that is concerned about the health and safety of employees. In 2007, the ILO adopted a global strategy for this matter. This involved:– Encouraging the governments of member states to adopt

national health and safety policies followed by a periodic review of the how effective the policies have been for annual reports.

– Requiring organizations to keep the work environment hygienic

– Adopting safety measures against accidents due to machinery and equipment, height falls and so on.

Measures that exist to improve workplace health and safety practice

– Providing a pollution free work environment (air, water and noise)

– Radiation protection– Preventing risks of occupational cancer– Protection against the chemicals at work

including handling the production, transport, disposing off of chemicals and so on

– Providing insurance against accidents(International Labour Organization, 2011)

Measures that exist to improve workplace health and safety practice

• Although the above mentioned organizations and many others have set minimum standards to be met by firms to protect employee health and to keep them safe, firms can set their own standards depending on the culture, structure, etc of the organization. (Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: European Union Committee, 2007)

References• Chartered Management Institute (2010). http://

www.managers.org.uk/page/best-practice-environmental-management-guidance-managers [accessed 5/15/2011]

• Gurchiek, R. (2011). HR magazine: Environmental awareness gains ground.

• UNEP (2010). http://www.unep.org/environmentalgovernance/ [accessed 5/15/2011]

• ACC (2003). http://www.osh.dol.govt.nz/order/catalogue/pdf/acc1107safety.pdf [accessed 5/15/2011]

References• UEA (2011). Best practices to improve workplace

environment and working conditions. http://www.ueanet.com/fiwec/doc/fiwec-brochure-ENG.pdf [accessed 5/15/2011]

• International Labour Organization (2011). http://www.ilo.org/global/standards/subjects-covered-by-international-labour-standards/occupational-safety-and-health/lang--en/index.htm [accessed 5/15/2011]

• Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: European Union Committee. (2007). Modernising European Union labour law: has the UK anything to gain? The Stationery Office, pp.87.