Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85652
Companies are increasingly turning to environmental management systems to guide the allocation of resources, assignment of responsibilities, and ongoing evaluation of practices, procedures, and processes that a company needs to integrate environmental concerns into its daily businesses. ENVIRONMENTAL D Management Systems eveloping an environmental manage- ment system (EMS) may seem like it's adding another layer of red tape or additional responsibilities to an already- busy workload, but it can actually make a job much easier. "Companies are increasingly turning to environ- mental management systems to guide the alloca- tion of resources, assignment of responsibilities, and ongoing evaluation of practices, procedures, and processes that a company needs to integrate environmental concerns into its daily businesses," says Kelli L. Deuth, business development manag- er for Trinity Consulting and a contributing author for the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Associa- tion's (NSSGA) EMS template. In larger-scale aggregates operations, there are often dedicated environmental managers or even an entire environmental department. However, with smaller companies, employees often wear many hats — with just one of the jobs being man- agement of an environmental program or system. This means operating as efficiently and as leanly as possible is a priority. "An EMS can provide a lot of benefits," Deuth says. "Many times, you use existing practices and procedures and write them into an EMS system by direct reference or with slight changes. A lot of times, people think an EMS is going to add more work, but the point is that, by having a system in place, it can be simpler and more effective to man- age environmental compliance and even go beyond environmental compliance." Putting together a cross-sectional team from the Developing a system for environmental performance can make you both a good steward and give you a competitive edge. by Tina Grady Barbaccia, News & Digital Editor MANAGEMENT 5