ISO 14001 | Eshcon Environmental Consultant - ISO 14001 EMS SECR Net Zero ESOS Verification

EMS – Going a bit further…

9th October 201722nd November 2017 By admin Comment Closed

EMS - Going a bit further… What I like about networking is meeting new businesses & chatting about them, their activities, challenges & opportunities. We talk about the work I do & I often hear about their own environmental activities. It’s pleasing to hear how companies are recycling their waste or using low energy lighting. They are beginning to see the benefits that putting the environment into the business generates. But they realise they’re not as successful as they could be. Energy prices are still spiralling. Legal issues keep cropping up. Customers want more & more information. Staff don’t seem to be engaged. What they haven’t realised is that putting in an Environmental Management System can help address these problems. It gives the structure to manage impacts, find efficiencies & savings, get staff involved & communicate with their stakeholders. Seeing as most companies get started on the environment because their customers demand it, it makes sense to put in an Environmental Management System &...

What does my logo mean?

1st September 201722nd November 2017 By admin Comment Closed

What does my logo mean? This last month I've been working on my business not just in my business. I've redesigned my website (it's looking nice and fresh now). I've been thinking about marketing strategy. And I've even revisited my logo. As you know I am an environmental management consultant. I work with businesses to manage their impacts, reduce risk, save money and find commercial benefits. Indeed, my mission is to make environmental management the business norm. I often talk about putting the environment into the heart of the business. I don't want it to be an add-on. It should be part of core business operations. That's how you get the true benefits. I have redesigned my logo recently. It hasn't changed much, except the colouring & accents. You'll notice the green 'o' - this represents the green world, within the core of the business. That's what Eshcon is all about. Making environmental management straight forward for you to put it into your business so you...

ISO 14001 Countdown

25th July 201723rd December 2017 By admin Comment Closed

Countdown to ISO 14001 Many businesses have put in an Environmental Management System (EMS) to manage impacts, reduce costs & increase efficiency. It can help win business too, as many customers expect their suppliers to have one in place. If your EMS is certified to the international standard, you need to update it to the new ISO 14001:2015 standard by September 2018. See here for more details of the main requirements of the new standard. Here are my top tips for the countdown to the ISO 14001 deadline: 5 - Mind the Gap Start with a Gap Analysis of your current EMS to find out where you need to focus your attention. 4 - Don’t Do it Alone You may be isolated, so engage with colleagues from across the organisation & senior management to get a leadership boost. 3 - Know your Risks & Opportunities Use a PESTLE Analysis to help plan your strategy; it’s important to know the risks & opportunities facing your business in the future. 2 -...

June 17 Newsletter – Countdown to ISO 14001 & Support

22nd June 201721st December 2017 By admin Comment Closed

ESHCon regularly sends out an e-newsletter to contacts – here’s the latest from June 2017. Countdown to ISO 14001 & Support Stepping out of your comfort zone Last month I attended edieLive, the UK’s leading two day energy, sustainability and resource efficiency event for businesses. I chaired two sessions, on water management and energy, and I also spoke about how ISO 14001 could help energy managers step out of their comfort zone. There are many things make a manager uncomfortable & I considered three: Communicating; Risk management; & Other (non energy) activities. Using ISO 14001 helps address each of these issues. See here for a summary & findings of my sessions. Because most organisations are still early on in their environmental journey, they need a bit of hand-holding. Hence I use ISO 14001 to give them a formal structure to achieve their objectives. World Environment Day 5th June was World Environment Day. I saw a lot of tweets & stories, mostly about connecting with nature, so I put...

Chair at edie Live

30th May 20175th November 2020 By admin Comment Closed

Chair at edieLive Last week I chaired two sessions at edieLive, the UK's leading two day energy, sustainability and resource efficiency event for businesses. Taking place at the NEC, it welcomed thousands of people interested in environmental & energy management - businesses, consultants, suppliers, students alike. We were all there to learn, to network & improve our industry. In the afternoon, I chaired the Resource Efficiency theatre session “Putting the O in H2O - Where is the opportunity in water?”. We had great presentations from L’Oréal & IHG - Intercontinental Hotels Group, about the work they’d done to integrate water efficiency into their businesses. At the hotels, clearly water in kitchens & bathrooms was key. Whereas for L’Oréal it was the water within the products & in the manufacturing processes. See my blog for edie.net earlier this year on this. Earlier in the day at edieLive, I chaired the “Getting under the skin of an energy manager” session (photo above is a view from...

Overcoming the Challenges to Environmental Management

20th December 20167th September 2017 By admin Comment Closed

Overcoming the Challenges to Environmental Management There are many challenges to environmental management in business, some external but more often coming from within. Here are my thoughts on overcoming some of these challenges. Make it your USP and gain competitive advantage Customers and clients expect their suppliers to do an element of environmental management, from carbon footprint calculations to ISO 14001-certified Environmental Management Systems. So take the initiative: use it as your USP to differentiate yourself from your competitors; show customers you reflect their values, and use this to win business. Overcome your short-termism Most organisations (private & public) tend to focus on the short-term - budgets, pay-back periods, share price, terms of office, KPIs etc. To truly understand the risks & opportunities for your business, thinking a bit longer term makes sense. A sustainable business should engage with everyone it works with to look at, and reward, longer-term results. Why exclude energy efficiency projects that have a pay-back period of 2 years? Why aren’t the...

ISO 14001 Success

19th October 201622nd August 2017 By admin Comment Closed

Roband demonstrates environmental leadership Roband Electronics is pleased to announce that its Environmental Management Systems (EMS) has been successfully recertified to ISO 14001 - and this time to the new ISO 14001:2015 standard. The EMS is used to manage impacts, reduce risk, identify opportunities for cost savings and address customers’ needs. Carbon emissions have been reduced by 2%, waste by 5% and electricity by 9%. The new ISO 14001 standard has extra requirements, including a strong focus on leadership & alignment to the business strategy. ESHCon guided Roband through the transition process starting with an ISO 14001 Gap Analysis. Based in Charlwood near Gatwick Airport, Roband is an independent British company specialising in the design, development, manufacture and support of electronic power supplies. Roband is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Andrew Gold, Managing Director of Roband, said: “Our ISO 14001 system has been useful in getting our staff involved & showing our commitment to environmental protection. I am delighted with the team’s achievements.” ESHCon’s Director...

What is an EMS?

21st September 20164th January 2018 By admin Comment Closed

ISO 14001 - What is an Environmental Management System? All companies should be thinking about embedding environmental management into their business processes. An environmental management system (EMS) is a system to actively manage your impacts and comply with the law. This can be a simple system, or something more formal, developed to the international standard ISO 14001. With over 300,000 certificates issued across the world, ISO 14001 is the best known standard. Organisations start out on this for a variety of reasons: Customer expectation - Customers now expect suppliers to demonstrate commitment to their own values. Often, through tender documents, they will ask for carbon footprint, policy or ISO 14001. Competitive edge - Showing how their EMS makes them better than their competitors. Legal requirements – They may come under legal reporting requirements, be on the Environment Agency’s radar or are simply aware of the range of legislation that applies to them. Cost savings - With ever increasing costs and pressures on the...