MNO3704 STUDY NOTES.
,Chapter 1 – Introduction to environmental management
1.2 Defining environmental management
Environmental management is defined as the way in which business deal with
environmental aspects. This aspects are regarded as any element of activities,
products or services of an org that interacts with raw materials or resources in the
environment
Natural world is defined as an environment that comprises numerous natural
sources that are available to be used by the manufacturing industry as raw materials.
Section 1(xi) of the National Environmental Act 107 of 1998 (NEMA)
NEMA defines the environment as the immediate and remote surrounding within
which individuals & orgs exists.
Such surroundings are constituted by the atmosphere, water, land, micro-
organisms, fauna & flora, any section, combination or interrelationships btwn
these elements, such as the physical, chemical & cultural properties and
conditions that may affect human &/or orgnal health or well-being.
Management - the mandate of management to humankind is that humans use
natural resources in a responsible and orderly manner and as economically as
possible.
Management represents human endeavours to understand & describe ways that
natural, human, financial and man-made resources are supposed to be utilised in
order to reach specified goals, objectives & targets, while giving full recognition to
& applying economic principle.
The application of the economic principle does not imply thriftiness. It refers to
practising economic principle efficiently.
Soft issues that apply to EM include commitment, dedication, inspiration,
involvement, culture, recognition & leadership.
All such elements must be incorporated as integral parts of an orgnal
environmental management system (EMS).
1.3 Relationship btwn environmental mngmt & Business mngmt
*There is a close congruence btwn the environmental & business mngmt.
Business mngmnt can be regarded as the orderly & organised utilisation of
resources in providing goods & services to customer with due consideration of
the economic principle.
Rendering of services & the provision of goods via the co-ordination of work-
related activities result from the effective utilisation of human & other resources
while implementing the functions of Planning, Organising, Leading & Control (POLC cycle).
Planning implies thinking about options involved in activities that relate to
the achievement of orgnal business objectives.
Organising is concerned with structuring ppl into functional groups and
assigning tasks, authority & resources accordingly, in order to realise orgnal
objectives.
Leading refers to influencing & inspiring employees to realise the success
of a business org.
Control means applying processes to organise & regulate human and all
other resources involved in order to realise orgnal objectives.
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,*Environmental & business mngmt differ in terms of functional focus
Environmental mngmnt focuses on ways to deal with environmental aspects
in order to prevent any adverse environmental impacts. Environ aspects refer to
the involvement of any activities, products or services with any substance or
group of substances in the environment.
Business mngmnt focuses on the orderly utilisation of resources for the
purpose of financial gain. Implementing environmental mngmnt means that an
org plans & implements all activities, products & services in terms of environtal
mngmnt principles & strategies.
Environmental mngmnt implies Planning, Do, Check & Act (PDCA-cycle also
known as Deming cycle), which enables an org to realise its environtal policy
objectives & targets.
PDCA-cycle corresponds congruently with the POLC-cycle of business mngmnt.
Planning provides for thinking through & considering all options related to
activities, products & services in preparation for implementing an EMS.
Do stage all planned activities are put into practice.
Checking the do stage involves frequent periods of checking & reviewing to
see whether objectives & targets have been achieved.
Act the org has to act to rectify any non-conformities and to implement
preventative action as & when necessary.
The ISO 14000, as series of environmental mngmnt standards,
published/developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation
(ISO), uses the same approach in the effective implementation of an EMS.
The stages outlined by ISO 14000 in implementing an EMS are Planning,
Implementation & operation, Checking and Management review.
*A great congruence exists btwn the systematic approaches of business mngmnt
(POLC), PDCA/Deming cycle & the operational states of ISO 14000.
Total Quality Management (TQM) is continuously applied to determine the level of
mngmnt efficiency during the implementation of environtal mngmnt.
# Key elements of environtal mngmnt that TQM focus on are:
Management approach;
Continual improvement in advance of legal compliance;
Elimination of root causes of problems;
Involvement of staff & interested parties and;
Customer satisfaction.
1.4 Cross-functional teams (CFTs)
CTFs provide the best & only integrative approach to effectively managing SHE
(Safety, Health and the Environment) in the workplace.
Such teams are multi-disciplinary in nature, because members come from diff
profession or disciplines that convene to produce the best available solution to
any SHE challenge in the workplace.
Employees from lower levels may also be included depending on the nature of
the challenge.
CTFs are purpose driven and do not function beyond the scope of the challenge
for which they need to find solution. They can play an important part in innovation
& change.
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CTFs deals with similar challenges concerning, inter alia, SHE in the workplace;
however, their approach to challenges will differ in accordance with focus of their
particular discipline.
1. Line Manager/s
Responsible for the effectiveness of orgnal activities, products & services.
This applies in particular to the SHE mngmnt of the working & surrounding
environments.
Have to make final decisions on the nature of programme elements,
implement the programme and evaluate its outcome.
Have engage the expertise of a range of complimentary disciplines to
ensure that effectiveness & quality of environtal mngmnt programmes
a EMS ac eed a d a a ed.
2. Environmental Manager
Environtal specialists contributes to monitoring environtal issues in &
a da fac e.
Managing the immediate & adjacent environments in the workplace is an
important element of qualitative SHE in an org.
3. Safety practitioner
Responsible for guarding the quality of safety programmes & ensuring
that implementation of an outcome occurs in accordance with the CFTs
decision.
They have to facilitate the discussion & decision-making process.
The quality of the outcome of CFTs that meet to enhance SHE in the
workplace rests squarely on their shoulder.
4. Occupational health expert
They play an important role in monitoring the effects of the immediate &
remote environments on the health & well-being of orgnal workers and the
community at large.
Their input & knowledge that relate to pre- & post medical exams, medical
surveillance, injury reviews, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) are
indispensable when it comes to safety risk assessment , incident analyses
& solutions that result from their input.
They address main issues such as:
Ensuring that ppl are placed in suitable work;
Performing biological monitoring & health surveillance, in accordance
with the legislation;
Monitoring the health quality of the work environment;
Health counselling and education;
Delivering occupational health services;
Keeping health records & performing health liaison in connection with
health services external to an org.
5. Ergonomic expert
Focuses on the human-machine interface, which includes four elements:
the environment, machinery, the capabilities of the person and the
interaction (interface) btwn the person and the machine.
The design of workplaces plays an important role. They address elements
such as illumination, ventilation & manual handling.
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