What is the Environmental StandardsMark?
The Environmental StandardsMark is a green “five tick” symbol that indicates that an organization has been independently assessed against the international environmental standard ISO 14001.
Organizations display the green "five tick" StandardsMark to demonstrate to consumers that they take their environmental management responsibilities seriously.
Which organizations face environmental risks?
Large mining, oil and chemical companies are often considered to be the most prone to environmental risks due to the enormity of oil spills, chemical leaks and other environmental disasters that they are capable of causing.
However, environmental risks are a concern for a wide range of organizations that SAI Global work with such as those in the tourism, services and transport industries. In fact there are few industries where government environment legislation and environmental risks are not recognised.
What environmental management responsibilities do organizations have?
Supporting environmental protection and the prevention of pollution are responsibilities that organizations face on a day-to-day basis. However, organizations may also have other environmental management responsibilities that are influenced by factors such as the industry they are in. For example:
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In the tourism industry, visitors to national parks can create pollution issues when descending on remote areas
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Companies with large offices are prone to consuming large amounts of paper and neglecting to recycle old computers and ink cartridges
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In the transport industry trucks emit fumes as they deliver supplies to manufacturers and to your local shops.
In the situations mentioned above, responsible and environmentally conscious organizations would have identified these risks before they occurred and implemented a management system to reduce the impact or likelihood of these events happening.
Organizations are responsible for making sure that they understand all the environmental laws that affect them and for adopting an environmental management system that addresses these laws.
What is an environmental management system?
Similar to an OHS management system, an environmental management system involves four key steps:
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Identifying and prioritising all of these possible hazards and risks
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Deciding who in the organization has responsibility to address them
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Giving them the resources and authority to do something about it
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Evaluating and reviewing what has been implemented
What should you expect from a company with an Environmental StandardsMark?
When you see our Environmental StandardsMark associated with an organization it means that they are serious about taking care of environmental risks. You know that they have looked at the possible environmental risks associated with their activities and have implemented a management system which aims to minimise the chances of those risks occurring.
Only an organisation certified by SAI Global has the right to display the recognised green “five ticks” StandardsMark demonstrating that it is an environmentally focused organisation.
To view a list of companies that take their environmental management seriously please click here.