Environmental Auditing: One key Feature of an Environmental Management System

摘要

How does a company effectively integrate appropriate environmental conduct into its overall business strategy? Environmental management systems can be utilized to enhance the economic roductivity of an organization. Environmetnal auditing and other methods of measuring environmental ocnduct are helpful, but alone wil never overcome the perceived conflict between environmental protection nad economic growth. Environmental management systems, such as auditing, can only be truly effective when ocupled with the application of traditional business management tools. These tools include creation and articaulation of a combined environmental and business vision, development of a mission that describes a path for achieving that vision and implementation of an enviromental management system that allosw for the measurement of the roganization's movement along that path. The traditional definition of an environmental managment system tedns to ofcus merely upon the environmental impact of an organization and ignores the relationship between the ocmpany's environemtnal ocnduct and its business goals. Accordingly, a truly effective environmental managemetn system is one that systematically integrates the environmental vision and objectives of an organization into the procedures and tasks already being conducted by the organization for the purpose of achieving its business vision and objective. Holnam Inc., NOrth America's largest manufacturer of cement, through the use of an in-house environmental team and key outside ocnsultants, including RMT, Inc. of ANn arbor, Michigan, has developed an environmetnal business strategy. THis strategy utilizes the results of its traditional environmental measurement techniques to bolster its econmically driven business goals. Holnam's environmental audit program is one key feature of its environmental business strategy.