Implementing an environmental management system, EMS

ABB has implemented environmental management system on almost all (>500) production sites all over the world and some general experiences on different topics are:

Project leader
The project leader needs to be familiar with the company’s processes and motivated i.e. wanting the project to succeed. The project leader have to be accepted within the whole organization.

Project team
Use a multi-disciplinary project team for the EMS project - The team should have as wide a range of experience as possible. Do not hesitate to bring in additional people/experts for particular issues. 

Pre-planning
The project leader and team should plan the project carefully before they begin. Look at the generic plans in the working procedure, then develop your own. Resist the temptation to descend into detail, instead, aim for a broad plan with all the major milestones identified and with agreements within the team for deliverables and due dates. Stick to your plan if you can, changing it only as needed. Effective planning is crucial to the success of complicated projects such as implementing a management system.

Keep it simple, practicable
Try to make the EMS as simple as possible. Use graphic rather than full-text procedures if they fit the company culture, combine system procedures where possible, and try to keep documentation short. The time and effort required to develop an EMS is geometrically related to the complexity of the documentation.

Detail
Develop a broad picture of what you want the EMS to look like, what the system documentation will contain, how it will work, etc. before thinking about detail. If the overall model does not work, the detail is worthless.

Originality
There are no marks for originality. Try to find people who have done it already, and see how they did it. Ask them what went well, what was tough, what they would do differently next time. Learn from their experience. 

Time frame 
Completion in nine to fifteen months would be a reasonable target for an organization with 50-250 employees with a work time of three to five man months. 

Aim for employee buy-in, ownership 
Always involve the employees when performing the initial review and when writing the procedures and instructions. Employees need to feel it is their system, and that it can be easily changed as their or the company's needs change.

Existing management system 
An existing management system can reduce the work and the amount of “newness” managers have to face. ISO 9001 contains many of the building blocks ISO 14001 needs, and these can be reused with little or no modification.

Choice of certifier 
There may be advantages in using the same certifier as for the ISO 9001 system, but if they do not agree with your approach it will generate much additional work. You have to make a decision. If you think your approach is right for you, find another certifier. There are plenty. 

Involve the certifier early 
Although it would be unpleasant to hear the certifier say he thinks your approach is misguided and that he is unwilling to certify anything based on it, it would be far better to hear that at the beginning of the project than near the end, when you have invested time, effort and credibility. If you involve the certifier early, you have time to change your approach or your certifier. 

Business value 
The strategy describes a generic implementation of an EMS, however the strategy alone will not be enough for a successful implementation. Additional expertise and information is needed but the experiences gained from implementing EMS in ABB companies could anyway by valuable when planning and executing an EMS project.