Introduction

The term "environmental management" covers a wide range of disciplines and in the business context it can encompass information from many diverse sources. Due to the wealth of information involved, it is unlikely that any one individual could manage this on their own. Indeed it would not be beneficial for one person to take responsibility for environmental matters whilst isolated from operational and other day-to-day activities, as the environment impinges either directly or indirectly on every activity and on every member of an organisation.

Therefore, effective environmental management should involve the co-ordination and control of the activities and efforts of all members of the organisation in achieving the desired level of environmental performance. This co-ordination and control should be carried out in a structured way to ensure that significant omissions do not arise and hence the need for a documented and systematic approach: the environmental management system ( EMS ). This should ensure that everyone is working towards the same policy, targets and standards etc. and that relevant information is documented, retrievable and auditable.

An EMS is therefore a system to enable a company to manage its environmental performance in a structured and effective manner. The two central aims of an EMS are to:

• Ensure legislative compliance

• Improve environmental performance

However, even if a company feels that a certified EMS is not currently relevant, all businesses can benefit from the selection and implementation of key EMS elements, e.g. maintaining information on legislation and introducing environmental training.