Environmental Management Systems Part 1
July 9, 2008

Recently I have been involved in developing Metcam’s Environmental Management System in preparation for ISO 14000 certification.  Many of you already have an EMS in place and are aware of the purpose and design of the system.  This is the first time I have been involved in developing a system of this magnitude and scale and let me tell you its been a ride!
I was elected, appointed, given, directed, basically inherited this project from a former employee.  I have been part of all types of projects throughout my career playing major and minor roles but this one has been the most consuming one in a long time.  It has been awhile since I have had to hit the books this intensely.
I didn’t dive right in mind you.  I started by sticking my toes in - kind of like you would do on the first day the pool opens in the spring and let me tell you it was cold!  I started by compiling existing work that had been previously completed.  By the time I was finished I had a mountain of confusing paperwork on my desk that I had little if any understanding and a headache that would not go away.
Rebuild or Remodel?
Rebuild definitely!  After compiling the existing information, drafted procedures, work instructions and related documentation I decided the best route for me was to rebuild.  I put aside the mound of paperwork for future reference and began my research. 
Yep you guessed it, I Googled it resulting in information overload.  TMI TMI!  Translation for you experienced folks TMI = “To Much Information” a term my kids use on me, especially when they ask me a question and my answer is not short or simple enough.  After traversing the Google time warp and going off on tangent after tangent I decided my best route was to reverse engineer the system.
I scribbled down a few lines on a blank sheet of paper.  I asked “what are the requirements for ISO 14000?”  How can I KISS and make this happen with the least headache but make it an effective program that produces results and contributes to the bottom line?
Armed with these simple questions I contacted our quality manager to discuss his experience building the ISO 9000 system.  He immediately asked me if I had a copy of the interpretation from our Registrar, what do you know I found it in the mound of old stuff.  He said, “Its simple this is what you will be audited by and these are the standards you have to meet.”  Easy enough!  Not so quick.
It took a few times reading the interpretation before I began to really understand the workings of the system.  For a moment I have to admit that I was a skeptic as to the value of an EMS system considering the requirements for certification.  The proverbial light bulb went on and after some time I began to understand the EMS purpose and design.
I have to admit I was not enthused when starting this process.  Frankly I would rather be building some cool stuff!  However I am gaining new knowledge in an area that is as important as any facet of industry.  I am working on making this as cool as I can – its kind of hard to get out of the box on this one.  I will blog more on the EMS in future posts.

Posted by on July 9, 2008 | Comments (0)