Recently the province of Ontario experienced a thunderstorm leaving 10 dead and hundreds of thousands without power for several weeks.
Waiting to act until an incident has occurred is never the best option when it comes to environmental risk. This tends to result in significant disruption and other adverse effects that might otherwise have been avoided.
However, this is the approach when compliance is based on the traditional operating principles of audits and corrective actions.
To get ahead of environmental risk will require a change in mindset and behaviors of the kind that we have talked about in recent years. Just as we have seen quality and safety become more performance and risk-based the same shift is happening for environmental obligations with increasing measure.
This shift will require an operational model that is more than training, audits and corrective actions. It will more akin to Total Quality Management (TQM) where better environmental outcomes are designed into products and services – Environmental By Design.
Organizations will need to set goals and objectives, contend with uncertainty, continuously improve performance, and make progress in the advancement of environmental outcomes.
The good news is the same principles applied to TQM and Operational Excellence can be used to meet environmental obligations.
It's time for environmental compliance to become operational in the full sense of the word.
Are environmental objectives included in your operational plans?
