#47
Eagles, 1976! Just as I was getting in to know what is Music that touches your soul!
“Some rich man came and raped the land, nobody caught ’em,
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes and, Jesus, people bought ’em
And they called it paradise, the place to be,
They watched the hazy sun sinking in the sea
You can leave it all behind and sail to Lahaina
Just like the missionaries did so many years ago
They even brought a neon sign ‘Jesus is Coming’,
Brought the white man’s burden down, brought the white man’s reign
Who will provide the grand design, what is yours and what is mine?
‘Cause there is no more new frontier, we have got to make it here
We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds
In the name of destiny and in the name of God”
“In a 1978 interview with Rolling Stone, Don Henley said: “‘The Last Resort’, on Hotel California, is still one of my favorite songs… That’s because I care more about the environment than about writing songs about drugs or love affairs or excesses of any kind. The gist of the song was that when we find something good, we destroy it by our presence — by the very fact that man is the only animal on earth that is capable of destroying his environment. The environment is the reason I got into politics: to try to do something about what I saw as the complete destruction of most of the resources that we have left. We have mortgaged our future for gain and greed.”Henley also recalled that he had been reading about “the raping and pillaging of the West by mining, timber, oil and cattle interests” at the time he wrote the song!!!”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++I am posting this blog triggered by a poster came in my INBOX messenger informing me that the company is celebrating WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY on 5th June !! While I have covered my skepticism and indifference in celebrating such events (Just like birthdays??? what is the use) which are dog and pony show on the occasion of national safety day in a post here. I would echo similar sentiments and post what can be done to improve environment a better place like Don wants it to be and really make a meaningful contribution to keep the earth a more cleaner, greener place! It is our obligation to the next generation!
So what EHS Folks can do / Influence make place they spend 1/3 of the day a better place!
- Leadership:- Nothing works ( I think I have written Donkey’s times in my posts) without leadership/management involvement, Engagement, Committment! Leaders need to walk the talk in Environmental stewardship. No entity can survive without leadership participation. Work environmental management from Short, Medium and long-term in terms of Threats, Opportunities, Strength, Weakness and work plans. Cover Environmental programs like Air, water, haz waste etc, Remediation, Energy, Resources, Legal aspects,Sustainability, Business Foot Print etc etc.
- Environmental Leaders display the following traits a) Leadership begins with relationships and the personal skills needed to develop them. The greatest impact will lie in the collective capacity of the network that the entity creates within and outside with trust and respect.
b) Diversity is a crucial component of public leadership. Environmental leaders must themselves reflect the diversity of the social and political environment in which they engage and have the skills to work across difference.
c) Leadership relies on individuals daring to take calculated professional risks called Intelligent Risk taking. - Risk Assessment:- If one component which can make or break an entity, it is RISK Assessment from an Environmental standpoint. Risk Assessment clearly quantifies the situations that can impact business and work mitigation plans. As EPA aptly puts it, “At EPA, ecological risk assessments are used to support many types of actions, including: regulation of hazardous waste sites, industrial chemicals, and pesticides; or the management of watersheds or. other ecosystems affected by multiple chemical, physical, or biological stressors”
4. Compliance alone would take you no where! I am personally astonished how organisations feel in today’s stressful environment, they feel it is adequate to comply with the laws of land! That would take you nowhere, Compliance can only deliver 30% at most in the journey towards excellence. Also when you have incidents, even pleading that compliance is done well wont come to the rescue as many times what is written in document vs What is being done at the Ground ZERO would be very different. This can lead to judicial actions under Wilful violations. So in environmental compliance is Conformance +Excellence.
5. Journey towards environmental Excellence:– Once the basics are done with leadership, Strategy, Risks identified and mitigated with the compliance norms established. Organisations can move in the journey as follows by implementing programs, procedures, people engagement,
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- Impact to the environment (EIA or equivalent)
- Pollution prevention
- Energy efficiency
- Renewable energy
- Renewable, recovered or recycled materials, TNPO (Total Non productive Output) Focus.
- Green building
- Recycling programs
- Management commitment
- Employee involvement
- Continuous improvement through Objectives, Targets, Programs
- Environmental management system ISO 14001-2015 or equivalent
- Promotion and dissemination of Environmental communications
- Innovation of doing things different or value add to existing process
- Impact to the environment (if not addressed as main criteria)
- Life cycle analysis
- Pollution prevention
- Drinking Water
- Hazardous Material Management from Environmental standpoint
- Energy efficiency
- Renewable energy
- Renewable, recovered or recycled materials
- Green building
- Storm water best management practices
- Environmentally preferable purchasing
- Recycling programs
- Greener by Design (LEED or equivalent)
- Economic benefits
- Environmental management accounting
- As process matures it involves in community and neighbourhood participation such as
- Product or service design with Environmental foot print details beyond fence
- Environmental Process maturity assessments, both self or III parties for continuous improvement journey
- Community education and awareness
- Improving the supply and delivery chain, Environmental product impact
- Sharing information about environmental impacts
- Local environmental priorities
- Maintaining ecosystems
- Community support
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6. People:- No program without full hearted efforts of the people can go anywhere and make meaningful progress. In environmental programs people can participate by 1) Participating in Risk assessment and risk mitigation initiatives 2) Resource conservation efforts 3) Developing and enhancing skills to required to do job better 4) Participation in Training and Communication programs 5) Making people better by working career path, personal development.
I conclude once again with what bugs entities as the “KNOWING DOING GAP” which is what people know vs What people do! The lesser the gap the better the results for companies.
Wishing the very best. God Bless. Celebrate World Environment day, but do things much beyond celebrations!!!
Karthik.
3/6/2017
1430 Hrs.
PS: Thanks are due for all the references from websites !! Their copyright is duly acknowledged for articles and videos. The usage is for illustrative purpose only.
Health, Environment, Safety, Sustainability (HESS) 