How does Environmental Management System Help a Construction Firm?

If you are searching for ways to control the wastes produced by your organisation, you must go through this article. It has detailed how to use ISO 14001 certified Environmental Management System.

When it comes to a construction firm, waste management plays a critical role. A construction site is always wrapped by a vast amount of waste. It not only creates a great nuisance but also causes hazards and well as expenses. A firm can be charged a potential amount of fine. Moreover, excessive weight is a sign of non-optimised processes. ISO 14001 Standard has come up with a framework that enables an organisation to deal with waste management effectively. Sometimes, it decreasing the amount of the waste becomes impossible for a business. In such a case, the company should manage the waste properly, considering the cost savings on the construction site.

Before delving into the details discussion, let’s have a look at some important statistics about construction waste:

• Australia produces about 14 million tons of waste every year

• Construction waste consumes 25% virgin wood and 40% raw stone

• At the end of a project, almost 20% unused material ends up as waste

The main requirement of ISO 14001 Standard is, of course, implementation of Environmental Management Systems or EMS. In this article, I will explain how an EMS can help a construction firm deal with waste management in the most-effective way.

Let me give you an instance so that you can have a clear idea of the concept I am going to discuss. Let’s say, XYZ is a company that builds 10 houses every year. The construction sites, however, are scattered; the size and the style of each of these ten constructions are no doubt different and unique. XYZ company hires ten 10 people per one construction. The company places a 35-cubic-yard container on each construction site at the beginning of the construction process.

This is the present waste management scenario of the company. Now, I will discuss how this company should deal with the waste following certain principles of ISO certified EMS.

Most of the companies conduct an extremely wide waste-production audit. Well, XYZ Company is not going to walk on this path. They will employ a short-cut yet effective strategy. Several studies on construction waste have revealed the fact that about 75% of the debris contains cardboard and gypsum while the rest 25% includes paints, oils, and similar wastes.

Now, what should XYZ Company do? They should call the local solid waste agency to learn about recycling and waste disposal facilities available in the country. Next, the company should request the agency for sending a pamphlet that lists relevant information on the local and state regulations about construction wastes. Moreover, this pamphlet should outline the disposal methods used for various materials, demolition process, and transfer facility popular in Australia.

It is important to call the homebuilders, material suppliers, and the subcontractors to gather information about their practices. After gaining all the information, the company will be able to determine a disposal alternative.

Next, the company will estimate the total amount of cardboard, wood, and gypsum. They will estimate the total amount of each material generated during the construction of each house. It will help them determine the ways of dealing with each of the materials. Moreover, it will help them understand which capabilities are required for this task.

Implementing ISO 14001 Standard in a construction firm like XYZ requires an effective waste management process in place. This process should help the business in achieving the objectives of construction waste management. These objectives are:

• Reduction of Environmental Impact

• Mitigation of Possible Environmental Risk Factors

• Compliance with the Law and Regulation

• Compliance with ISO 14001:2015

It is important to make the waste management an integral part of the business management system. What is the initial step of developing this waste management process? In the beginning, the company should divide the wastes into two categories- hazardous and non-hazardous.

Hazardous wastes include materials having inflammability, toxicity, corrosiveness, or reactivity. This kind of wastes requires special storage systems. In fact, hazardous wastes should be dealt with precautions. In most of the cases, hazardous wastes are found in paints, bitumen, batteries, oils, and chemicals. The company should store the hazardous wastes separately on the basis of the relevant regulations.

Non-hazardous waste includes cardboard, wood, gypsum, concrete debris, asphalt, steel, and metal scrap. These wastes should be stored in separate containers with labels. The label should clearly state what kind of wastes is inside the container.

The waste management system should have two different methods for dealing with these two categories.

Whenever XYZ Company will manage the wastes on the construction site effectively, they will be able to reduce the cost and escalate the profit margin. It is important to make sure that the company and its employees understand the terms of the standard- ISO 14001. Equally important is to understand the basic elements of the Environmental Management Systems. It would be better to develop a monitoring system to assess the waste management and improvement process.

Before concluding the discussion, I am going, to sum up, the entire process pointwise to help you implement the process in the organisation:

• Evaluate the Waste produced by your Organisation

• Store the Waste Properly

• Label the Waste

• Transport and Disport the Waste

• Make Emergency Plan Ready

• Train your Staff

• Measure the Performance

With the right strategy and resources, you will be able to manage the wastes in a most-effective way. All you need is a perfect plan

Damon Anderson is a passionate ISO consultant who has penned down his ideas in a number of blogs. Most of his blogs are focused on Environmental Management Systems, ISO Quality Management System, and Risk Management System etc. He has sound knowledge of business management system as well.

Report this Page