BSBSUS501 — Develop Work place policy and procedure for sustainability
Assessment 1
One of the most-used definitions is by the World Commission on Environment and Development.
They define sustainability or sustainable development as "forms of progress that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs." This definition argues for the rights of future generations to raw materials and vital ecosystem services to be taken into account in decision making.
As resources, energy, and water become more expensive, and the cost of managing waste increase, understanding, managing and reducing these costs will not only improve competitiveness, but will position your business in a new market where customers are increasingly looking for a more sustainable product or service.
Being able to demonstrate that your business has reduced its environmental impact, will increase the support of the local community, and help attract new skills and staff to your business. There are hundreds of different definitions of sustainability.
The NSW Business Chamber has released a study 'Environmental Law and Small to Medium Enterprises in Australia' which found;
In what we have researched earlier, the resources of water and energy become expensive and waste management expenses increase due to improper use.
The Business Manager, Seamus MacVille has noted that some of the resources are not properly utilized inspire of these practices being promoted by the Sustainability Team. Some of the initiatives that MacVille wants to be implemented are:
For example — one of the best practice models which is simple and easy to follow is developed by a company called EcoBiz Queensland which is a six step process -
Step 1 |
Complete the application process |
Step 2 |
Measure waste, energy and water |
Step 3 |
Review waste, energy and water |
Step 4 |
Complete an Action Plan |
Step 5 |
Put your plan into action |
Step 6 |
Report on your achievements |
This process will help the company in measuring the business footprint, identify the opportunities for improvement, implement these techniques and re-measure to check whether these processes have worked. In order to manage your resources, first you have to measure them. Next you review and find ways to improve, chart out a plan, then implement these plans. In the end, after a certain period if you find that these plans are effective, then report your achievements.
The shortfalls noticed in the existing policy are that the practices that are promoted by the Sustainability Team are not being implemented, which are:
The new policy that will be required to implement changes to the current policy should state the following:
The personnel who will be in charge of the review and revision of policy documents will
Be:
Steering Committee - In charge of the recent decisions for the changes in policies. Changes in the direction of the company, moving towards triple bottom line sustainable approaches within the coffee industry
Business Manager - Seamus MacVille who will be given the task of implementing the required changes by informing the property services and finance department
Property Services - the department in charge of making the requested changes to the existing structure and re-programming of the air-conditioning, lights and waste management
Finance Department - The department who will monitor the financial aspect involved in the purchase of required equipment for the changes planned regarding waste management
Human Resources Department The department that will be in charge of recruitment and training new staff towards sustainability practices and will be responsible for
Passing on the information to their head office administration staff
Currently MacVille has a policy and procedure manual in place. There are a few changes that are required to this resources policy.
In following these few changes it will help and preserve the natural resources and also help in proper management of these resources.
The Steering Committee has in the recent press release informed about a new direction the company is taking. They want MacVille to be a leading practitioner in triple bottom line sustainable practices in the coffee industry, where there will be changes in the buying, roasting and coffee shops.
Sustainability has been prevalent since the mid 1990's but the new approach towards it is the triple bottom line approach. This is a brief of what Triple Bottom Line sustainability is all about.
As stated in the Indiana Business Review - The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) is an accounting framework that incorporates three dimensions of performance: social, environmental and financial. This differs from traditional reporting frameworks as it includes ecological (or environmental) and social measures that can be difficult to assign appropriate means of measurement. The TBL dimensions are also commonly called the three Ps: people, planet and profits. We will refer to these as the 3Ps.
Calculating the TBL
The 3Ps do not have a common unit of measure. Profits are measured in dollars. What is social capital measured in? What about environmental or ecological health? Finding a common unit of measurement is one challenge. Some advocate monetizing all the dimensions of the TBL, including social welfare or environmental damage. In concluding the above mentioned triple bottom line sustainable practices if it has to be measured in monetary terms, the implementation and measuring of it will be worked out by the new team who will be recruited from internal staff and externally. They will have to train the internal staff and recruit highly skilled staff that will be capable of reviewing and passing on this information to the rest of the company.
The current usage of resources is mostly wasteful. The air-conditioning is manual and needs to be turned on and off by the staff. If it is forgotten it is being used 24 hours which amounts of wastage of electricity. Similarly the lights too have to be turned off when the staff is leaving work. Water is being wasted due to the dual-flush system not being utilized properly. Paper is not being disposed of properly which can be separated into recycled and general rubbish.
In re-programming the air-conditioning to turn off at end of day and the lights being turned off at the end of day, it will help in saving electricity and resources
Waste management — in separating the paper into recycling and general waste it will help in recycling the recyclable paper and reducing the amount going into landfill which will help save the environment. Dual-flush in encouraging the people to use the
Dual-flush - in toilets it will help in reduction of resources which is otherwise being wasted due to improper use. In making these necessary changes it reflects MacVille's commitment to sustainability which proves that they are taking the TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE approach seriously. The other changes that they intend is in the buying of coffee beans, roasting methods and disposing of the remains of the coffee in a sustainable manner.
Assessment 2
In giving the world one of the 20th Century's greatest buildings, Jorn Utzon changed the creative and cultural landscape of Australia forever. Sydney Opera House continues the legacy of Utzon's creative genius by creating, producing and presenting the most acclaimed, imaginative and engaging performing arts experiences from Australia and around the world - onsite, offsite and online.
One of our long-term strategic goals is to create a vibrant and sustainable site. For us, sustainability means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In doing this we apply the values of stewardship, inclusivity, integrity and transparency.
This Policy details our commitment to the environmental component of sustainability. We believe that to achieve an enduring contribution to our culture and society and to maintain economic viability, we must live responsibly within our environment. We are committed to:
The key stakeholders for the policy and plan -
We will drive to improve the environmental performance of the Sydney Opera House precinct through engaging and influencing our stakeholders including commercial, corporate and presenting partners, our supply chain and our customers.
As a global icon, host for visitors from around the world, and a community symbol that unites Australians, we believe it is our responsibility to demonstrate and communicate our practices openly to raise environmental awareness and to engage and empower others.
The Sydney Opera House aims to embed environmental sustainability in everything they do while meeting the strategic goals of their diverse business: artistic excellence; improving community engagement and access; maintaining a vibrant and sustainable site; earning their sing their World Heritage Values.
The Executive Team works in partnership with the Trust and is responsible for developing, implementing and monitoring the organizational strategy. The executive Team comprises the Chief Executive and five directors. The people in the implementation level will be the Managers and their staff and stakeholders.
The CEO's message as mentioned in the Annual Report 2009 — "Our commitment to environmental sustainability gathered strength this year with the appointment of a new Manager, Sustainability and Energy to lead the campaign to reduce our environmental impact. Development of a new Sustainability Policy and Plan next year will continue to guide us toward more environmentally aware operations.-
Environmental sustainability was strengthened this year through a variety of initiatives. From February 2009 the Sail Lights were turned off for an extra four hours per night, saving close to 12 megawatt hours per year. In Sydney Opera House, biodiesel generators were used to light the sails for Luminous and Smart Light Sydney with carbon emissions offset through independently verified Greenhouse Friendly TM carbon credits. With the new role of Manager, Sustainability and Energy appointed in November 2008, a 'Green Team' was created to encourage environmental awareness throughout the organization using specially designed programs and information for staff and stakeholders.
Other initiatives included waste audits, installation of water efficient spray guns in restaurant areas, a 'Greening the House' exhibition to celebrate World Environment Day and development of a Recycling and Waste Management Strategy. Consultation with stakeholders was undertaken to inform a new Environmental Sustainability Policy and Plan.
Purchased 6% Green Power, supporting Australia's renewable energy industry, and continued implementation of our Energy Saving Action Plan and Water Saving Action Plans.
Replacement of all old printers, faxes and photocopiers with energy efficient multifunctional machines.
Promoting safer and cleaner work practices, 'Site Clean Up Week' was conducted from 6-8 April 2009 to assist staff, contractors and business partners in disposing of dangerous goods and hazardous substances. This initiative aimed to improve awareness of OH&S requirements and environmental compliance standards. Ensuring the safety of visitors, staff and business partners, a new safety management system, including an OH&S Risk Register was developed. The register improves identification, monitoring and management of potential safety hazards across high risk areas of the site and will be operational in July 2009.
This Policy provides a framework to implement measures to improve their environmental performance. They will:
Sydney Opera House ongoing commitment to the highest customer service standards saw a new program of customer service training commence, with further training to be delivered next year.
Their safety record continued to improve this year and a range of new programs and systems were developed. Sydney Opera House's ongoing commitment to safety will ensure improvement initiatives continue next year.
Their commitment to environmental sustainability gathered strength this year with the appointment of a new Manager, Sustainability and Energy to lead the campaign to reduce the environmental impact.
Development of a new Sustainability Policy and Plan next year will continue to guide them toward more environmentally aware operations.
They will continue to
Next year, energy management initiatives will include:
The new energy management systems Opera House has implemented are:
Improving the efficiency of air conditioning
Sydney Opera House is working to make the air conditioning system more efficient. They replaced older pumps and motors with new, more efficient ones. They have changed the way the seawater cooling is used in the air conditioning system to enable the equipment to operate more efficiently. They are in the process of installing a small, efficient air conditioning chiller to handle low loads so that the large chillers can be turned off when not required. They predict this will result in energy savings.
Turning off lights
They have reduced the operating hours of Sail lighting, turning the lights off for around an extra 4 hours per night. This saves around 12 megawatt hours per year.
Energy Efficient Lighting
They are progressively replacing older lighting with newer energy efficient lighting. They switched to compact fluorescent lights in the dressing rooms that use 80% less energy. They replaced old, energy hungry tubes with energy efficient LEDs in the Green Room.
In implementing new energy efficient ways for use of resources it is reducing the green house emissions, using energy efficient bulbs, turning the lights off for a few hours each day, leads to reduction in electricity costs which leads to sustainability in terms of finance
Potential shortfalls could be delay in implementing the plan due to improper working of the equipments, installation difficulties. Acceptance of changes at all levels. The strategies that can be applied are procedures to be followed properly, the equipment to be checked thoroughly and responsibilities to be assigned to people at all levels to ensure they comply and do their job efficiently and time frames to be allotted for every change. Information to be sent out to everyone to inform them of the changes and why they are being made, to educate them about the impact it can have on the environment. Improvements in new technology will help in continuously improving and finding better ways in maintaining or enhancing environmental sustainability.
Launch of an internal 'Greening the House' campaign and section on the staff intranet aimed at educating staff about environmental sustainability and encouraging energy efficiency.
This part details what must be accomplished to achieve your objectives. Include a task manager for each step, so that roles are clearly defined and there is accountability. As you enumerate tasks and assignments, these descriptions should be plainly and generally stated. Emphasize the expected results associated with these tasks.
Opera House works to harness the ideas and enthusiasm of their people, allocate responsibilities wisely, build capacity and skills of staff, and see the resulting achievements generate further ideas and energy.
Continuous improvement is an ongoing effort to improve products, services or processes.
Among the most widely used tools is a four-step quality model —
The plan-do-check-act cycle;
Assessment 3
The outcomes of the implementation process are:
Graphs to summaries progress
Bar chart showing gas usage in Sydney opera house kitchens from 2009 -2006
In evaluating the graphs we identify the following trends in data:
Further actions that needs to be taken
Develop a plan to address identified actionareas
Identify and describe areas of successful implementation (from information provided)
There has been reduction in electricity usage by implementing energy efficient lighting, reduction of operating hours of Sail Lights, by using energy efficient LED lights.
There has been reduction in water usage by installing water efficient spray guns in the restaurant areas.
They have become energy efficient by using biodiesel generators to light the sails, carbon emissions have been offset through independent Greenhouse friendly carbon credits. Two waste audits were conducted this year to gain an in depth understanding of the waste streams at Sydney Opera House. Audit information has been used to review current practices and to develop a Recycling and Waste Management Strategy for improving waste recycling, which will be implemented in the next year. The strategy will include a new three bin separation system (paper, comingled and landfill), improved recycling of building maintenance materials including light bulbs, and trial systems for managing organic food waste from kitchens within the Sydney Opera House precinct.
Revisions to policy and procedures
This Policy provides a framework to implement measures to improve their environmental performance. The policy can be revised to:
Urgenthomework helped me with finance homework problems and taught math portion of my course as well. Initially, I used a tutor that taught me math course I felt that as if I was not getting the help I needed. With the help of Urgenthomework, I got precisely where I was weak: Sheryl. Read More
Follow Us