Developing a workplace sustainability policy

Before developing a workplace sustainability policy an organization must first determine

the scope of the intended policy. This involves understanding the organizations current
environmental impact, identifying how the organization can aspire to minimize the
environmental impact of its operations and being familiar with the range of legislation
and regulations that need to be complied with. When preparing to develop the policy, you
need to gather all the relevant information, identify and consult with stakeholders to
encourage their input, and consider the financial implications and time lines for
implementation. The ultimate development of a sustainability policy should reflect the
organizations commitment to sustainability as a part of the overall business planning
process.
To develop a policy the following points should be considered:
- Defining the scope of the sustainability policy
- Gathering information to plan and develop the policy
- Identifying and consulting with stakeholders
- Including appropriate sustainability strategies
- Making recommendations for policy options based on likely effectiveness, time frames
and cost
- Developing a policy that reflects the organizations commitment to sustainability
- Agreeing to appropriate methods of implementation

Scope Definition of Sustainability Policy

As you begin the task of creating a workplace sustainability policy, it is important to
begin by determining the scope of your project. It is easy to decide that you are going to
change the whole world, or at least change your whole company, but much harder to
actually accomplish it. Therefore, your scope must be something that is achievable.
Remember, your policy is a living document. You can start out by developing a plan and
policy for changing one division of location of your company, then after seeing how
successful that plan is, expand it to include other divisions and location. Or, you can
develop a plan that starts with making changes in your manufacturing operations, then
expands out to include other parts of your companys operations.

Information Gathering for planning and developing policy

Wading through the information relating to guidelines in standards can be a tremendous
undertaking. As you can see from the previous section, there are a wide variety of sources
available, mostly from the federal government. Trying to decide what type of approach to
take can be overwhelming because there are many different directions a company can
take to increase efficiency. Becoming familiar with the different strategies relating to
sustainability management will help increase company confidence relating to their chosen
strategy.
Some of the sources that you use to develop your policy may include:
Regulatory sources
Relevant personnel
Organizational specifications

Stakeholder Identification and Consultation

As with every plan, policy, process, service or product in your company, there are going
to be certain stakeholders who should be involved in the process. Your company has a
wide variety of specialists, all of whom are focused on their own little corner of the
world. In that corner, they are the expert; but at the same time, they may be oblivious to
what is happening in other parts of the company.
Some of these people will already have ideas and information that should be included in
your sustainability policy. For example, the facilities manager may have already
discussed chemical recycling with a provider of those services, to reduce the disposal of
hazardous chemicals. While he may not have been able to justify the change in
procedures or cost thereof, including his initiative in the sustainability policy makes that
justification essentially automatic.
Likewise, other stakeholders will have information particular to their area of expertise.
This may only be something theyve heard about in their professional circles or seen in a
trade magazine; nevertheless, it is valuable information, and may be more up to date than
what you are able to glean from other sources.

Minimizing Resource Usage

As you begin the process of creating your sustainability policy, keep in mind that it is
better to create something that is doable than something that just sounds good. While the
temptation might be there to create a policy that can impress even the most cynical
environmentalist, if your company cant do what that policy says or if doing it would
place the company at risk financially, then it is unrealistic.

A well written sustainability policy should be able to be integrated seamlessly with your
companys other goals and activities. Ideally, you want to make those connections,
between your sustainability policy and your companys other policies, so that others dont
have to seek them out.
While you are the one who is doing the research and writing the policy for sustainability,
you probably dont have the authority to approve and implement that policy. That
authority will probably be vested in the board of directors or upper management in your
company. Your responsibility is to research and develop the policy, it is theirs to approve
or disapprove.
DEVELOP POLICY THAT REFLECTS THE ORGANISATIONS
COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABILITY AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF BUSINESS
PLANNING AND AS A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
As youve been studying and preparing recommendations for the companys
sustainability policy, youve probably developed some ideas of what needs to be included
and how it needs to be presented. This policy you are creating is the companys primary
way of stating their commitment to sustainability as an integral part of the business.
Government agencies, other companies, employees and the community at large are going
to look at this policy as a declaration of your companys commitment to sustainability.
Your policy must strike a balance between environmental needs, societal needs and your
companys economic needs. If any one of these three parts are not treated in the right
balance, the policy will be doomed to fail.
Points to remember while making a sustainability policy
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Keep it simple one page should be enough, if it is clear and succinct it will
communicate the necessary information to your stakeholders
Keep it real strategies and objectives should be achievable and measurable
Link it as much as possible to existing mission, vision and values (sustainability
should be a way for the organization to achieve value for all stakeholders,
investors, customers, employees, community etc.)
Align with other policies sustainability policies can often overlap with
businesses OH&S policy or quality management standard. Highlight this point in
your sustainability policy and ensure that two separate policies dont contradict
each other
Dont reinvent the wheel many sustainability policies are available on the
internet, use these as a template to create one that is applicable to your own
business

Identifying implementation methods

List the initiatives you are going to implement and identify a time line, who will be
involved, resources needed and any training required. You may decide to phase in the
various activities over a specific time frame or trial the policy and procedures within a
specific team or department. Whatever procedure you adopt, make sure all details are
clearly set out.

Targets
Set clear understandable goals that are measurable and realistic so everyone is able to be
committed and achieve the goals. Targets may include:
-

dates for implementation and target dates for milestones

deliverables: what, where and when, including progress reports
standards and performance including key performance indicators
Review dates.

Time lines
Time lines determine dates for a wide range of activities; agreed time lines with
stakeholders provides them with realistic time lines for implementation. Time lines
include dates for:
-

project start
implementation of communication strategy
target dates for achievements
training schedules.

Resources
Determine resource requirements (physical, human and financial) and the type, style,
quantity and time required. Agreed requirements provide ownership and commitment for
acquisition of the necessary resources. Document the:
-

quantity and specification of resources required

staff/contractors needed: where and when
funding options
date required for various resources
potential suppliers.

Communicating expected outcomes, activities and responsibilities

Simply knowing about a sustainability policy is not sufficient. Everyone involved in

implementing the policy needs to understand:
-

the specific outcomes expected goals for the organization, deliverables for a
work area and key performance indicators for those implementing the strategies
the range of activities to be undertaken to achieve the goals
the responsibilities assigned
any interrelationships with other parts of the organization in terms of the impact
of the initiatives.

Communicating expected outcomes, activities and responsibilities

Simply knowing about a sustainability policy is not sufficient. Everyone involved in
implementing the policy needs to understand:
-

the specific outcomes expected goals for the organization, deliverables for a
work area and key performance indicators for those implementing the strategies
the range of activities to be undertaken to achieve the goals
the responsibilities assigned
any interrelationships with other parts of the organization in terms of the impact of
the initiatives.

Promoting Workplace Sustainability Policy

Before the implementation of the sustainability policy, it will be necessary to
communicate the policy, expected outcomes and expected benefits to all stakeholders,
including staff and employees. This process of communicating the policy may take some
time, as you in essence modifying the corporate culture to contain some new elements.
For stakeholders outside of the company, you should utilize all of the methods your
company normally uses to communicate with them, including:
Advertising
Web site
Newsletters
Formal reports (to government stakeholders)

Developing and Communicating Procedures to help implement

workplace sustainability policy

Although you now have a sustainability policy, that doesnt mean that you have created
the procedures necessary to implement that policy. In some companies, policies and
procedures are combined into one. However, they are better conveyed, if they are
separate sets of documents.
-

Policies are created by the board, and determine the direction of the company.
Procedures are created by workers, and demonstrate how specific tasks that are
necessary for that direction will be accomplished

Sustainability policy for a company:

ABC Resources (ABC) is committed to ensure that it operates in a sustainable manner.

This will be achieved through promoting and maintaining a safe and healthy working
environment and striving to achieve responsible and appropriate practices in matters
affecting the environment and communities in which we operate.
Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC) is an integral part of ABCs values
and management systems. The performance of all employees and potential employees
with regards HSEC issues will be considered in all appointment, promotion and
disciplinary decisions.
This policy has been developed to ensure, as a minimum, compliance with relevant
legislation and will be reviewed to continually improve our performance. ABC will
ensure resources are made available to implement the policy.

The objectives of the Sustainability Policy are to:

Demonstrate the commitment of the board of directors and senior management to
striving for Zero Harm in all ABC activities;
Prevent workplace accidents, disease and damage to the environment or communities in
which we operate;
Ensure appropriate management systems are implemented and maintained at all sites;
Encourage a culture of positive responsibility in all employees and contractors toward
their own safety and the safety of others and continual improvements through open
reporting and thorough investigation of root causes of incidents and accidents to prevent
recurrences;
Establish and maintain suitable programs to meet the policy objectives.

To achieve this the following commitments are made:

Health, Safety and Community Commitments

Implement and maintain work practices which are safe and reduce the risk to
health of our employees, the environment and the community

Provide training, re-training, information, instruction and supervision for all

employees to enable them to perform their work safely;

Ensure contractors adopt and implement HSEC standards at least equal to those of
ABC at our sites

Identify, assess and manage risks and hazards to employees, contractors, the
environment and our host communities;

Set and achieve performance targets and continual improvement year on year

Ensure business activities uphold ethical standards and fundamental human rights
including taking into account the views of the local indigenous communities.

Ensure all employees are aligned with our Zero Harm aspirations and take their
HSEC performance into account when considering promotion.
Environmental Commitments
The Companys operations are to be conducted in compliance with all applicable
environmental laws and regulations. Further, the Company seeks the continuous
improvement of environmental performance through setting and reviewing conservation
targets and progressively establishing company-wide standards.
The Company is committed to undertaking its activities with full attention paid towards:

protecting natural ecosystems and habitats;

taking into account the environmental values of host communities;

communicating openly with government, community and other stakeholders about

environmental issues and expectations;

implementing environmental controls and strategies to identify, minimise and,

wherever possible, avoid environmental impacts arising from operations;

integrating environmental considerations into exploration, project development,

operations, decommissioning and rehabilitation;

monitoring relevant environmental parameters and managing environmental risks;

auditing and reporting environmental performance;

providing sufficient training and resources for effective environmental

management;

promoting conservation and environmental awareness among our personnel;

rehabilitating environments affected by our activities;

contributing to the environment in a positive way in consultation with local

stakeholders: and

ensuring that all contractors of the Company follow the same environmental
standards.
Environmental stewardship is the responsibility of all Company personnel and
contractors.