Content area
Full Text
Gerald Vinten: University of Luton, UK
"
Among the multitude of animals whichscamper, fly, burrow and swim around us, man is the only one who is not locked into his environment. His imagination, his reason, his emotional subtlety and toughness, make it possible for him not to accept the environment but to change it. And that series of inventions, by which man from age to age has remade his environment, is a different kind of evolution - not biological, but cultural evolution. I call that brilliant sequence of cultural peaks "The Ascent of Man"[1]."
The International Chamber of Commerce has defined environmental audit as "a management tool comprising a systematic, documented, periodic and objective evaluation of how well environmental organization, management and equipment are performing with the aim of helping to safeguard the environment by:
facilitating management control of environmental protection;
assessing compliance with company policies which would include meeting regulatory requirements[2]".
From this we can see that the concept is wide. It is not just complying with minimalist legislation, nor is it just a public relations exercise, though it will include both of these. Rather it is a total strategic, cradle-to-grave process, which some prefer to call "conception to resurrection", underlining the "design to recycling" aspect. The main aim is to produce a management system that will provide information on environmental performance against pre-determined targets, ensuring that those targets are met, and that one remains ahead of the pack. The adoption of this definition by the National Environmental Auditors' Registration Scheme, and by the Institute of Environmental Assessment has added extra authority to this definition.
The scope of the audit can be comprehensive, take on a range of issues, or address a single topic. Where international audits are carried out by a central team, it is likely that a range of topics will be covered to minimize costs. The audit may be restricted to simple compliance testing, or extended to a more searching and inter-professional audit. The audit will address the operatingenvironment, health and safety management, product safety and quality, loss prevention, and minimizing resource use and adverse effect on the environment.
The advantages of a sound environmental audit are that it will:
- demonstrate company commitment to environmental protection to employees, the public...