Develop Workplace Policy and

Procedures for Sustainability

Week 1

BSBSUS501
 Define the scope of your
sustainability policy
 Scope refers to how broadly the policy will apply within
your organisation. Will it be applied across the whole
company or within a particular section or department?
 Determine what the policy will cover. It may apply to

everyday work practices, green purchasing choices,

engagement of environmentally conscious suppliers and
contractors, reporting systems, and inclusion of
environmental as well as financial results in annual reports.
 An essential consideration is compliance with relevant

environmental laws and

regulations. Not being compliant
attracts fines and penalties,
including jail terms.
 Gather information from a range of
sources to plan and develop policy
 To develop the best policy to suit the organisation,
you need to research both within and outside the
organisation.

Internal sources of information:

 Examine current procedures and systems and check
any information already stored in an environmental
file, such as audits, completed forms and
information on legislation and regulations.
 Interview and/or survey staff from all levels of the
organisation.
 Gather information from a range of
sources to plan and develop policy
External sources of information:
 Check with government and industry bodies to determine your

required level of legislative and regulatory compliance.

 Access websites and annual reports of other organisations which

show their own policies and procedures and methods they use to
ensure sustainability. This can assist you to create or adapt
procedures relevant to your organisation.
 Look for Environmental Regulations best practice guidelines
 Interview external stakeholders, such as customers and suppliers.

Suppliers can give information about product development and

trends and availability of environmentally sustainable products.
 Contact water and energy providers for sustainability information.

For example, Sydney Water’s Every Drop Counts Business Program

is a voluntary plan that may be incorporated into businesses.
 Class Activity
 Complete the questionnaire from your trainer
(Handout 1)then we will discuss your findings
in class.
 Identify and consult stakeholders as a key
component of the policy development
process
 Stakeholders can provide useful feedback on

your environmental practices.

 Include appropriate strategies in
policy
An effective sustainability policy must be
understood, agreed to and adhered to at all
levels of the organisation. Therefore, the
policy must be communicated clearly to all
stakeholders, and opportunities must be
provided for feedback and clarification.
Methods of achieving this include:
 Staff training on the policy and its set

objectives, held as part of an induction, or on

specified training days.
 Include appropriate strategies in
policy
 Checklists, such as resource usage audits and
purchasing checklists
 Signs around workplace (eg ‘Switch off before

you leave’)
 Using email to send sustainability messages

from relevant people in the organisation,

such as the manager or Sustainability Officer.
 Make recommendations for policy
options based on likely
effectiveness, timeframes and cost
 Your research and audits are likely to make
you aware of areas that can be improved. If
breaches of compliance are occurring, they
need to be addressed as a priority. However,
any solution that will reduce the
environmental impact of
the organisation should
be considered as part of
policy development.
 Make recommendations for policy
options based on likely effectiveness,
timeframes and cost
 The following areas should be considered when
examining the practicality of any proposed solution:
 Does it fit the organisation’s strategic plan and

position on environmental sustainability?

 Are the changes mandatory?

 What is the time frame for implementation and

review?
 What are the potential improvements as a result of

implementing the policy?

 What is the financial gain/cost in comparison with

current system?
 Make recommendations for policy
options based on likely
effectiveness, timeframes and cost
 What is the cost of researching and
implementing the new system?
 Are there savings in fines and legal costs as a

result of ensuring compliance?

 Is it attractive to new customers?
 What is the cost of any down time and

possible effects on productivity?

 Is there potential for wastage of current stock

if changes are not implemented gradually?

 What is the projected time for cost recovery?
 Make recommendations for policy
options based on likely effectiveness,
timeframes and cost
 What are the environmental benefits and
projected reduced environmental impact?
 How easy will it be to implement?
 What training is required?
 Can it be integrated into current policies or will

new policies need to be written?

Once drafted, your policy will need to be
evaluated. This should be done in consultation
with other employees and management. A
variety of evaluation tools could be considered.
Make recommendations for policy options based on
likely effectiveness, timeframes and cost

 Surveys/questionnaires are useful evaluation

methods, particularly if they invite a number
of Yes/No/Maybe responses. This allows you
to identify solutions that are viable and can
be pursued further. You may also choose to
use a ranking system or a SWOT analysis.
 Develop policy that reflects the
organisation’s commitment to
sustainability
 It is important to develop policy that reflects
the organisation’s commitment to sustainability
as an integral part of business planning and as
a business opportunity. Use the information
gathered as the basis for developing and
writing a policy on sustainable practices for
your organisation or section. Your policy should
include a Sustainability Statement, which will
state the target, how this will be achieved, who
is accountable, commitment by upper
management. See Handout 2
 Agree to appropriate methods of
implementation
 The implementation strategy should now be
prepared. It has to be agreed to by key
stakeholders, and commitment must be
formally documented.

 Sample policies and procedures

 Handout 3
 Activity 1

 Complete the following activities:

 Case study analysis
 Internal and external sources of information
 Stakeholders and consultative methods
 Communicate and implement
sustainability policy
 Promote workplace sustainability policy,
including its expected outcome to key
stakeholders
 Inform those involved in implementing the

policy as to outcomes expected, activities to

be undertaken and
responsibilities
assigned
 Promote workplace sustainability policy,
including its expected outcome to key
stakeholders
 Senior management will always have primary
responsibility for environmental issues. This
includes liability if environmental breaches
occur. In any company responsibility for
environmental policy should be given to
someone in a position of sufficient authority to
create and change policy as required.
 Consider the organisational structure of your

organisation.
 Who has responsibility for management of

environmental issues?
 What are the specific environmental management
responsibilities of this person?
 Are they informal, or documented?
 Do other staff members know who the

responsible person is, and what they are

responsible for?
 Are there already any documented environmental

procedures?
 Consider what kind of communication already

occurs about environmental issues in your

organisation.
Relevant issues to be communicated
could concern:
 Ensuring legal compliance
 Co-ordinating measures to improve

environmental performance
 Provision of training
 Developing and monitoring documentation

and activities.

 See Handout 4
 Inform those involved in
implementing the policy
 An environmental management system sets a
company’s direction in terms of sustainable
management.
 For employees to be able to understand and

implement your policy and procedures,

information must be made accessible to all staff
and communicated clearly and on a regular
basis.
 Inform those involved in implementing the

policy as to outcomes expected, activities to be

undertaken and responsibilities assigned.
 Methods of communicating information about
the system and providing regular updates about
the progress of the environmental management
system could include workshops, meetings,
newsletters containing advice and hints, emails,
reports, information sheets, notices, signs and
stickers
 Teams are useful for contributions and

involvement and ideas; to be effective, teams

should include staff members from all relevant
areas of the organisation.
 Activity 2
 Complete the following activities:
 Case study analysis
 Communications to convey environmental

information
 Procedures
Distance Activity week 1
An Environmental Management System is a framework, which
can be integrated with existing business processes to effectively
identify, measure, manage and control environmental impacts
and hence environmental risks. An Environmental Management
System also establishes the means for improving performance
and moving towards environmental sustainability through best
practice such as ISO 14001.
Research the following:
 What is ISO 14001 give an overview and how will this
improve management of physical waste, compliance risk?
 Remember to reference
 Develop and communicate procedures to
help implement workplace sustainability
policy Week
2
 Prepare to write the procedures
 Now that the policy is written, it has to be

implemented.
 To achieve this, staff must understand the

areas of your organisation that have a

significant environmental effect or impacts.
 Policies should aim to control and improve

these impacts.
 An effective sustainability management

system should:
 Develop and communicate
procedures to help implement
workplace sustainability policy
 Identifyhow your organisation interacts directly
and indirectly with the environment
 Determine which of these environmental aspects

can be controlled or influenced

 Develop a list of significant environmental aspects

and rank them according to severity of impact,

and therefore importance for management
 Create a procedure or process

to record this information and

keep it up to date.
 Develop and communicate
procedures to help implement
workplace sustainability policy
 All employees need the necessary information
to achieve their Key Performance Indicators
(KPIs) in accordance with the policy.
 This can be achieved through new employee

induction, providing written copies of the

policy and explanations to employees, staff
meetings, and training sessions
 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) must

now be developed to ensure consistency and

compliance with regulations.
 Develop and communicate
procedures to help implement
workplace sustainability policy
 A Standard Operating Procedure is a set of
written instructions that document steps for
carrying out a routine or repetitive activity.
 To develop an SOP the first step can be to

create a checklist of each policy objective and

describe them by the following aspects:
 Policy objective:
 Target
 Legal requirements

 New policy or adaptation of old policy?

 Staff responsible.
 Write the procedures
 The procedures should clearly relate to the
policy and indicate who is responsible for
carrying them out. Procedures should also
clearly indicate any areas where legal
compliance is mandatory.
 See Handout 5
Implement continuous improvement
strategies
 It is not enough to have the policy and procedures
in place; a process of continuous improvement is
crucial to ensure relevance and continuing ability to
set and meet targets.
 It requires regular consultation with employees and
management. Continuous improvement involves
the following:
 Planning policy and procedures
 Implementing policy and procedures
 Monitoring, checking and reviewing policy

and procedures.
 Model of continuous improvement
 As a result of these findings, new policies and
procedures may need to be researched and
developed, and the cycle starts again.
 Establish recording systems
 Look at the records you may need to keep, such as:

 Records of reviews conducted

 Record of workplace audits

and inspections
 Records of training
 Records of breaches.
 Access has to be created for stakeholders. You will
need to create a central file that includes relevant
sustainability documents, including completed
forms, permits and audits, and legal requirements.
 Review sustainability policy
implementation
 Document outcomes and provide feedback to
key personnel and stakeholders
 It is important that the records you have

gathered and filed are accessible to

stakeholders, both internal and external.
 The most common way of providing this

information is through the preparation of

reports.
 These reports may show how you meet

compliance requirements, or how efficiency has

been improved and targets met.
 Compliance reports
 Both federal and state governments require
businesses to report their environmental
impacts and report to government or
stakeholders.
 Reporting may also require companies to

verify and audit their levels of compliance,

and demonstrate plans for improvement.
 These reports demonstrate the organisation’s

adherence to guidelines and are delivered on

a regular (usually annual) basis.
 Efficiency reports
 These reports focus on the set targets and
provide a tool to check progress.
 They are developed from information gained

through the organisation’s monitoring

methods, and are usually prepared several
times per year, for example on a monthly or
quarterly basis
 They allow you to see where targets have

been met or surpassed, and identify areas or

activities that are unsuccessful.
 Annual reports
 These provide an opportunity for companies to
share information on their sustainability
commitment with stakeholders.
 They are increasingly being used for Triple

Bottom Line reporting, where environmental

achievements as well as financial performance
are reported.
 For example, the 2008 Annual Reports for both

Boral and the ANZ Bank place a significant

focus on their sustainability practice.
 Newsletters
 These may be internal or external, but
provide an accessible means of conveying
environmental information to stakeholders.
 They usually provide ideas for improved

sustainability practices, and often contain a

message from the CEO or a senior
management representative to lend credibility
and reinforce the organisation’s
environmental
commitment.
 Workgroup meetings
 Meetings with relevant staff to discuss
current efficiency and requirements for
meeting targets provide opportunities for
feedback, questions and suggestions, and
may reveal problems with adhering to
procedures and meeting targets.
 Company website
 Companies are increasingly using their
websites to promote their sustainability
policy and practices.
 The internet
 External internet sites provide an opportunity
for companies to promote their practices in
different ways. For example, You Tube has a
number of videos whereby companies explain
and promote their environmental practices.
 Investigate successes or
otherwise of policy
 The next step is to use the records and
feedback from internal and external
stakeholders to investigate the outcomes of the
policy, and its success or otherwise.
 To do this, targets and benchmarks need to be

determined.
 Benchmarking refers to the minimum standard

the company wishes to attain, and is a means to

assist a company to assess and improve
environmental, social and economic
performance.
 Monitor records to identify trends that may
require remedial action and use to promote
continuous improvement of performance
 Risk management is crucial to any
organisation, and it applies to sustainability
policy as well. It is important to design and
implement procedures to minimise risk, and
this is achieved through a process of
continuous improvement.
 New procedures will require adjustment and

so must be evaluated within a reasonable time

frame in order to determine their effectiveness
and applicability to relevant workgroups.
 Activity 3
 Complete the following activities:
 Case study analysis
 Investigate success of policy and procedures
 Modify policy and/or procedures as
required to ensure improvements are
made
 Why might policy and procedures have to be
modified? It may be that a new process has
been introduced and so new procedures are
needed to implement the process. Procedures
may need to be modified for various reasons,
which may include:
 Set targets are unrealistic.
 Laws and/or regulations have been changed

so compliance requirements have

to be reviewed. See Handout 6
 Modify policy and/or procedures as
required to ensure improvements are
made
 The business has expanded or changed
focus, so that policy has to apply to new
areas of operation.
 Targets have been met, so the policy is no

longer needed.
 Targets have not been met, and it is clear that

the procedures are confusing or incomplete.

 If you need to modify the policy, the cycle

starts again:
 Investigate
 Modify policy and/or procedures as
required to ensure improvements are
made
 Make recommendations
 Evaluate recommendations
 Rewrite the policy and procedures as required
 Set new targets
 Plan the process and methods of

implementation
 Monitor and evaluate the new process .
 Distance Activity week 2
 Distance activity week 2: Watch the video
“BSBSUS501A”: Win/win sustainability
situations” on ISBA’s You Tube channel at –
http://www.youtube.com/ibsachannel-
, research and answer the two questions