Experienced Local Government sustainability adviser, Omega Environmental Pty Limited, has developed an innovative package to help Councils of any size implement a strategic environmental management system (EMS) or sustainability management system (SMS).
Omega is best known for its unique approach of providing inexpensive, inhouse sustainability assistance to Councils across Australia. With extensive Australian and overseas expertise in EMS and SMS implementation, and experience across all Milestones of the Cities for Climate Protection™ Program, Omega is well placed to understand the pressures faced by many Australian Councils when it comes to pursuing environmental performance improvement.
Andrew Wales, Managing Director of Omega, said that despite having the right intentions, many Councils struggle to achieve long term business benefits from their environmental programs. This is often for a few common reasons.
“In many situations, a Council will allocate considerable resources to a single issue because of lobbying by a key individual or group of individuals, or because that issue is the ‘flavour of the month’ for Councils or the community,” Andrew Wales said. “Quite often, there may be other environmental programs Council should be pursuing that will deliver even greater environmental and financial returns to Council, but which are overlooked because of this specific focus.”
Andrew Wales points out that in some Councils, the situation is the opposite, where no real issue takes priority. In these cases, Council may be faced with developing and implementing various management plans and programs required by government, other stakeholders and voluntary environmental campaigns, but lacks the human or financial resources to do so effectively.
Ownership of environmental programs by only one individual in Council is a further hurdle to achieving environmental performance improvement in Local Government.
“The success of many Councils’ environmental programs can often be attributed to the passion or knowledge of a single person,” he said.“When that person leaves the organisation, the momentum of these environmental programs frequently slows, or stops altogether. The best way to overcome these challenges is to take a strategic and systematic approach to environmental management through the implementation of an environmental or sustainability management system.”
An EMS or SMS makes possible a structured approach to identify and address the key environmental and sustainability issues within Council.
Following its success in developing an internationally certified EMS for Carrathool Shire Council, Omega has been working to package up the Carrathool EMS ‘model’ into a product that can be applied to other Australian Councils.
Omega is pleased to announce that the development of this package is complete, and is now available Australia wide. The Omega Sustainability Management System Package allows small rural Councils through to very large metropolitan organisations to systematically implement an EMS or SMS in a step by step way, with expert guidance at each phase of the process. It is especially suited to those Councils that have been held back in the past from moving down a strategic sustainability path because of a lack of time, human resources or money.
The Package comprises a combination of software tools, documentation templates, case studies and guidance notes to help a Council implement an effective management system. Most importantly, the Package provides for the allocation of an Omega management systems expert to work closely with Council throughout the duration of the implementation. This assistance is provided through regular site visits, and telephone and email communication.
The Package seeks to achieve the following objectives.
- Streamlining all existing sustainability, environmental and related programs and processes under a single management system, and integrating it with other existing Council management frameworks such as financial management, OH&S and so forth.
- Assisting Council to meet all its environmental and sustainability requirements using fewer staff and less expenditure.
- Implementing an effective SMS or EMS within a limited Council budget.
- Assisting Council to see a quick financial return from all its environmental and social initiatives.
- Minimising Council’s impact on the environment while at the same time delivering cost savings to Council.
- Identifying new opportunities for improving performance, and developing and implementing action plans to realise these opportunities.
Andrew Wales said that Local Government response to the Package has been strong, with several Councils indicating their intention to ultimately seek accreditation to the international ISO 14001 environmental standard using the Package.
“The pinnacle of any EMS or SMS implementation is to achieve and maintain ISO 14001 certification, and we are excited by the prospect of an increasing number of Australian Councils achieving this honour as a result of our package,” Andrew Wales said.
To receive an information kit on the Omega SMS Package, contact Andrew Wales at Omega Environmental Pty Limited on (02) 4234 0504, or visit Omega’s website at www. omegaenvironmental.com.au
* Copy supplied by Omega Environmental
