Keeping communication fundamentals in mind to get the message across to EMS providers and Training contractions are vital elements for successfully designing an Environmental Management System (EMS).

Importance of EMS training

Training Contraction simply means EMS training workshops to get your staff up to speed. Training is a necessary key to help your staff understand the intricacies and details about your EMS, whether you’re considering developing, or want some training on your existing environmental management system.

Environmental training is necessary to educate their staff, ensuring they know, understand, and actively participate in the company or facility’s EMS. As we know, the basic structure of EMS includes a cycle of 4 steps:

EMS - PDCA Cycle

  • Planning of Environmental policies, objectives, and targets. Furthermore, the creation of legal register, significant aspects, and impacts.
  • Do: Procedures, Documenting/Document control, Training, and communication.
  • Check: Internal monitoring and auditing and then reporting the results.
  • Act: Management review, Implementation of corrective actions/mitigation programs.
Training can be geared towards helping an organization develop an EMS, or to understand your roles and responsibilities under an existing EMS. Workshops related to the different standards, from basic introductory research to advanced auditing and management enables those involved in implementation and auditing in an organization to efficiently contribute to improving your environmental performance.

Importance of communication in EMS

The most common standard for communication models in environmental management systems is the ISO 14001 standard, as well as ISO 50001 for energy management. Organisations that implement an EMS based on ISO 14001 reduce energy usage, contribute to environmental sustainability and save money.
The ISO 14001 standard is specific about how an organization should manage its communications, stating that a procedure should be established for both internal and external communications, and mentioning that a method shall be “established and implemented” should the organization decide to communicate details of its significant environmental aspects externally.
  • Communication holds together the elements of an environmental management system. The goal is to ensure that all internal and external stakeholders are correctly informed to ensure your EMS is compliant, and continual improvement can be established.
  • Clear, concise, and accurate communication is a fundamental component of this and should be treated as such.  As long as communication issues are controlled by the responsible person and formally recorded on the EMS, then the top management team can make decisions regarding the frequency and content of these communications.
  • Establishing two communication logs on the EMS, one for external and one for internal communications can be good practice to hold a copy of each communication and give them reference numbers, so that the communication copy can be held on the system and referenced on the logs by date, details, and method of communication.
  • Logging of signatures to evidence delivery of communication is always good practice and will be useful when the auditor visits.
  • Effective internal and external communication improves the degree of input and cooperation that needs to take place between the organization itself and stakeholders.