Benefits Of Environmental Management System And ISO Certification

Arguments For and Against Implementation

What Is The Benefits Of Environmental Management System?

You have been tasked by the board to investigate the feasibility of the company introducing Quality and Environmental Management Systems into the working procedures and achieving ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certification.

Your answer must include arguments for and against this change to the operation of the company. You must then decide whether you would support this change or oppose and state the reasons for your decision. This can be presented in tabular form with 2 columns, one for and one against. 

From your research and decisions made in Part A of this question, identify and explain the changes that would be required to the current Safety Management System (SMS) to achieve certification to these additional standards. You need to decide how these 2 standards would be absorbed into the Company’s SMS.

The aforesaid form of certification is a type of Environmental certification. It provides the business credibility and helps the business law grow as leader in the specific field or industry which it is operating its business.

If a business is not registered under this standard a business may lost various opportunities for its growth and development.  The organization who wants to reduce the risk to a minimum level is related to environmental risk. It is to be noted that the engagement of a third party certification is more beneficial than the company who does not have a certification.

If any business wants implement a stand- alone Environment Management System to integrate the management system, it must have to obtain the certification which will help to implement the important elements of the business that can lead to maximization of profit.

It is considered as criteria for a quality management system. It is the only standard which is although not an important standard that can be certified to an organization. It is applicable to both large and small business irrespective of their field of the industry. According to the analysis, in about 170 countries across the globe, there are about one million organizations and businesses which are certified by ISO 9001.

This certification is based on the principles of the quality management which includes overall customer focus, strong motivation factor, the effects of the top management, the process approach and continuous improvement. These principles are also known as management principles. By application of this certification,  it helps to ensure the customer satisfaction and quality of the services or products provided which ultimately leads to maximization of profits.

Changes Required for Current Management Systems

At the most recent Management Review there was a heated discussion over the performance of the fleet at Port State Control Inspections. The results were declared unacceptable and that improvement had to be made to reduce the number of deficiencies being raised against the ships. From analysis of the deficiencies raised the following was found to exist in the company.

1 Nautical Publications – Out of date books still in use

2 On Board Training – Missing records of training that was reported as being carried out

3 Oil Record Book Entries – Missing entries and not completed as per instructions with codes

4 Fire Fighting Equipment – Missing records and certificates of equipment

You been tasked to produce an action plan to reduce all deficiencies by at least 50% over the next 6 months. Discuss how you would achieve this reduction to the satisfaction of the Senior Management.

The following are the main deficiencies the company is facing these days;

Use of outdated books

The training records are missing that were held in the past

The entries made in the records are not according to the codes

Missing of the records related to fire fight equipments and its certification

To overcome this problem the company must have a backup plan that needs to be implemented as soon as possible. However, in the aforesaid scenario there is no such back up plan. Here the company is still using the outdated records which need to be renewed with a good record keeping plan. The company should hire a experienced and knowledgeable book keeping expert who can maintain the records of the books in a more efficient and professional manner and according to the latest method of book keeping.

The training record of the company is also an important element in company. To find out the missing training record one must look for the other ways such as if such documents have been kept in electronic form and how does that can be recovered in case of any technical default.  The record keeping department has to ensure that all the important data of the company must be kept in both electronic and non-electronic mode.

The data of the company are not maintained according to the codes of the business. In this case, if data is not maintained according to the code, then make a suitable plan to arrange those data as per the instructions of the code. It can be done by hiring professional data arranging personnel who can arrange the data according to the code. There are also many software available in the market for keeping and arranging the data in a most effective and efficient way. Due to the advancement of the technology it can be done.

Action Plan for Reducing Deficiencies in Fleet

The duplicate fire equipment certification can be obtained from the certified authority through both online and offline mode. It can be done through visiting the office of the certified authority who has provided the certification and obtain a duplicate copy of the license with the payment of a nominal fee. Or the company can obtain the duplicate copy of the certification by login in the website of the certified authority online after making a nominal payment through net banking, debit card or credit card.

The Company are concerned about the effect of the MLC 2006 will have on its operation practices and manning levels. MLC 2006 came into force on the 21 August 2013. One of the greatest problems is that it is becoming apparent that the records and objective evidence in respect of the hours of work and hours of rest may not be adequate.

You have been tasked to research and identify how the company can be protected against potential problems because of non-compliance to this standard. You have to prepare a report to be presented to the board on how the company can respond to this problem and ensure that there will be no deficiencies or detentions of ships in the future.

The non compliance of any of the standards can lead to major negative consequences. It can be rightly said that the main influence of having high quality products and service is the behavior of the consumer which can be through the highlights of the social media.  According to a research report which was organized by a leading marketing company, the social media activity plays an dominant role in the online shopping behavior of a consumer. The social media activity has increased the expectation level of the customers. However, it also have its own advantages and disadvantages. To meet these kind of requirements the management of an organization must concentrate on delivering high quality goods. It can be done through the addressing quality to check at the supply chain which includes procurement of raw materials, production, packaging, logistics and handling of the products.

The compliance procedure of a company also depends on the product quality in few cases. The organizations must be aware that it meets the local and international regulatory standards while the process of procurement of raw materials,  production, packaging, logistics and handling of the products at the time of shipping. Apart from that the products needs to be passed through the quality checks form the quality control and safety test team. The enterprises must also ensure that they have all the compliance documents with them such as permits, licenses, and certification which are required for the supply chain management systems.

In case of the non-compliance of these standards the quality of the product and service may not be attracted by consumers. In this case, the organization the organization can take suitable measures to promote their goods and services through various platform such as by organizing seminars, workshops, advertisement, commercials on television, digital marketing, social media marketing etc.  Even if there is no compliance rules that are being followed by a company, it can maximize its profit through good marketing and sales strategies.

As discussed earlier the social media plays an important role in promotion of goods and services of a business.  Thus, proper measures and planning must be made to make sure these requirements get fulfilled. One of the best examples of the same is smart packaging and block chain management. It is the responsibility of the management of the organization to look after such type of issues and make the investment accordingly.

References

Advantages and disadvantages of environmental management systems (EMS). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/advantages-and-disadvantages-environmental-management-systems-ems

Benefits Of Environmental Management System. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.irqs.co.in/: https://www.irqs.co.in/benefits-of-environmental-management-system.html

Guidelines on the Implementation of the International Safety Management (ISM) Code. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.admiraltylawguide.com/: https://www.admiraltylawguide.com/conven/ismguide1995.html

ISO 9001:2015. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.iso.org: https://www.iso.org/iso-9001-quality-management.html

Uhlenberg, A. (n.d.). Key Issues in Supply Chain Management and How to Overcome Them .

Vale, S. (n.d.). Business Models & Organizational Structure. Pros & Cons of Environmental Management Plans .

What Are Environmental Management Systems (EMS)? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://asq.org/: https://asq.org/learn-about-quality/environmental-management-system/

What are the benefits of the Environmental Management System (EMS) Certification With ISO 14001? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://14000store.com/: https://14000store.com/articles/iso-14000-info-benefits-of-iso-14001/

What is an EMS & why you should want one. (2016, September 26). Retrieved from https://businessbasics.com.au/benefits-of-environmental-management-system/: https://businessbasics.com.au/benefits-of-environmental-management-system/