Sustainable Business Practices - Standards

Standards are developed by many organisations and vary widely in their scope, approach and recognition. Some of the most widely recognised standards are those developed by the international standards organisation (ISO), while Standards NZ develops others specific to our national needs. Several standards currently available are relevant to business sustainability.

Environmental performance is often the most important sustainability issue facing smaller businesses, and the environmental management system standard ISO 14001 provides a good starting point for assessing and improving environmental performance. There are also ISO standards for carbon footprint measurement (ISO 14064) sustainable event management (ISO 20121) and life cycle analysis, as well as others for energy efficiency, buildings and building materials.

ACHIEVING AND MAINTAINING AN INTERNATIONAL STANDARD such as ISO14001 can present a challenge to some organisations so the Enviro-Mark® programme is another option that guides organisations through the development and implementation of a robust and comprehensive environmental management system (EMS) in a series of five steps from Bronze through to Diamond. The structured process of the Enviro-Mark® programme provides a tool for sharing progress with customers, suppliers, staff and other stakeholders.

THE SUSTAINABILITY INTEREST OF OTHERS MAY FOCUS UPON HEALTH, safety and welfare considerations, which are addressed by a diverse range of specific standards ranging from labelling and ergonomics to machine safety. However, the health and safety management system standard AS/NZS 4801 provides a very useful framework for the overall management of these aspects.

LARGER ORGANISATIONS WANTING TO TAKE A HOLISTIC APPROACH may wish to consider the social responsibility guideline ISO 26000, which encourages businesses to consider societal, environmental, legal, cultural, political, organizational and economic factors.

THE QUALITY MANAGEMENT STANDARD (ISO 9001) also has a significant part to play in business sustainability, as it provides an effective means for improving process efficiency and reducing waste. A related standard is ISO 9004, which integrates sustainability considerations into the quality management framework. This may be appropriate for organisations which already have ISO 9001 certification but want to add sustainability considerations.

SMALL BUSINESSES OFTEN SEE STANDARD AS A BARRIER, which they need to get so they can submit a tender or work with a particular client. However, they can also bring business benefits. After all, most standards are based on good sense, and implementing their requirements can make business processes more consistent and efficient, while reducing risk and adverse impacts on the organisation, people or the environment.

In the next edition we will examine the benefits of having the management systems that make up a sustainable business independently audited and certified.