Saturday, August 17, 2019

Environmental Sustainable Practices

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES Contents Page Part 1: Investigate current practices in relation to resource usage. | Page Number| 1. 1 Outline the government and regulatory bodies both internationally, nationally and in Victoria that have devised environmental laws. Explain what they do and what laws and regulations they have implemented and outline each law and regulation briefly. | 4,5| 1. 2 Explain the role of the local government in devising environmental laws and regulations, research your own local council and outline what laws and regulations they have implemented. | 5| 1. Briefly outline the role of Industry bodies in devising and managing environmental laws and regulations. | 6| 1. 4a) Discuss why organisations comply with environmental regulations and best practice. | 6| 1. 4b) Outline how organisations would go about assessing their compliance to environmental regulations and best practices, attach documentation that they would use to do this. | 7| 1. 4c) Explain how a n organisation would go about developing an Environmental Management Plan, what is the purpose of the plan and what should be incorporated in the plan and how will the plan be monitored? | 7| 1. d) Outline how organisations would measure resource usage and what benefits such measures would bring about in the long term for the organisation. | 8| Part 2: Set targets for improvements| Page Number| 2. 1 Discuss why organisations need to engage and seek input from a wide range of stakeholders when implementing effective sustainable work practices. | 8| 2. 2 Outline some of the key stakeholders that an organisation would seek input from and explain the type of input they would provide. | 8| 2. 3 Discuss the consultation methods that organisations can use to maximize the stakeholder feedback.What are the benefits or each? | 9| 2. 4 Outline external sources of information and data that an organisation may access and how it could utilise the information to implement effective sustainable pra ctices| 9| 2. 5 Outline the purpose of efficiency targets in implementing effective sustainable work practices, and give examples of efficiency targets that an organisation may implement. | 10| 2. 6 Discuss the merit of promoting efficiency targets to key stakeholders and how this may be undertaken by organisations. | 10| Contents Page Part 3: Implement performance improvement practices| Page Number| 3. ‘As part of the process, techniques and tools must be applied to assist employees with workplace procedures for implementing sustainable work practices’ Discuss this statement and outline the techniques and tools an organisation may use, their purpose and when they would be relevant. | 11| 3. 2 Outline the purpose of environmental and resource efficiency improvement plans and discuss what they should incorporate. | 12| 3. 3 Explain the role of the supervision/team leader in supervising and supporting team members to identify possible areas of non-compliance and improved work practices. | 12| 3. ‘Organisations are now looking at incorporating new accounting practices to completely reflect the value of the environment as an asset’ Outline the different costs recognized and when they may be used. | 12,13| Part 4: Monitor performance| Page Number| 4. 1 ‘Evaluating, monitoring and reviewing are important steps in continuous improvement cycle. The feedback, positive or negative, demonstrates whether the actions the organisation has taken to improve its environmental performance have had the desired impact’ Discuss the five steps organisations can use to evaluate/monitor performance. 13| 4. 2 Outline and explain how audit documentation and processes could be employed to monitor performance of organisations in implementing environmental sustainable practices. | 14| 4. 3 What methods could an organisation employ to communicate the outcomes of audits on efficiency targets to key personnel and stakeholders. | 14| 4. 4 ‘Once the audit outcome have been reported new efficiency targets, tools and strategies should be set by organisations’ Explain why and how this is done. | 14,15| 4. 5 ‘Monitoring performance may also identify successful strategies. How and why should organisations go about promoting these and why is a necessary step to reward participants. | 15| 1. 1 The following are the regulatory bodies both international, national and within Victoria: Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialised countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.The major distinction between the Protocol and the Convention is that while the Convention encouraged industrialised countries to stabilize GHG emissions, the Protocol commits them to do so. At an international level the Kyoto Protocol act t o ensure that the global environment is protected and by devising an international agreement in which commits participating developed countries to reduce amounts of greenhouse gas emissions being exposed to the environment they ensure potential harm to the environment is minimised.The Kyoto Protocol is a regulation in which governments voluntarily ratify to agree to, although once agreed, the country must comply with the national guidelines set or else heavy penalties apply. As countries with commitments under the Kyoto Protocol to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions must meet their targets primarily through national measures, as an additional means of meeting these targets, the Kyoto Protocol introduced three market-based mechanisms in which are known as the â€Å"carbon market. †Ã‚  The mechanisms are: Emissions Trading, The Clean Development Mechanism and the Joint Implementation.The Kyoto mechanisms help stimulate sustainable development through technology transfer a nd investment, help countries with Kyoto commitments to meet their targets by reducing emissions or removing carbon from the atmosphere in other countries in a cost-effective way and encourage the private sector and developing countries to contribute to emission reduction efforts. Commonwealth Laws The Commonwealth laws are devised at the highest level of government in Australia, and the department in which administer these laws at a national level is the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.The department is responsible for implementing the Australian Government's policies to protect the environment and heritage, and to promote a sustainable way of life. There are five councils in which report to the department and administer legislations and acts to conserve the environment, these councils include: National Environment Protection Council, Environment Protection and Heritage Council, Ministerial Council on Energy, National Resource Management Ministerial Coun cil and the Primary Industries Ministerial Council.Regulations in which the Department have implemented include the Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Act 1981, this Act ensures the waters surrounding Australia's coastlines are protected from wastes and pollutions that are dumped at sea. The Sea Dumping Act regulates the loading and dumping of waste at sea and fulfils Australia's international obligations under the London Protocol to prevent marine pollution by dumping of wastes and other matter.In order to ensure the act is effective, permits are required from the department for all ocean disposal activities (these could include dumping of vessels, burials at sea etc). These permits are further analysed by the Department in order to ensure environmental measures are being considered and taken into action. Environment Protection Authority (EPA) The EPA is the department responsible for governing environmental laws within Victoria, they provide acts which require organisations have to comply with and are responsible for monitoring and enforcement of a corporations environmental sustainability efforts.The State Environment Protection Policies (SEPPs) are subordinate legislations in which are made under the provisions of the (Environment Protection Act 1970) by the EPA. SEPPs aims to provide safety to the environmental values and human activities that need protection in the state of Victoria from the effects of pollution and waste. Acts administered by the EPA include: the Environment Protection Act 1970, Pollutions of Waters by oils and Noxious substances Act 1986 and the National Environment Protection Council (Victoria) Act 1995.The Environment Protection Act 1970 deals with the whole of the environment in a systematic and integrated approach with the basic philosophy of preventing pollution and environmental damage by setting environmental quality objectives and establishing programs to meet them. The Pollutions of Waters by oils and noxious substances Act 1970 is an Act jointly administered by the EPA and the Department of Transport and its main purpose is to protect the sea and other waters from pollution by oil and noxious substances.The National Environment Protection Council (Victoria) act 1995 establishes the National Environment Protection Council which comprises a Minister from the Commonwealth and each state and territory in Australia. The main objective of the National Environment Protection Council is to ensure people within Australia are protected from air, water, noise and soil pollution through the implementation of major environment protection measures. 1. Role of the local government in devising environmental laws and regulations The role of the local government in relation to devising environmental laws and regulations is to assist organisations and the community to not only comply but also understand and develop sound environmental policies and procedures and ensure guidelines in place are followed in order to protec t the environment. Environmental protection is a key role for local government in Australia and environmental management is a core function for all local governments.Local government across Australia has been active in greenhouse and Climate Change action for around a decade. Local government is uniquely placed to work closely with the community to facilitate greenhouse reduction and to provide leadership through greenhouse emission reductions in Council operations. As a member of the community within Preston the local council within the area is Darebin City Council. Darebin's Environment Policy states that Darebin Council will aim for its own operations to be ecologically, socially and economically sustainable and that it will be a sustainability promoting organisation within the Darebin community.The Policy identifies a number of ‘Stretch Goals’ that provide the guiding framework for more immediate targets, management and action which include: zero pollution, zero was te, zero habitat destruction, zero climate damage and zero soil degradation. In order to assist the community of Preston, Darebin City Council provides newsletters, factsheets and brochures which act to promote sustainability practices to individuals within the community. REFER TO ATTACHMENT 1 –BROCHURE 1. 3 Industry bodiesThe role of industry bodies in relation to setting and managing environmental laws and regulations is to provide industries with possible work practices and guidelines in which organisations can adopt in becoming environmentally sustainable within their workplace. Industry bodies are developed to represent not only employees but also small and large scale organisations in implementing sustainable work practices in relation to complying with relevant Acts and Regulations within their business industry.Two industry bodies known within Australia are the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI). The AC TU is a union in which protects Australian workers and their families by providing support to workers in organisations financially and within their work environments. They ACTU work to represent employees’ rights at work within Australia and act as a middle band in voicing their problems and finding solutions in relation to the way their organisation work in their operations in becoming environmentally sustainable.The ACCI’s policy agenda reflects the collective views, perceptions and concerns of Australian businesses whether they are a small business or a large scale organisation. They handle matters to assist and speak on behalf of these small or large scale businesses and are an authority in which act as the essential connection between industry, governments, regulators and influential policy forums. 1. 4a Organisation compliance It is essential that organisations comply with environmental regulations as the Acts and Regulations developed by governing bodies are bou nd laws in which require all organisations to follow.If organisations fail to comply with the relevant environmental regulations serious breaches could affect future operations and furthermore reflect on the organisations image as a whole. It is common within Australian organisations today that stakeholders or an organisation have a vested interest in the way in which the organisation commit themselves in becoming environmentally sustainable through their work practices. If organisations do not comply with environmental regulations and best practice, it also acts as a threat to the rganisations internal and external stakeholders. For example customers can discontinue purchasing the products and services the organisation provide due to the fact that they fail to comply with relevant environmental rules and regulations. Employees are the internal stakeholders who prefer to work for organisations that are environmentally responsible and adhere to rules and regulations; therefore by an organisation committing themselves to acknowledge their impact on the environment they decrease the risk of losing important and needed stakeholders.Rules and regulations developed by regulatory bodies are developed in order to also safeguard the community as well as protect the environment, therefore an organisation in which resists complying with set rules and regulations create a negative image and are seen as a threat to the community. 1. 4b Organisations assessing their compliance In order to assess whether the organisation is complying with relevant environmental regulations and best practices they will need to assess which permits or licences that they may need and therefore will require to conduct an audit on their operations.An audit of the organisations operations must include the business activities, the size of the organisation in terms of human resources and premises, their current energy usage levels, the location of all its premises, the potential environmental impact s, the pollutants the organisation is likely to emit and proposed methods to minimise these pollutants, the disposal waste and proposed methods to minimise environmental damage and the lastly the organisations commitment to environmental sustainability in order to limit its ecological footprint.Once the audit is established, the organisation can then go to relevant authorities to assist with ensuring that the licences or permits obtained ensure compliance with relevant laws the organisation needs to operate under. It is also best practice for an organisation to document their policies and procedures, address environmental obligations and demonstrate how it will reduce resource usage in order to ensure compliance with environmental legislations is consistent. 1. c Environmental Management Plan Environmental Management Plans are important as it allows an organisation to formally document their policies and procedures in order to address their environmental obligations and further demo nstrate exactly how they will reduce resource wastage. It is an effective tool to use when becoming an environmentally responsible organisation as they can also include guidelines in which the organisation plan to implement in order to increase their resource efficiency.In order for an organisation to develop an Environmental Management Plan they would firstly need to gather information from a variety of sources which may include examining the current procedures and systems the organisation has in place, examining the legal compliance requirements, researching environmental plans of competitors and other companies, seeking assistance of best practice guidelines from environmental regulators and surveying customers and other important stakeholders for their input.Secondly after relevant information is gathered, the organisation would need to analyse it and make considerations in relation to whether the information is relevant in becoming environmentally sustainable. Once analysis has been conducted on relevant areas within the organisation, the next step is for the organisation to start building ideas and information on the likely improvements that could assist the organisation in improving its ecological footprint and reducing resource usage.The information collated has to be documented in order for stakeholders to fully understand the suggested improvements through the Environmental Management Plan. In order for the plan to be monitored a monitoring report card can be used in order measure the progress of the report and informs management on how effective the plan is. 1. 4d Benefits of resource usage In order for an organisation to measure its resource usage an effective tool as mentioned earlier are audits.Audits can measure the manner in which the business conducts its activities and details the rate at which the organisation uses its resources. The benefit of conducting audits allows the employees and the organisation to become aware of the current rate of resource usage and use these documents to compare future improvements. By documenting the rates at which the organisation uses their resources, it creates opportunities for future plans to be made in order to lower the organisations usage rates and develop effective strategies in order to become environmentally sustainable. . 1 Seeking input from stakeholders In order to implement effective sustainable work practices it is important to gain input from a range of stakeholders of an organisation. All stakeholders must be considered especially when considering or proposing innovation or change within an organisation, as the changes implemented may impact stakeholders in different ways. It is important that key stakeholders are considered when implementing sustainable work practices as changes may impact these certain key stakeholders within the operations of the organisation.For example customers or clients need to be considered as they provide the income that sustains the organisatio n and therefore the changes in which the organisation aim to adopt within their operations in becoming environmentally sustainable may change the end product or service produced somehow. Therefore it is important to gain input from the proposed suggestions and ensure that all stakeholders are aware of changes in place. 2. 2 Key stakeholdersThe following is a list of key stakeholders in which an organisation would seek input from and the input they will provide: – Customers or clients: They may be able to provide feedback in relation to what improvements the organisation can make in order to assist in building the organisation’s image on being flexible and outward-looking in order to become sustainable. -Suppliers: Suppliers will be able to provide information on new products and systems that are environmentally sound.As suppliers rely on the organisation for income they will be work with the organisation to ensure it achieves its objectives of becoming environmentally sustainable. -Members within the work group or team: As employees work internally within the organisations and handle the operations sector, feedback may be gathered on how the organisation can improve their operations in order to minimise resource usage. -Regulators such as the local council- They may provide suggestions on ways in which an organisation can decrease resource usage and how to improve work practices. . 3 Consultation methods A range of methods in which can be used in order to consult with stakeholders to maximise feedback are suggestion boxes provided within the workplace, these can give all employees the opportunity to share their points of view on changes the organisation can adopt in becoming sustainable. Also forums for members of the community or shareholders to attend, forums allow members of the community or valued shareholders to openly comment on the practices of the organisation and make further suggestions for improvements.Another consultation methods is b y holding meeting with customers or suppliers, this creates an opportunity for customers or suppliers to provide feedback on particular procedures of processes the organisation has adopted and therefore discuss areas that may need improvements in order to enhance the image of the organisation. Another method in which organisations can use to consult and gather feedback with staff is by distributing feedback surveys, this will enable staff to provide ideas or comment on how effective current work practices are within the organisation. 2. External sources of information External sources of information and data in which an organisation may access in order to identify how to utilise the information to implement effective sustainable practices are: -Triple bottom line reporting: An organisation can research how other organisations conduct triple bottom line reporting through accessing information via their corporate website. Organisations can access information about how similar organisa tions have implemented strategies, what targets they set and how they go about achieving those targets in relation to the environmental sustainability.By analysing what other organisation do, this helps gather ideas and concepts in which may be adapted within an organisations processes in becoming environmentally friendly and setting targets for future improvements. -Government and regulatory bodies: Regulatory bodies can provide organisations with best practice guidelines in which can be used as effective measures when incorporating practices in order to enhance environmental sustainability within business operations. – Industry associations: Industry bodies will be able to also advise organisation on best practice guidelines in which they can use to implement sustainable practices.Industry associations may also regularly conduct seminars and training which could include vital information for organisation to use such as how to set targets and improve sustainable practices. T he seminars are most effective as they provide valuable information where industry experts often speak on the importance of environmental accountability and share real life solutions which can benefit the organisation when considering what practices to implement in order to become environmentally sustainable. 2. 5 Efficiency targets Efficiency targets are aspects in which an organisation overall aim to achieve.Organisations usually set efficiency targets after evaluating all energy efficiency ideas. The purpose of these targets when implementing effective sustainable work practices is that is gives an organisation direction in what they aim to achieve in becoming environmentally friendly. They outline the objectives in which the organisation aim to achieve in long term and are an example to all stakeholders of how the organisation is committed in setting changes through their work practices in order adopt to the changes of our natural environment.The targets set must be measurable, meaning organisations must ensure they can analyse how effectively they are working towards achieving these targets. Efficiency targets demonstrate to not only internal stakeholders but also the community on how the organisation is committed to change and are willing to improve accordingly to current environmental impacts. Efficiency targets usually reflect the aims and objectives of the Environmental Plan of an organisation and are specific in relation to the organisations goals.An example of an efficiency target set by Linfox as is a â€Å"50% carbon reduction by 2015†. Referring to task 20, I used Linfox as an example of an organisation in which set a target which is firstly measurable, provides direction for the organisation and is a symbol demonstrating their commitment in becoming environmentally sustainable. REFER TO ATTACHMENT 2 – LINFOX EFFICIENCY TARGETS 2. 6 Promote efficiency targets The benefit of promoting efficiency targets to key stakeholders is gaining the support of these stakeholders where they can contribute to the overall uccess in which the organisation aim to achieve. By having support this enables organisations to effectively work towards the targets and objectives they set out to reach. By communicating the targets to relevant stakeholders this marks a further commitment by the organisation to improving its ecological footprint as the information is released to the public domain and acts as a motivator for the organisation to meet the targets in order to avoid failure.Some methods which could be considered when communicating targets to relevant stakeholders within the internal environment of the organisation are internal newsletters, emails to internal parties from the Managing Director or CEO of the organisation, posters announcing the targets or staff meetings to create full awareness of the targets.In order to communicate the efficiency targets set to external stakeholders (being clients or customers, suppliers, shareh olders, investors, government/regulatory bodies and local media) could be a letter from Managing Director/CEO announcing its new plan and efficiency targets set, an official launch, community consultation forums, within the annual report or on the organisations public website. 3. 1 Techniques and tools The statement clearly outlines the importance of using techniques and tools as they benefit employees by helping them gain an understanding of how to follow procedures in order to implement sustainable work practices.As employees play a vital role in helping the organisation achieve efficiency targets set, they must have a full understanding of the procedures in place in order to effectively commit themselves within work operations in becoming sustainable. In order for employees to gain a full understanding of the procedures in place, the following strategies, tools and techniques may be used: -Environmental Management Plans (EMP): They are a detailed plan in which can be used in orde r to source the ways in which issues can be addressed within the workplace.Employees can use their organisation EMP to address areas in relation to sustainability practices within their workplace and cross-reference the information with the organisation’s strategic and operational plan. -Policies and Procedures: These are written documents which are directed at work place practices in which all employees must follow as a part of their duties in increasing resource efficiency. Checklists: This is a useful tool when either examining or recording resources within the workplace, or recording energy usage rates when ensuring all environmental impacts identified in the workplace are considered within the Environmental Management Plan. Checklists allow organisations to identify what resources are being used constantly and remind employees of their responsibility to ensure they are adopting sustainable work practices within the organisation. REFER TO ATTACHMENT 3 – EXAMPLE OF RESOURCE AUDIT CHECKLIST Training: Training ensures employees are fully aware of the legislation relevant to their work practices within the organisation and are useful when educating employees on implementing the policies and procedures. Through training programs employees are able to gain a clear understanding of the importance of the organisations Environmental Management Plan and therefore are more likely to support the organisations attempts to meet its targets through sustainable work practices. Meetings: Meetings are effective in delivering tools and techniques within the workplace as they can be used to introduce to employees new policies and procedures and also include an explanation on their relevance to the organisations objectives in becoming environmentally sustainable. The more in which time is delegated to educate employees this enhances the likeliness of achieving goals set. 3. 2 Resource efficiency improvement plans Environmental and resource efficiency improvement plans is a major part within the cycle of an organisations efforts to make continuous improvements.Resource efficiency plans are developed in order for work groups who operate within their sector to contribute in reaching their targets as a stepping stone in order to reach the overall objective set by the organisation. Environmental and resource efficiency improvement plans should incorporate legal requirements for execution; this ensures legal compliance is fully understood by all stakeholders in correspondence to the duties of the workgroup.The improvement plans should also incorporate the acceptance of policy by internal stakeholders, which promotes communication with employees in order to produce feedback, commitment and a greater sense of loyalty to the organisation. As well as acceptance of the policy by internal stakeholder the improvement plans must also have clearly defined reporting lines and areas of responsibility where all components need to be allocated to a responsibl e officer in order to also ensure effective implementation of the Environmental Management Plan. 3. Role of supervision/team leader It is the role of supervision or team leaders to encourage and empower employees to suggest improvements within the workplace as a part of continuous improvement processes. As well as encouraging and empowering employees, supervisors should also work to improve environmental performance within workplace operation in relation to the organisation’s efforts in becoming sustainable. Opportunities for improvements can be recognised by supervisors by conducting audits to evaluate environmental performance for permits and licences.As organisations may need to apply or reapply for permits or licences, this allows supervisors to encourage staff to voice their ideas and ensure their observations are not going unnoticed. Another method supervisors could use in order to identify possible areas of non-compliance is by debriefing after breaches, by doing so th is enables supervisors to develop a clear outline of reasons in which the issues arose. Furthermore they can gain information to ensure similar situations do not arise again; during this process it is important for team members to be encouraged by team leaders or supervisors to voice their opinions and make suggestions.Another method in order for supervisors or team leaders to support team members to identify improved work practices is by holding monthly resource efficiency meetings. These meetings allow team members to openly make suggestions and initiate new ideas in order for possible changes to be adopted within the organisation to implement effective sustainable work practices. 3. 4 Costs Different costs in which could be recognised when organisations are incorporating accounting practices in becoming sustainable within the workplace are total-cost accounting and full-cost accounting.Total-cost accounting is a method in which analyses the fixed costs in order to identify the to tal cost of production. When using this method it is evident that the costs vary according to the level of environmental resources being used within the workplace. Full-cost accounting differentiates in relation to the traditional method of costing, as it looks at all the costs in which go into the goods and services in which the organisation provide (including environmental sustainability development costs).This costing system incorporates the hidden costs such as environmental permits, operating costs such as equipment, contingency costs such as estimates of fines or penalties in case of breaches to the environment, outlays which are costs that may be incurred over a period of time and goodwill costs which are the costs that build the organisations image such as promoting the organisations recycling efforts. 4. 1 Evaluating/Monitoring PerformanceThe five steps in which organisation can use to evaluate and monitor their performance are as follows: 1) Firstly the organisation must e stablish benchmarks; this is the first step in evaluating the organisations performance. By establishing benchmarks it allows the organisation to decide on the performance standard in which they can use to further measure their results. Benchmarking is comparing the results of an organisations internal performance competitor’s performance and industry standards in order to determine its success. ) The second step is measuring performance; this is a simple step and can be done by using methods of non-compliance briefings, workplace inspections and compliance reviews. When organisations have systems in place in which gather data, it allows them to identify whether targets have been met, are in the progress of being met or have not been met at all. 3) The thirds step is checking the progress of the organisations performance against the efficiency targets been set.Once the performance of the organisation is measured, the organisation must then conduct a comparison between the act ual performance against the standard which was established in relation to improvements in becoming environmentally sustainable through work practices. 4) The fourth step is investigation; here reasons as to why targets have not been achieved are discovered. If the targets have been met then the underlying processes in which made the progression effective are established. This step enables organisations to develop recommendation for the next phase of evaluating performance being corrective action. ) Within the last phase corrective action, after having to review the measurement of the target and checking the progress as well as making further investigations, the organisation should be prepared to take corrective action in order to evaluate ways in which they can enhance their environmental performance. Aspects in which organisations need to consider when undertaking corrective action are whether there was enough data to make informed decisions, what the best corrective action is, how the action should be implemented and what targets should be set to ensure the corrective action is taken.The above steps are important and a major component of the continuous improvement cycle. It analyses possible mistakes made and is a part of the learning process for an organisation to further develop and alter its behaviour accordingly. 4. 2 Audit documentation Audit documentation could be employed to monitor performance of organisations in implementing environmental sustainable practices as it determines improvements in which an organisation can use in order to become environmentally sustainable within their work practices.By using am audit it contributes to an organisations efforts in making continuous improvements as it is used to revise the target progress and furthermore analyse recommendations in which could be used to assist an organisation in reaching targets. Organisations may use audit documentation within incident reports and also as reference material when analysing how effective they have been in reaching set targets.Audits assist organisations to decide on sustainable practices in which could be implemented within the workplace to improve environmental performance once conducted. REFER TO ATTACHMENT 4 – AUDIT DOCUMENTATION 4. 3 Communicating outcomes It is important that organisations communicate to key personnel and stakeholders the outcome of audits in relation to efficiency targets being met, in order to communicate the outcomes this can be done through target efficiency reports or quarterly efficiency meetings.Target efficiency reports provide detailed information outlining the organisations actual achievements in comparison to the targets set. The reports demonstrate to key personnel and stakeholders whether the organisation is making progress in accordance to targets set or if improvements need to be implemented within work practices in relation to reaching efficiency targets and becoming environmentally sustainable.Quarterly ef ficiency meeting are also an effective tool to communicate with stakeholders of the progress made by the organisation as the organisation will be able to outline within the meetings where possible improvements can be made and can highlight work groups that are under performing or performing to an excellent level. Also by holding efficiency meeting to discuss outcomes of audits on efficiency targets, here feedback can be gathered from employees or relevant stakeholders in order to contribute to changes in which can be adopted by the organisation to improve their environmental performance. . 4 New efficiency targets, tools and strategies New efficiency targets can be set for many reasons; some of these reasons are due to the fact that organisations may have performed to an excellent standard that new targets need to be established, or an organisation may have found problems in their efforts in becoming innovative as there may have been gaps evident within the procedures they implement ed. Whether it be either of the above reasons, it is necessary for organisations to develop new targets and tools and strategies in order to reach these targets.Steps in which can be taken to create new targets are by: -Conducting investigation on current work practices in place which may contribute to problems that may be faced when reaching the new target. -Analyse and evaluate the new efficiency target as well as make relevant recommendations. -Start to plan how the organisation will implement the processes in order to reach the new target. -Continuously monitor and evaluate the performance of the organisation in relation to the target set. REFER TO ATTCHMENT 5 – EXAMPLE OF NEW EFFICIENCY TARGETS SET BY LINFOX 4. Promoting successful strategies It is an organisations responsibility to inform all stakeholders on the environmental, social and financial performance in which can be done through triple bottom line reporting. Triple bottom line reporting is a popular form of rep orting for organisations as it outlines environmental, social and financial performance. It demonstrates the organisations commitment to corporate social responsibilities and communicates to stakeholders how the organisation is reducing its ecological footprint through their strategies.REFER TO ATTACHMENT 6 – TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE REPORTING – LINFOX In order for an organisation to promote the performance of the organisation, this may be conducted through the organisations public website, annual reports, annual general meeting outcomes, brochures or through representation on industry and environment consultation committees. REFER TO ATTACHMENT 7 – HOW LINFOX PROMOTE PERFORMANCE As the organisation makes progress within their environmental performance in becoming sustainable, it is important that stakeholders in which contributed to these achievement are rewarded in order to make them feel valued for their efforts.It is important to reward relevant stakeholders as th ey are the main reason in which the organisation have been successful in reaching efficiency targets and adopting to changes in becoming environmentally friendly. Methods in which can be used to reward important stakeholders are: – Through internal promotion: By promoting employees who contribute to implementing processes, seeking solutions, suggesting improvement and overall making the strategy work within the organisation, it ensures employees are recognised as a valued member of the organisation through changes implemented. Internal newsletter: an internal newsletter can be used in order to promote the success of the organisation when implementing the new strategy and can highlight teams and individuals in which have made important contributions to the organisations success in becoming environmentally sustainable.

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