During 2008, SGS continued to audit WRG’s Environmental Management System (EMS) against the ISO14001:2004 Environmental Management Systems standard.
The objectives of these audits were:
- To confirm that the management system conforms to the requirements of the ISO14001:2004 standard;
- To confirm that the organisation has effectively implemented the management system;
- To confirm that the management system is capable of achieving WRG’s policy objectives.
The SGS audit team conducted a series of process-based audits focusing on significant environmental aspects, risks and objectives as required by the standard. The audits constituted a mixture of observation of activities, interviews and reviews of documentation and records.
The action plan developed in 2007 to address one of the major non-conformances has led to significant improvements in the operation of WRG’s Environmental Management System. In 2008, there was a renewed focus on internal audit. The subsequent implementation of appropriate corrective and preventative actions to close-out the resulting non-conformances has led to an improved operation of the EMS and fewer non-conformances being raised by the external auditor. SGS’s lead auditor has commented that the number of minor non-conformances has been noticeably reduced.
During 2008, the major project to enhance WRG’s management systems by adding the ISO9001:2000, (now ISO9001:2008,) Quality Management Standard and BSOHSAS18001:2007 Occupational Health and Safety Management System standard to the existing ISO14001 EMS has continued to progress. As part of this Integrated Management System (IMS) project, a series of internal audits to the ISO9001 were conducted in relevant departments at Head Office, and internal audits to the BSOHSAS18001 standard were conducted at 41 operational facilities.
In accordance with the phased implementation plan, the IMS has developed to the pre-audit stage and an external gap audit of all three standards was conducted by SGS at our Head Office in Northampton, and a randomly-selected sample site at the end of 2008. The lessons learned from the gap audit will be used to develop the IMS at a variety of key “champion” sites, prior to the roll-out across the business. In 2009, WRG will work towards registration at its most significant waste management facilities.
As a result of the expansion of the management system, two significant new policies were created during 2008. These were the Integrated Management System (IMS) Policy (PDF document) and the Quality Policy (PDF document). As part of the ongoing review and update of the existing EMS and wider management issues, both the Environmental Policy (PDF document) and the Health and Safety Policy (PDF document) have been revised and the company Integrated Management System Manual was created. The Executive Committee of WRG has approved all four policies and the IMS Manual.
