BS 8900 is designed to help organisations to develop an approach to sustainable development that will continue to evolve and adapt to meet new and continuing challenges and demands. It offers clear practical advice with which to make a meaningful contribution to sustainable development.
This new standard guides organisations towards effective management of their impact on society and the environment, along the route to enhanced organisational performance and success.
The British Standard is designed to:
- Provide a framework so organisations can take a structured approach to sustainable development by considering the social, environmental and economic impacts of their organisation’s activities
- Be applicable to all organisations, in terms of size, type etc, including civil societies and trade unions
- Make it easier for organisations to adjust to changing social expectations
- Helps organisations to connect existing technical, social and environmental standards, both formal (eg ISO 14000 series of standards) and private standards (eg the GRI and the AA1000 standards)
- Offer a maturity pathway for the development of the management of sustainable development issues and impacts
- Provide organisations’ stakeholders with a useful tool to assess and engage in improving organisational performance
- Contribute to international level dialogue in the international standard on social responsibility, currently under development.
Dr Simon Zadek, CEO of Accountability and Co-Chairman of the Committee responsible for the development of the draft (SDS/1), encourages organisations and individuals to comment on the draft, “BS 8900 will help advance the cause of sustainable development by making it easier to integrate into organisational processes, decision-making and behaviour”.
Professor David Jackman of the Ethics Foundation and Co-Chairman of SDS/1 comments that “this standard represents a bold step forward for BSI. Sustainable development is positioned firmly at the cutting edge and is an important area affecting the future of all of us”.
Developing an EMS system
Organisations of all kinds are facing an intensifying and worldwide pressure from society and stakeholder groups to achieve and demonstrate sound environmental performance. Controlling the impact of their activities, products or services on the environment is a major challenge for all managers. The environmental management standards produced by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) help organisations meet this challenge.
To provide assistance to organisations implementing or improving an Environmental Management System (EMS), based on BS EN ISO 14001, a new edition of the best-selling book, Managing the Environment the 14001 Way, has been published.
This book is for organisations seeking user-friendly help in developing a cost-effective environmental management system (EMS) based on BS EN ISO 14001 and 14004.
It builds on the basic framework and principles of the standards by providing practical advice, examples and sources of further information.
BSI says is should be invaluable for those seeking to integrate EMS within an overall management system, such as one based on ISO 9001 (Quality) or BS 8800 (Health and Safety).
The contents cover such areas as: carrying out an initial environmental review; defining an environmental policy; planning; identifying significant environmental aspects; implementing and operating; checking and correcting; auditing; reviewing; using a BS EN ISO 9000 approach; and integrating with BS 8800 and OHSAS 18001.
BSI order ref BIP 2069. Price £30 (p&p UK £4.17 (inclusive of VAT) (free p&p for BSI Subscribing Members).