The topic of managing environment, quality, and safety business processes under a single management program has become a popular topic in 2008. More and more, organizations are recognizing the reciprocal relationship that each of these business areas has on the other. In a 2008 whitepaper entitled Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Environmental, Health, Safety, and Quality Programs the author uses the following example to illustrate this point:
"… changing a process or procedure in one area without considering the impact on all areas could improve performance where the change is made but actually harm performance in other areas. For instance, replacing a chemical sanitizer in the laundry processes at a hospital with a less-toxic organic alternative might win points in the environmental category, but if the alternative is less effective at sterilizing linens and a spike in infections results, then quality has been diminished"
Simply put, environment, quality, and safety business processes should never be addressed in isolation of one another. Every organization, regardless of whether it manufactures a product or provides a service, works toward the goal of continuous improvement. Each business decision presents an opportunity to replace inefficiency with productivity, waste with value, and status quo with leadership. One of the surest ways to achieve this goal is by implementing an integrated management system specifically designed to drive continual improvement and improve your bottom line across all areas of your business.
You can obtain a copy of the whitepaper mentioned in this post by submitting a request to Intelex.
