ارزیابی اثرات زیست محیطی با استفاده از مدل تعاونی برای پیاده سازی EMS (ایزو 14001) در شرکت های کوچک و متوسط

Certification of an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) is currently an important requirement for those enterprises wishing to sell their products in the context of a global market. The system's structure is based on environmental impact evaluation (EIE). However, if an erroneous or inadequate methodology is applied, the entire process may be jeopardized. Many methodologies have been developed for making of EIEs, some of them are fairly complex and unsuitable for EMS implementation in an organizational context, principally when small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) are involved. The proposed methodology for EIE is part of a model for implementing EMS. The methodological approach used was a qualitative exploratory research method based upon sources of evidence such as document analyses, semi-structured interviews and participant observations. By adopting a cooperative implementation model based on the theory of system engineering, difficulties relating to implementation of the sub-system were overcome thus encouraging SMEs to implement EMS.

Environmental legislation and rules as well as the regulations that apply to the most diverse productive sectors have been encouraging organizations to implement an Environmental Management Systems (EMS – ISO 14001). These norms are being constantly improved, especially when the multidisciplinary nature of relationships between man and the environment are taken into account. These systems essentially aim at reconciling economic with environmental issue [21]. An EMS is a systematic process known in corporations, with the purpose of prescribing and implementing environmental goals, policies, and responsibilities, as well as regular auditing of its elements [12] and [33]. Despite being a voluntary standard, its adoption, over the medium and long term, may lead enterprises to improve the control of their processes, products and services, while also helping to save costs and enhance profits [14] and [34]. This is particularly important when we consider that the implementation of an EMS may affect enterprise capability to sell products globally [32]. The importance of the role of SMEs in the business context must be considered in relation to a country's balance of trade. For enterprises with this profile it may be difficult to implement an EMS; these difficulties are particularly associated with budgetary and/or human resource limitations. According to Miles et al. [25] SMEs, in general, control less management capital and fewer labor resources and typically enjoy substantially fewer “slack” or discretionary resources that may be relocated to environmental management. The SMEs are responsible for a significant share of the total environmental burden [16]; although no generally accepted figures on the actual environmental burden are currently available. Reducing this burden requires environmental improvement at the micro level, a goal which has been stubbornly elusive in many parts of the world. While little is known about the actual total impact of SMEs, even less is known about the burdens of individual SMEs [15]. The environmental impact of SMEs is not known at national or regional levels. It is often quoted that, as a sector, SMEs could contribute up to 70% of all industrial pollution [20]. Environmental certification can provide the following types of benefits for SMEs: enhanced reputation, better access to the market, lower insurance costs and lower costs due to a more efficient process may compensate SMEs for the ISO 14001 registration [25]. The limited availability of financial and human resources further highlights the need for a well conducted implementation of an EMS. Various indicators point to the fact that a dominant aspect of the implementation and up-keep of an EMS is associated with the planning stage, especially of the sub-system (requisite) of environmental aspects and impacts, mostly due to the complexity of the adopted methodologies. According to Põder [28], experience obtained from numerous companies has demonstrated that limited transparency and reproducibility of the assessment process serves as a common shortcoming. Despite rather complicated assessment schemes that are sometimes used, the evaluation procedures have been largely based on subjective judgments because of ill-defined and inadequate assessment criteria. Nevertheless, in a review of the international literature, few references were found that address, in depth, the methodological subjects associated to implementation of the process of EIE within the scope of an EMS ISO 14001 for SME. This may be closely related to the focus on large size organizations because of their greater level of impact. Motivation for this research was that in Brazil few SMEs have ISO 14001 certification. Based upon this fact, efforts were made to develop a model for implementing an objective, simplified and economic EMS that is appropriate for the needs of SMEs. This author used ‘Systems Engineering,’ (SE) as the theoretical point of reference, as well as the cooperative approach (For further details, see Section 4.1) to implement and integrate systems. The model that is the object of this work was developed by systemization of empirical knowledge of the process for the implementation of EMSs in Brazilian enterprises using as a reference the systematic vision and instruments proposed by SE. The model is comprised of three phases: first, planning the system's implementation, second, implementation and third, adjustments of the system to achieve certification. Because of the complexity inherent in the process of EMS implementation, the focus of this document reviews the methodology used to identify the SMEs environmental aspects and to analyze the associated impacts and their inter-relationships with the legal and other requirements. These sub-systems are fundamental for the planning phase of an EMS and to develop a successful implementation process.

Implementation of an EMS (ISO 14001) is an important tool for environmental management, because it is an instrument that functions at the micro level, while functioning within the scope of a macro level tool. When the participation of SMEs is considered, this is even more relevant. This is because of their larger number and production of a greater diversity of pollutants. Further, legally established environmental standards do not consider the potential environmental damage associated with the cumulative effect, synergism and/or the reactivity of compounds within a particular environment (air, water, soil). This emphasizes the need to develop simpler and more appropriate methodologies for EMS implementation in this context particularly regarding EIE. The methodology used for EIE discussed here is, and part of a global model for implementing EMS, were developed to render the process for EIE, objective and simple so as to meet the needs of SMEs by adopting a cooperative implementation model. Results of case studies on the methodology to assess environmental impacts of EMS models and those of other organizations show that most are very complex for small and medium-sized companies. There are however, rare exceptions where the methodology adopted is extremely simple, in detriment of efficiency and robustness. This might entail the risk of not identifying environmental aspects or impacts evaluated, which are not considered significant, jeopardizing certification and maintenance of EMS. The implementation model, with SE as the theoretical point of reference and the cooperative implementation approach are interesting mechanisms to reduce cost and simplify implementation. Comparisons made with methodological alternatives of the already known empirical models point to the fact that the methodology generated by this research is better suited for SME. It proved to be objective and economical, offering accreditation and maintenance of the certificate of three SME. However, it must be stressed that to improve results of the cooperative approach, enterprises involved in the cooperative implementation process must have an open culture. This is important not only because of the great contribution of environmental benchmarking, through an exchange of experience, which improves the organizational learning, but also because it enables organizations to support each other during the EIE. This is important not only in the planning phase, but also during the entire EMS implementation. The model proposed was developed by research carried out in four companies. Three of them were SME and one a large company used this model as a guideline to support EMS implementation. The next step, in a more comprehensive evaluation of this model would be its implementation by a larger number of organizations.