| Summary: | More and more companies are realising the benefits of implementing management
systems, integration of these systems would lead to a more efficient and effective
management system.
Environmental, quality, health and safety management systems are discussed as
well as how each is implemented independently. Where the systems overlap or
have common goals, in order to avoid duplication and unnecessary extra work, the
development and implementation as an integrated management system (IMS) is
essential and forms the major part of this project. A long term plan to implement
the IMS is developed and will be implemented in this company through stages.
A holistic approach is being used to improve not only the effluent but also the
process and raw materials. The company being focussed on is broken down into
different sections and each section carefully investigated to find possible process
improvements. The company is looking to become as automated as possible to
reduce human error, but due to financial concerns, everything is to be done as
economically as possible, or over a longer time span.
The company is looking to implement an environmental management system
(EMS) to become ISO 14000 certified and a quality management system (QMS) to
become ISO 9000 certified as this would:
• improve product marketing,
• minimise long term costs,
• ensure the future development of the company, and
• help give the company an edge in the highly competitive market.
A brief background of the organisation is given in order to determine the current
(pre-implementation) status of the company. The EMS, QMS and Operational Health and Safety are discussed as well as how
each is implemented independently. A gap analysis of each of the management
systems is carried out and where the systems overlap or have common goals,
these systems are integrated.
The different functional departments of the organisation nl. inventory, production
and administration are investigated and suggestions on how to improve these are
documented. These suggestions are to be carried out first as these are the most
obvious and currently cause the most problems. Once these problems are fixed,
the gap analysis of each system is to be looked at and implemented.
The water use of the organisation is investigated and some practical ways of
decreasing the water use are suggested. Different ways of treating the effluent is
discussed and it is decided that the best setup would be two tanks in series,
including a flow equalisation tank and a chemical neutralisation tank. Depending on
the pilot plant investigation an extra tank can be used to improve the water quality.
One of the fundamental foundations to an effective and efficient management
system is management commitment and the management at AIC are not
committed enough. Employees should be motivated through fair pay, training and
recognition as this will reduce human error and also improve the general feeling in
the organisation. The IMS will be greatly enhanced if business ethics and social
responsibilities are incorporated.
Training seems to be the major problem in the organisation at present and once
the appropriate sections of the IMS have been completed, training should become
part of the company’s routine.
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