Develop Workplace Policy and Procedures for Sustainability free essay sample

As now that in this current economic climate is centred heavily around sustainable practises and the impacts on the environment. The policy is the start of a journey for WCC in which it will address this challenge of embedding the consideration of sustainability into all areas of council’s decision making, processes, planning, reporting and its operations. This policy includes three components which are: * Environmental * Social * Economic The significants and main objective of this report is simply to establish ways that will help the WCC implement a sustainability policy. This report will outline the benefits/recommendations of a sustainability policy, indicators of how to best communicate the policy to all stakeholders (internal and external), procedures that will ensure the improvement in resource efficiency, methods that will track and monitor the process of this sustainable policy implementation. Thus this report will outline the importance of a new sustainability policy in which will be the best way to move onward and upward into the future. Benefits of a Sustainability Policy Planning and Policy Impact: A sustainability policy will assist council to comply with the requirements of the Local, State amp; Federal Governments legislations which requires that councils to have regard to the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development within all of its Decision-making processes. The policy and its procedures will allow councils to be better equipped for the any proposed changes to in Local Government Planning and change of Legislation currently being drafted. This also aims to strengthen strategic focus, planning and reporting processes for councils. The policy will be aligned with the proposed mandatory themes of social, environmental, economic and governance. Also without a change to better sustainable practises the WCC will be at risk of losing benefits from the state government. Currently the state government is requiring institutional change of its grant recipients and it is unlikely that the WCC will continue to receive such grants if it does not change to a more sustainable means to meet this requirement. Ecological Sustainability: The development and implementation of the policy would assist WCC to meet its ommitment to sustainability. The Sustainability planning and reporting framework and associated action plan will assist WCC to plan and report on its activities across the quadruple bottom line of environmental, social, economic and governance considerations. Financial Impacts: The integration of the recommended policy can be undertaken within council’s existing budget or through opportunities for external fundi ng at either a local or regional level. Another significant factor is the savings on power, electricity, and resources in the long run. Risk Assessment: Simply no risks have been identified. By providing tools for the consideration of sustainability in all aspects of WCC processes, this project has the potential to enhance WCC’s risk management processes. Methods of Consultation/Communication of the policy WCC have a wide range of key stakeholders, thus continual engagement with these stakeholders is an absolute must. As is why there is a need for a variety of methods to be put in place in order to have continual consultation with all levels of stakeholders. WCC must engage staff of levels including Executive, senior and middle management groups as well as other staff from various departments. Methods of Consultation will include: * Regular work group meetings * One local and one regional workshop WCC, facilitated by external company experts in implementation and training in Sustainability Policies. * One on one interviews * One on one meetings * Informative project presentations * Ongoing email, memo and phone correspondence. As stated previously an internal memo (See appendix A) that will be sent out to all the key stakeholders of WCC. The memo will inform the key stakeholders that there is a push for a new sustainability policy to be implemented, give them an option to view the proposed policy and who they will need to contact. It will be also be made readably available as it will be placed on public exhibition in all Wollongong Local Government Areas for a period of no less than four weeks, in accordance with Council’s Community Engagement Policy. Set of Procedures that will Ensure Improvement in Resource Efficiency The goal for WCC is that Wollongong will become a community that can feel the future with confidence due to its: * An adequate and renewable supply of resources * A strong social fabric * A healthy environment And that the continual improvement in these three areas will help the WCC preserve and strengthen all forms of life for the long term, both locally and globally. That is why the WCC’s sustainability policy shall include the following Procedures to help ensure improvement in resource efficiency: Everyday Offices: Use of Recycled materials e. g. paper will now be bought from a recycling company. * The use of electricity will be cut down significantly with the installation of solar panels on roof tops of all major office buildings. Solar power will assist in the use of all electrical products such as computers, printer, lights (when needed) scanner, fax machine and even kitchen appliances in tea rooms etc . * Water tanks will be installed and the recycled water will be used in activities such as watering of plants and flowers, cleaning and even be used for toilets and other flushable needs. Environment: Protect and improve water, air, and soil quality: In all its operations and activities both internally and externally Council will take all reasonable steps to: * control its actions, and the actions of others over which it has influence, to prevent further damage to air, water and soil resources; * take all reasonable action to restore air, water and soil to as close to their natural state as is possible Social: Ensure all services, facilities and community amenities are accessible to everyone in all its operations and activities both internally and externally Council will take all reasonable steps to: * Insure a comparable level of access for all people to services, facilities and community amenities and communicate to the community the availability of these resources * Identify community needs and values as a basis for ensuring a minimum standard of appropriate service delivery to the community; * Co-operate and partner with other organisations in the provision of services, facilities and community amenities * Improve the accessibility of public transport. Economic: Use resources efficiently and responsibly in all its operations and activities both internally and externally Council will take all reasonable steps to: * minimise its use of resources such as energy, water, petroleum, construction materials and office materials * increase the use of renewable resources as a percentage of all materials used * Factor in the environmental and social as well as financial costs of projects, plans and strategies. Methods Used to Track amp; Monitor Continuous Improvement Several steps should be put into place in order to track and Monitor Improvements and other possible situations with the Sustainability policy. * Records will be compared in 12months to in order to map the potential and very likely savings of the policy. * A mapping system to monitor record and observe the usage of power, water and material water being consumed. Observation and monthly meetings to help identify improvements that the policy has successfully implemented and also to identify any defects or problems that may has also arisen from the implementation so that these may be fixed promptly and changes be made quickly and effectively to further prompt sustainability within the WCC. NOTE: There will be two ways and steps in which the records and mapping system methods of monitoring will operate. There will initially be a hard copy used to first write down information and data followed to be backed in a soft copy format, however the soft copy will be more detailed the specifics and have more information of the success of these implementations. Conclusion In the road ahead a series of questions need to be asked: * Where are we now? * Where we are currently headed? * Where do we want to go? * How do we get there? * How are we going? Now that there is this need for a more sustainable future entering the current economic climate which is centred heavily around sustainable practises and the impacts on the environment. Organisations must be Sustainable in order to meet the needs of the present demand. It is being environmentally friendly to help reduce such things as pollution, water wastage, electrical use, resource waste and ultimately clear the path for a cleaner future, not to mention the clear saving benefits and grants available to â€Å"green† organisations. That is why it is heavily recommended that the Sustainability Policy and its procedure be put in place so that the WCC can do its part in ensuring a cleaner future. PART2: Wollongong City Council Sustainability Policy The following consideration of the importance of environmental sustainability and a commitment to be a benefit to the whole of Wollongong, Wollongong City Council is an organisation with responsibilities to represent and serve the community which supports it. Long term sustainability is a recognised objective of the community and Council has an obligation to show leadership and commitment in the achievement of sustainability objectives. Wollongong City Council will safeguard the economic, social and environmental well-being of present and future generations. It will do this through careful planning and decision-making that aims to avoid any harmful local and global effects of its actions. HOW WILL THE WCC KEEP THIS COMMITMENTON GOING IN THE LONG RUN? Environment a) Protect and improve water, air, and soil quality; b) Protect and expand habitat for all forms of life; and c) Work in harmony with natural ecosystems. Social a) Improve the well being of all people; b) Ensure services, facilities and community amenities are accessible to all people; and c) Encourage people to participate constructively in the community. Economic a) Use resources efficiently and responsibly; ) Help reduce the impacts of poverty; and c) Encourage a strong local economy. WCC will comply with all relevant legislation and the regulations for sustainability, and also strive to achieve international best practice for the Wollongong area. We have appointed Mr T. Stark, Head of WCC’s environmental Conservation of parks and Aquatic land sites as the Sustainabilit y Co-ordinator, who has responsibility for ensuring ongoing environmental performance, identification of environmental risks, recording and monitoring of impacts and implementing environmental and social sustainability. Special considerations will be given to employing and empowering the local staff and wherever efficient and environmentally sustainable, products and services will be sourced locally. We encourage staff to present our commitment to environmental and social sustainability, and our status under the Green Globe programme to our guests, suppliers, contractors, agents and wholesalers. An internal memo (See appendix A) that will be sent out to all the key stakeholders of WCC. The memo will inform the key stakeholders that there is a push for a new sustainability policy to be implemented, give them an option to view the proposed policy and who they will need to contact. It will be also be made readably available as it will be placed on public exhibition in all Wollongong Local Government Areas for a period of no less than four weeks, in accordance with Council’s Community Engagement Policy. Signed: Name: Mr. Tony Stark, Head of WCC’s environmental Conservation of parks and Aquatic land sites. Date: 20th September 2012 NOTE: This policy is a public document to be on display, a copy may be given to anyone. The organisation invites staff, guests and the community to suggest ways to further achieve best practice environmental and social sustainability. This policy will be reviewed by the end of 2013 and subsequently every year. PART3: 12 Months Progression Report This report is a follow up of the previous report. The sustainability policy was successfully implemented into Wollongong City Council (WCC). The following report addresses the success and any concerns with the sustainability report implemented just over 12months ago. As a result the statistics support the implementation of the policy. Water use in offices has been significantly reduced with the installation of 4 large water tanks, a further 10 industrial sized water tanks we installed in the Botanical Gardens. The Tanks are used for water to flush the toilets, water on ground gardens as well as water and maintain the Gardens of the Botanical Gardens. Water Usage has been successfully minimized by a staggering 30%. This was significantly minimized within the first 3 months, with the average water consumption minimizing by 100 litres per day. This proves that the instillation of the new water tanks has been a major sustainable change throughout the departments within the WCC. Electricity has also been reduced throughout the WCC buildings. The use of solas panels has proved to be success. It has seen the reduction of electricity used almost cut by 28%. The figures suggest that the sustainability policy has been nothing but successful for the WCC. As WCC is the local council they are taking a leading role and becoming a bench mark for the rest of our local community in sustainability thus making the way for a more sustainable future. However a few recommendations have been identified to simply improve on current procedures. These recommendations include sustainability report reviews. It is hopefully that recommendations such as this will help form part of a new initiative called the Sustainability Policy road map which will be developed to assist integration of this as well as many other Policies into the WCC’s operations. This action plan will include specific timeframes and opportunities for partnerships to implement the actions. Appendix A Wollongong City Council â€Å"City Of Innovation† TO: All Stakeholders FROM: Mr Tony Stark (Head of WCC’s environmental Conservation of parks and Aquatic land sites) DATE: 19th of September 2012 SUBJECT: Implementation of Sustainability Policy This memo is to inform all Stakeholders within Wollongong City Council that there has recently been a sustainability policy implemented. There will be a copy of the policy for all Stakeholders to read available to them on the WCC intranet. It will also be It will be also be made readably available as it will be placed on public exhibition in all Wollongong Local Government Areas for a period of no less than four weeks, in accordance with Council’s Community Engagement Policy. If anyone has any inquiries please do not hesitate to contact me during office hrs on the Human Resource Department contact number listed in our internal phone book or by email at anytime. Sincerely Yours Signed: Mr Tony Stark (Head of WCC’s environmental Conservation of parks and Aquatic land sites)