The issues and challenges presented in Green to Gold and suggested in REACH and the nanotechnology areas raise several issues. The first relates to an organization’s Management of Change structures and functions, while the second relates to the EHS function’s capacity to manage and guide the organization in these areas.
Management of Change
The concept of Management of Change (MOC) is central in EHS management systems. The basic idea behind MOC is that policies and procedures are established to identify and respond to new issues that can change an organization’s EHS risk profile. Typically, changes in processes or production lines are currency of MOC activities. More forward-thinking organizations include organizational and regulatory change issues in their MOC activities.
EHS Function Capacity
Many of the issues raised in this blog are outside of the technical purview of many EHS departments. Yes, the technical issues related to REACH and nanotechnology are on the radar of many EHS professionals and their departments. However, how many have the capacities to meet the non-technical challenges associated with these issues? Some of these capacities include the ability to: marshal and manage complex teams; generate alignment on the teams; and maximize the team’s collective intelligence.
Professionals and organizations who gain capacities and expertise in these areas will be able to move forcibly into the new era suggested in Green to Gold and Quantum EHS.
© Redinger EHS, Inc. (2010)