Composac Ireland have been awarded Level 2 of the Green Dragon environmental standard.
What is the Green Dragon Standard ?
The Green Dragon Standard is a stepped standard recognising effective environmental management. There are five levels of the standard, with each step contributing towards acheivement of the International and European environmental standards, ISO 14001 and EMAS. Assessment to the Standard includes a site audit by a Green Dragon Standard Authorised Auditor.
Green Dragon Environemental Management Standard Level Two.
The Green Dragon Standard Level Two focuses on understanding relevant environmental legal obligations and taking action to ensure that these obligations are met.
In order to achieve Level Two, an applicant must have achieved all the requirements of Level One in addition to the requirements set down in Level Two itself.
There are four main elements to this second level of the Green Dragon Standard. These elements are designed to build upon the initial steps taken in Level one to work towards a more robust environmental management system, whilst still being relevant to the smaller organisation.
The elements of Level Two include:
Statement of Environmental Impacts
Using the Environmental Review prepared for Level 1, the organisation should highlight those areas of its activities and operations that have a key impact on the environment. These activities and their associated environmental impacts should be documented and recognised by senior management.
Register of Environmental Legislation
Using the information gathered as part of the Environmental Review for Level one, the organisation should identify and record all environmental legislation and other obligations that are applicable to the operations of the organisation. Steps should be taken to ensure compliance with the identified environmental obligations.
Internal Communication
The organisation should ensure that all employees are aware of the organisation's key impacts on the environment and understand their responsibilities and duties with regard to protecting the environment, complying with legal obligations and generally improving the organisation's impact on the environment.
Environmental Records
Monitoring should be carried out to obtain information on key environmental indicators within the organisation. The organisation should ensure that adequate records are maintained to ensure the effectiveness of the environmental management system.
