Conclusion

• Author: Frank B. Friedman
• Pages: 453-454

Chapter 13:

Conclusion

This book summarizes many of the environmental management lessons

that I and others have learned over the years. Some of its suggestions,

such as those on dealing with regulators, are unique to the environmental

area. Many others, such as those on interactions between staff and line man-

agement, simply apply good, general management techniques in the envi-

ronmental context. Basicly, good management is vital in the environmental

area, if only because environmental costs are so high. (For a discussion of

costs, see Chapter 3, The Cost of Environmental Protection.)

The greatest change in the environmental management area is movement

away from a primary emphasis on technical or legal regulatory issues to

more emphasis on pure management and integration of the HES function

and risk management in general into operations, maintenance, and general

business practices. Indeed, one of the most valuable efforts of the staff at

Ato was a review of the entire HES function in its plants. It worked jointly

with the process technology group to determine appropriate staffing (engi-

neering, technical, and hourly), organizational structure, HES operations,

maintenance, etc. It also reviewed the effect of potential process changes and

automation on overall costs and staffing. Staffing costs are not free goods,

and there are many process changes that become cost effective when the full

cost of staff time is considered.

Many environmental management techniques come down to getting the

most out of the people in your organization. An EMS, like any other manage-

ment system, must ensure that each individual’s performance is recognized

so that good work receives credit and bad work cannot be blamed on commit-

tees. Effective environmental management also requires an interdisciplinary

approach. No one discipline has all the solutions, and turf problems must be

resolved to allow the organization to make full use of engineers, lawyers, con-

sultants, and other professionals. The ability to work with people is a critical

ingredient of successful environmental management.

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