Interesting experiences with Certifications

Toitu Envirocare​

Climate change affects all of us, and the impacts will only intensify as global warming continues. Climate related risks are those that arise from the impacts of a warming climate, as well as those related to the human responses to climate change and our transition responses. Toitu Envirocare designed a complete package to help businesses do their Risk assessments, understand the nature and level of climate change related risks, as well as opportunities. Their assessment process guides you through your organisation in how to reduce and respond to these risks, but if done thoughtfully can also highlight opportunities to build resilient operations, new revenue streams and robust strategies for decades to come. 

Working for a large furniture manufacturing company, they seen the opportunity to get on board with the Carbon Reduce program and see where the largest emissions where coming from.  My take on the program, I feel is that while the platform feels modern and fresh looking, its very administrative heavy.  If you are a large organisation this is ideally suited to your nominated Environmental enthusiast with support from finance team trying to recover 1000's pages of invoices, summaries to work through, clean the numbers up and re-enter in the spreadsheets.  Its not for the faint hearted, but once the numbers are in, its rewarding to see baseline results and something to measure and build off each year.

I think to improve the data collection is to work with suppliers already in the space of doing the same thing.  A few Transport companies are now monitoring their emissions or atleast making a start, as well as a few waste management companies, so I can only see this getting better.​

Amotai - Supplier Diversity Aotearoa NZ​

What is supplier diversity?  Supplier diversity is the practice of intentionally procuring from businesses owned by minority groups, levelling the playing field for these suppliers to compete fairly on the open market, while strengthening buyers’ supply chains. Amotai makes it easy for buyer organisations to engage verified Māori and Pasifika-owned businesses who can meet their needs.  

Many NZ Employers see the opportunity to partner with Amotai and broaden their supplier base.  I can highly recommend getting on board.​

Environmental Choice NZ and Good Environmental Choice Australia.   

Eco Choice Aotearoa (ECNZ) is New Zealand's official ecolabel and (GECA) for Australia.  These two companies are soon to join teams and align their services on offer in Aus and NZ.

Background on ECNZ.  This company commenced in 1992 and operates fully independently from Government and industry while the ecolabel is Government owned and endorsed.  They work with clients to ensure their products are sustainable for green homes or businesses.  

My thoughts about ECNZ, is a great option to have in your tendering arsenal but also making sure every part of the supply chain and manufacturing process has been thought out, catching issues with non-complying materials early, and eliminating them where practical.   The only cons is chain of custody on timber products will fail if all suppliers linking to that one timber supplier don't have FSC certification.  FSC Chain of Custody certification traces the path of products from forests through the supply chain, verifying that FSC certified material is identified or kept separated from non-certified material throughout the chain. I know ECNZ are working through this as they know it could be solved through their own verification programs and they could pick up more clients too.  

And lastly the only other downer is that they don't offer a portal to load documents into which is quite cumbersome and easily lose track of what's been sent and where your up to during revalidation audits.  I found creating a master spreadsheet full of transactional topics of to dos and what is not done handy.  Also sharepoint folder with secure access for Auditors to see all the files. 

GECA is Australian owned Since 2000. Much like ECNZ they are dedicated to enabling architects, specifiers, procurement professionals and consumers to make good choices for their clients and the environment.  Their certification scheme was the first of its kind in Australia, and has more Australian certified products than any other scheme. They have developed their own rigorous standards, following ISO 14024 principles for global best practice in ecolabelling, which are then independently assessed.  

The pros is that they offer a portal to upload documents into even if its slightly clumsy, its better than nothing.  I asked if ECNZ if they could at least think about a modern portal to upload docs into once they align in the future.  Said I was happy to present the matter at one of their meetings in the near future. ​

Integrated ISO Standards - Any good and where does that leave us?​

I guess you are wondering what I am referring to.  When there was news of upgrading the new ISO QEHS Standards, some were saying it can not be that easy when they are already struggling with such a cumbersome set of standards. Even ACC had to drop their programs as their old systems heavily relied on 4801 and shifting to 45001 was soon halted. I questioned ACC what's the point of having their outdated program when I am going to be compliant to the newer 45001, just a pure double up.  From April 1st 2017, WSMP and Workplace Safety Discount (WSD) products were no longer offered. The new Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and changes to the ACC Scheme’s legislation changed the health and safety landscape. ACC decided the WSMP doesn’t align with current legislation and is not fit for purpose.

I was asked to help a very large civil earthworks company move to the new standards.  I got the opportunity to look over the entire system and give it a fresh start. The days of having separate manuals for each standard are long gone and Auditors are open to the use of integrating software of their choice to capture their chosen systems. The standards are offering progression with linking clauses to each standard and a lot of thought around business risks and making sure its captured throughout the process.  ​Some compliance software companies are now offering templates for a fully integrated manual, but don't be fooled by these, you still need to demonstrate how your system works for you and that you fully understand it.   

On the whole I think having ISO certification is still an incredibly valuable tool to have and many of the guiding principals remain the same today. I have been working with ISO systems for 29 years, ouch that's a long time! I never get tired of seeing progression in companies I have worked for, the incredible people I have met and on the whole, see smoother running ships.​​​