5.2.1 Benefits of environmental responsibility
Protection of the environment from the impact of operations is a matter of increasing concern. The Earth Summit in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro brought about a large amount of regulation and recommendations on an international level. Transport has been affected in various ways - not only with regard to exhaust emissions, but through diverse fields like road building, traffic control, types of motive power, the option to tax the use of environmentally sensitive routes, control of noise levels, even light pollution (the amount of scatter from ambient lighting), etc.
Another development begun in the 1990s has been restructuring and, in particular, growth of the business size of some organisations. Globalisation, free market competition, multi-sourcing, Just-In-Time, and increased travel have all increased the demand for transport.
In the context of transport, the effect has been a polarisation of social interests: those who favour the free market, personal choice and mobility, survival of the best (fittest) on the one hand; and those who favour the consideration of the environment in light of the lessons learnt, particularly in the last two decades, on the other. Issues include the fragility of the marine and terrestrial environment, direct impact of industrialisation like photochemical smog produced in traffic congestion areas, and the impact of infrastructure development. The coming together of these opposed views is becoming increasingly emotive in social and environmental terms.
Activity 5.1
Can you think of a case in your organisation or in your neighbourhood, in which care for the environment had an influence on how the work was done? What were the important issues and how did these affect the procedure?
While Quality systems can lead to formalised and focused work procedures that lead to satisfaction of customer requirements, they can also bring about greater empathy from the society that the organisation seeks to serve as well as prepare the organisation for meeting the requirements of possible future legislation in the future. Organisations do not only need to be good in their business activity, but also be good and responsible neighbours of the society, keeping long term interests of all at heart. A package of policies is more likely to be supported by the participants than a single measure like introducing Quality Assurance or TQM on its own.
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