Keeping you up to date...
By 2011 the City of Denver will implement a city-wide environmental management system. Look under the monthly and past update sections to learn more about where the project is heading and our past accomplishments.
August – What an exciting month! August rolled by in a hurry, mostly due to the preparations for the Democratic National Convention. Denver’s Department of Environmental Health played an integral role in planning and supporting the DNC - including emergency preparedness and response as well as playing a pivotal role on the DNC Greening Team.
For August, EMS documentation, internal communication strategies, and EMS awareness have been the principal focus in preparation for the future audits
Coming up in September is the “desktop” audit where our auditor will review the EMS documentation and provide feedback for the Environmental Management System’s continual improvement process. Also in late September is our own internal audit. In the internal audit DEH inspectors and EMS Team members will be inspecting facilities and conducting interviews to make sure the City is ready for the audits in October and November.
And finally... the 5 City Departments/Organizations that are developing the Environmental Management System this year will be recognized byt the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as Silver-level Partners in the Environmental Leadership Program.
Moving forward in 2008 - The EMS team is busy preparing for an exciting Fall season. September and October will be exciting with preparations for the audit in November! In the coming months the focus will be shifting from EMS development to EMS awareness and implementation and finally on to EMS certification.
July - In July the focus has been on EMS documentation. Developing the EMS documents - particularly those that explain training programs, environmental monitoring, and inspections - is an important aspect of the overall EMS implementation. Document control for the City is facilitated by the use of our Sharepoint server where city employees will have access to EMS documents.
Also in July, an expected schedule of the EMS audits has been approved. Beginning in September, a “desktop” audit will occur where documentation is reviewed and edited where necessary. In October the Stage I audit will occur, and finally in November the City will be prepared for the final EMS audit, ensuring the City’s certification in December!
June - Following the “discovery sessions” in May, the City and its consultants have developed action items that are necessary for the advancement of the EMS. One of these items is Increasing awareness about the EMS within our six 2008 implementing departments. Meetings with key personnel, including the departments’ “environmental focal points” has developed awareness about their roles and responsibilities in the process of EMS development and implementation. Staff awareness of the EMS process is vital to its success!
May - The planning and development of Denver’s EMS is moving forward rapidly! May was filled with “discovery sessions” where staff and management from different departments were consulted about their current activities and any planned projects that include environmental performance improvement. For example, Denver’s Theaters and Arenas Division of General Services have already made many upgrades to their facilities. Some of these upgrades include single-stream recycling programs, low flow toilets, the use of Green Seal certified cleaning products, and a switch to more energy efficient lighting systems.
Guided by the results of Denver’s Water Quality EMS Baseline Assessment, corrective actions to deal with non-conformities and the tracking of improvements are underway. As a result, there is increased communication between and within departments, and plans for the enhancement of training programs are currently in development.
April - The City of Denver’s training session “EMS 101” was a great success for the EMS team. Over 15 City departments and partner institutions were represented at the session, with over 50 attendees. In addition to the training session, EMS “Kick-off” meetings were held for the Departments of Theaters and Arenas, General Services, and Public Works.
The Department of Environmental Health’s EMS implementation team is continuing their work and has finalized their list of objectives and targets. They have now started to develop their project plans which will provide the direction needed in order to meet those targets and objectives.
March- March was an exciting month for Denver’s EMS team. Plans moved forward for the “EMS 101” training session where members from all implementing departments are planning to attend. Key staff from future implementing departments will also be there. The EMS training session will provide important information about: Environmental Management Systems, ISO 14001 certification, developing and implementing Denver's EMS, and what an EMS means for Denver city employees – the most important asset in the EMS process. In addition, the training will also help to build a city-wide team that will be involved in implementing the EMS and, ultimately, the Greenprint Denver action plan.
Throughout March many meetings have occurred between EMS staff and executives from different departments. The support and enthusiasm from these high-level city employees will help to ensure the success of Denver’s EMS.
Finally, we completed the rollout of the new Sharepoint 2007 server which will be used for collaboration and to house all EMS documentation, and we developed the corrective action tracking program which will be used to track improvements made as a result of the Water Quality EMS Baseline Assessment conducted in November and December.
January/February - After the completion of Denver’s Water Quality EMS Baseline Assessment a meeting was held to present the findings to the departments of Public Works, Environmental Health, and Parks and Recreation. The findings were reviewed, including the positive practices that are already in place, as well as opportunities for improvement.
Also in January the Department of Environmental Health’s EMS implementation team finalized the list of identified environmental aspects and impacts and began to develop a list of existing and potential operational controls (a department’s responses) to those significant environmental aspects. The next steps for the DEH team include finalizing the list of operational controls and continuing to develop a draft of objectives and targets for the implementation of the operational controls.
December - After many weeks of planning, meetings and interviews, the baseline audit of Denver’s Water Quality EMS is finally complete. EMS staff, along with inspectors from Environmental Quality, spent most of November and December speaking with city employees to better understand and assess how Denver is managing storm water. Information from the audit will allow the City to continuously improve and build upon its storm water efforts.
December was also a busy month for The Department of Environmental Health as agency leaders identified the environmental aspects and impacts of their organization (ways that their work can affect our environment). With this work complete, DEH may now begin to set objectives and goals for implementing environmental and operational improvements.
November - Denver’s EMS team is in the process of initiating a baseline audit of the Water Quality EMS for the Department of Public Works. To prepare for the audit, the EMS team spent several days at Denver International Airport to observe and learn from their annual EMS audit. The Department of Environmental Health will also kick off their efforts to plan and implement an agency-wide environmental management system. October - Currently, Environmental Quality is initiating EMS work with the Department of Environmental Quality alongside its continued work with the Department of Public Works on a water quality EMS.
March - On March 15, 2007, the Mayor of Denver approved an environmental policy to further promote the environmental stewardship behaviors of city employees by increasing their awareness of the environmental impact of their daily behaviors.
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In an effort to keep the South Platte River clean, Environmental Quality is working
with the Department of Public works
to implement an EMS program.
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