Continuous Improvement

There are many methods for assessing how the service is managing environmental systems and working sustainably.

These may include:

• Conducting internal audit on each commodity that uses paper
• Manual estimates
• Power meters
• Measuring by using recycling records to determine the change per month
• Reviewing purchase orders over a period of time
• A comparison of the bills by the energy provider
• Using a waste contractor to weigh the waste amount or calculate by volume
• Getting an external independent audit.

On Little.ly Early Learning Centre’s website you can access a sustainability policy and procedure document as well as a sustainability action plan and audit template. You can find a copy at the Additional Resources.

Every workplace will have competing priorities, including when it comes to sustainability development. The organisation may have mission statements, procedures and policies regarding their priorities for sustainability, just as they have for other areas such as WHS. These support the knowledge and streamlined implementation and awareness of KPIs and targets for sustainable actions and requirements in practice. Depending on the business, different directions may be evident; these might relate to costing procedures, approvals and sales systems.

For example, stage gating systems may be implemented to decide whether the target is related to a particular product, product range or all areas of the business and how the customer or client has driven or encouraged the goals. A stage gating system is a business roadmap that is designed to move a new product or project from idea to launch with breaks or gates in between, where the leadership assess and approve each phase, which may include concept, development, industrialise and launch. In between these stages there will also be costings approvals, where the business will assess the cost vs. benefit of implementing sustainable strategies.

Watch the following 5-minute YouTube video from Planisware to get an overview of the stage gate concept:

Another audit practice specific to environmental sustainability is greenhouse gas calculators. These exist to estimate the amount of energy used by a workplace. Measurement examples include:

Refer to the different types of calculators available on the Australian Government’s Clean Energy Regulator website.

In summary, an environmental audit is a management system where a tool is used to systematically, objectively and periodically evaluate and document environmental performance in the workplace in line with set outcomes or requirements. This assesses risk, controls and improves areas within the workplace. You might like to create your own audit or self-assessment checklist relating to areas of your business’s environmental impact, using the environmental principles as a guide.

Some questions you might ask about your workplace include:

1. What could go wrong (for employees, employers, the workplace or the environment) regarding environmentally responsible practices?
2. Are we using the workplace and equipment correctly and in an environmentally responsible way?
3. Do we need more training in how to environmentally manage the workplace?
4. Do we manage and store chemicals correctly? (Don’t forget, you may need permission to dispose of some chemicals by your local authority, e.g. EPA)
5. How can we minimise the chance of harm or potential harm?

Risk minimisation

The standard risk minimisation process is a relevant process to use when assessing the sustainability of a workplace. The EPA (VIC) has provided specific versions relating to the environment.

Download EPA Victoria’s self-assessment tools for controlling risk from the following links:

• 1695.1: Assessing and controlling risk: A guide for business
• 1812.1: Self-assessment tool for small business

Here’s a list of important terms related to risk minimisation:

The EPA reminds us that these control systems are helpful in self-assessing workplace environments:

• Identify any hazards or activities at your business that could cause harm
• Assess how severe the risk is, based on the likelihood of it happening and its consequence
• Implement suitable risk control measures.
• Check controls regularly to make sure they are working.

Consistent measurement, audits and records

It is beneficial to have an environmental management system. This ensures consistency in how processes are conducted. When conducting any measurements of resources, consistency is the key. The same approach, in the same area and environment, should be chosen to ensure consistency.

Data comparison can then be made by assessing usage and comparing it with months, times of the year or other departments, such as using graphs to represent data visually.

Analyse data

Review the data: What does this tell you about areas that need improvement and areas that already have strong sustainable elements connected to their processes? Why is this, do you think?

After collecting data, you should analyse it and review your organisation’s practices and strategies in line with the environmental principles. You may wish to analyse such areas as:

• General waste, hazardous and chemical waste management
• Land requirements
• Energy use
• Vehicle use
• Water use

Here are some examples of audits and templates:

• Mightybytes: ‘Learn how Organizations can Address SDGs in Our New Report
• 'Green Procurement Guideline' Procurement Service SA
• AbsorbTech: ‘50 Ways to be more Sustainable and “go green” at Work’
• City of Melbourne: ‘Waste Management Template’
• Business.gov: Chemical waste checklist

Here are some further resources on supporting your workplaces to become more sustainable:

• CERES: Supplier self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ)
• EPA Victoria: Preventing harm to people and the environment
• Business.gov: How to make your business environmentally friendly
• Recycle coach: 6 examples of sustainability in the workplace (and their impact)
• WA Environmental Protection Authority: Statement of environmental principles, factors and objectives

Audit, analyse and reflect

1. Visit the Business.gov website and read about waste management.
2. Using the waste management template provided, assess your workplace or another workplace using the information provided for energy management, water management and waste management by the City of Melbourne.
3. Using this risk assessment document provided by EPA Victoria (1695.1: Assessing and controlling risk: A guide for business), assess the potential risk of the waste.
4. Reflect: With an early childhood education and care service in mind, review the environmental management tips and write down:

• What is your service already doing well from an environmental management perspective?
• What areas need improvement or present a potential risk to the environment? Explain how this links to the Environmental Principles.

Identifying sources and collecting information is the next step in positive, sustainable practices, which can be shared with your workplace.

Further areas for environmental support, products or advice can be found at the following links:

• Australian Conservation Foundation
• Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
• Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia
• Eco Office

Once a service understands their environmental improvement needs, they will need to make a plan to minimise impact or improve systems.

First a goal, target or an environmental commitment needs to be set, along with strategies to achieve this goal and a realistic timeline for achievement.

An efficiency target can be to reduce consumption, reduce waste or reduce the service’s ecological footprint. Energy efficiency targets stimulates the development and implementation of efficiency strategies and policies.

SMART goals can be successful as they are evidence-based by requiring each goal to be:

The benefit of collaborating with a team to implement sustainable work practices is that many hands make lightwork.

During the planning process, the workplace often develops a sustainability management team. This team is responsible for different areas of the program and support the education, implementation and monitoring of practices and strategies.

They are key investigators in observing whether the strategies:

1. Are being implemented consistently by stakeholders
2. Are successful.

The teams will return to the Action Plan within the agreed timeframe and compare measures. For example, with the energy efficiency goals, a measure may be energy bills and data from providers. You may look at, as an example, what the last quarter’s bill and readings were compared to after implementation of the goal or target. If this has improved the consumption of energy, it can be considered a success. From here, you could continue to modify and improve, or move on to a new goal.

It would be an opportunity and need for review and reflection when results demonstrate a lack of success and targets are not met by the timeline. The workplace must decipher why the goal has not been met or perhaps not as much as required.

You may reflect on whether:

• The timeline was too short for reaching the goal
• The strategies are not meeting the goal’s needs
• Stakeholders are not participating (so it is not being worked towards at all or enough to make an impact)
• The measurement method is not accurate or appropriate
• The goal designed is unachievable (this could be for various reasons).

Whether the goals have successfully been achieved or not, this information must be recorded for the service within the planning documentation. Over time, this may also be able to tell a story around why some areas are most successful than others (where this occurs).

Remember that this is an ongoing journey, cycle, and process that does not end.

There are always more goals to achieve, or raise the stakes to continue to minimise our carbon footprint and emissions as a business and in the world.

There are some useful resources that a service can use to collect information and compare data, this way monitoring (the effectiveness of) sustainable work practices:

Here’s a brief example of a QIP:

Below you can access some more detailed examples of a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP). Look at the strengths and recommendations for Quality 3, Element 3.2.3.

• Centre Support - QIP example
• Stirling North Childhood Service's QIP

Goal re-evaluation, modification and re-design

At this point of monitoring, the organisation will assess the success of the approach so far. If this needs to be amended or adjusted to achieve desired results, new strategies to achieve targets will need to be considered.

Questions you may ask when considering new strategies include:

• What is working?
• What is not working?
• Do we need to engage the team more to build better collaboration and participation in working towards these targets?
• Which strategies appear to be more successful?
• Can we implement similar strategies to better reach this goal or target?

With the use of organisational systems and procedures services, just like any other business, can develop effective environmental and resource sustainability improvements.

In the table below you can see a few examples of these organisational systems and procedures:

Watch the following powerful 34-minute documentary by the United Nations about the urgent sustainability the world needs. It supports the concept that everyone needs to be involved.

Use the following questions to check your knowledge. You can check the correct answer by clicking on the 'Answer' button:

1. What is the PDCA cycle?

2. Why should the sustainability plan be documented?

3. How you can gather feedback from stakeholders about your organisation’s sustainability processes?

Answer the following six (6) questions to check your understanding of this topic. Click the dots to navigate between the tasks.