Environmental Management Systems

The Ohio Environmental Education Fund awarded a generous grant to the Five Colleges of Ohio Environmental Health and Safety Roundtable. The Office of Environmental Education Fund hosts a copy of the Grant Award Press Release on its website, located at http://www.epa.state.oh.us/pic/nr/2008/november/FiveColleges.html. The grant's purpose is to lay a foundation for implementing an Environmental Management System. Environmental Management Systems seek to integrate Environmental Health and Safety principles into the mission, goals and core business practices of the college through 1) prevention of pollution, 2) compliance with all legal requirements, and 3) continual process evaluation and improvement. It encourages student and employee participation and provides an effective, systematic framework for monitoring our environmental impacts. The system utilizes four continuous, proactive steps (plan, do, check, act) to establish a baseline for ongoing performance improvements, to promote regulatory understanding and responsibility, and to elucidate environmental priorities. As one of the Five Colleges of Ohio members and a moderately sized institution, Kenyon College encourages close collaboration to achieve goals and objectives. The ultimate goal is a streamlined, consistent, comprehensive, well defined set of procedures, a closely collaborating team, an outlet for practical information, and a confidential communication system.