Cutting through the green wall

Because companies have not given their environmental, health and safety (EHS) management organizations a bottom-line scrutiny, often the EHS goals differ from the value-added goals of the rest of the company. A company hits a Green Wall when the organization refuses to move forward with its EHS management program and the EHS group falls out of step with the rest of the company. The Green Wall effectively limits the EHS organization to its historical role of ensuring compliance with government regulations. Eliminating the Green Wall should interest senior management, because doing so can significantly improve bottom-line results. The key to creating a system that enhances the value of environmental management is to make EHS management an integral part of the business organization - not just staple it onto the organization via decentralization or the ubiquitous matrices that so many companies use.