Waste management company cleans up its environmental act
Published: 07 May, 2014
A recycling, renewable energy and waste management company has improved the provision and quality of health and safety and environmental expertise available to its customers via its compliance team, after turning to online specialists Cedrec. PWE reports.
Viridor, part of the FTSE 250 Pennon Group, processes over two million tonnes of waste each year into recyclables, raw materials and energy while safely managing more than eight million tonnes of recyclables and waste materials for customers from all sectors across the UK. It is therefore critical for the company’s compliance team to stay abreast of health and safety and environmental legislation covering waste, water, pollution prevention control, land contamination and PPE among other issues ensuring that waste operations and services are properly controlled and responsibly managed so local communities, wildlife and the countryside are protected.
The company needed a better way to record and note amendments and changes to environmental and safety legislation as the previous system was too text heavy, cumbersome and difficult to use. The team with responsibility for management systems ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 needed a system that could be understood and better implemented.
Viridor turned to Cedrec and has been benefiting from the company’s services since May 2013. Cedrec’s online system is updated daily as new legislation and policy comes in. As a subscriber, customers can locate and access all the information required using a clear structure, menus and custom built search engine. By linking directly to the firm’s database Viridor has seen significant benefits, Petra Stapp regulatory and policy advisor with responsibility for overseeing health and safety and environmental legislation at Viridor, commented: “We have seen a huge difference since bringing onboard Cedrec, whose expertise and ability to provide easy-to-understand, easily digestible interpretation and analysis of complex and highly technical legislation is without parallel and means we are fully compliant with legal requirements. The summaries and subtext breakdowns they provide are clear, comprehensive, well indexed and up-to-date; and can if necessary be expanded out further by the user to reveal more detail and analysis. All this ensures that teams are now more aware of the legislation and better armed with the right advice that can be applied in their day-to-day work.”
The Sunderland-based company employs more than 3000 people and operates from a number of strategic sites in the south west, south east and north of England and Scotland providing support through the production of registers of legislation, subscription bulletins and advice on other relevant issues which provide clarity regarding the maintenance of, and compliance with, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 systems. Cedrec Environmental provides plain English information on legislation to enable subscribers to understand and stay up-to-date with ever changing environmental law and its implications.
Viridor also reports it is able to stay a step ahead of the statutory landscape and contribute to its legal compliance abilities using proactive advice on how changes will impact on the business and how to comply all supplied by Cedrec, including easy-to-follow ACOP guidance surrounding the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH).
Stepp commented: “Cedrec have ultimately improved our ability to comply with health and safety and environmental legislation.” She concluded: “They have made legislation understandable and accessible to everyone within the company. Furthermore, we have been impressed by their expertise and ability to deliver quickly, while the team is always helpful, professional, approachable and fun to work with.”
For further information please visit: www.cedrec.com
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