Role of the Environmental Manager in the Workplace
April 3, 2008 by Joe Rosenbeck | Filed under: In the industry and in the workplace [1, 2, 3],RESEARCH CATEGORY: THE ROLE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGER
One of the subject areas for our group to discuss is the “role of the environmental manager in the workplace”. Typical roles of the environmental manager in the workplace may vary; however, we should be able to come up with and discuss a list of potential roles. What do you believe the role of the environmental manager in the workplace should be?
In addition, how is the role of the environmental manager in the workplace evolving and how should the role continue to evolve? For example, in the past the primary role of the environmental manager in the workplace was to advise and assist the workplace with its environmental regulatory compliance efforts. Over the last 10-15 years, in many workplaces this role has evolved beyond compliance assistance. Now, many environmental managers lead efforts to integrate environmental management into business management processes looking for and finding opportunities to add value to the business and to drive the workplace towards sustainability. Also, in many workplaces environmental managers are actually environmental, health and safety (EHS) managers with roles and responsibilities in all three areas.
How is the role of the environmental manager in the workplace evolving? Should the role be expanded to include health and safety? Should environmental managers in the workplace be viewed as “change agents” who lead the workplace beyond compliance and ultimately towards sustainability?