New BS 8901 Standard - New Training Course
04 August 2009
BS 8901 has been revised based upon over 12 months of experience with the standard. The new version due to be released in the next month or two is simpler to understand and has a clearer structure.
Tim Sunderland, Managing Director of Sustainable Event Certification, which provides training, advice and certification to BS 8901, was involved in driving the changes to the standard. "The new standard is much clearer and simpler although it is still a hard read due to the nature of the language in which these standards are created. The standard is designed to help organisations improve the sustainability of their event related activities, products and services. In essence, BS 8901 simply prescribes a business management framework. Through our training courses and our support to organisations both in the UK and the USA, we are seeing how BS 8901 is becoming a valuable tool to help small and medium sized organisations restructure their management systems and improve efficiencies. The benefits are particularly apparent in multi-sited organisations and organisations that are growing and hiring new people as the adoption of best practices and the improved transparency required by BS 8901 enables new hires to be quickly assimilated into the business. One organisation even commented on how adopting BS8901 has significantly reduced emails and phone calls simply because everyone now knows how the organisation operates".
In addition to improving organisational effectiveness, BS 8901 is also driving more creativity and innovation in the industry. Sunderland continues, "Sustainability is all about innovation and finding new ways to exceed client expectations that have a lighter environmental footprint and a stronger social contribution. We are seeing catering firms offering lower carbon menus, new tools being applied to demonstrate the ROI of events, venues providing 100% compostable service ware and achieving 100% waste diversion rates from landfill, event organisers running events with zero handouts and giveaways, conferences being powered by solar energy, free concert tickets being provided to those who support community projects. This list continues to grow and each innovation is a small step further along the road to sustainability. It's the innovations today that will become common practice tomorrow, and it is the innovators that will gain the competitive edge as clients, such as the London 2012 Olympics, start to demand more sustainable solutions to their events".
So how can you use BS 8901 to get ahead in the marketplace? "Due to our experience in developing sustainability training courses and management tools for BS 8901, and due to the more straight forward structure and content of the standard, we have been able to simplify our training courses", say Sunderland. "We have developed a new one day implementation training course that will provide delegates with all the knowledge they need to achieve BS 8901. Provided with the course is our BS 8901 Toolbox which includes various tools and template documents that organisations can use to develop their management systems. We have seen that most organisations are already doing around 80% of what BS 8901 requires and we ensure we build upon this. Our goal is to help organisations, particularly small and medium sized enterprises, achieve the standard without having to resort to the use of consultants or overly complex and expensive training courses. We are running the new course in London on 30th September and we can provide further information to anyone that is interested".
Sustainability is here to stay. Organisations that cannot demonstrate improving sustainability in their products and services, and who are not committed to the sustainability journey may start to lose clients and new business. With not only the largest event in the world, the Olympics, committing to a more sustainable future but also most national governments and multinational corporations, then you know things are changing. When the largest company in the world, Wal-Mart, which reportedly touches a third of the world's productive capacity, revises its business strategy to improve the sustainability of all of its products - impacting over 100,000 suppliers, then you know this is serious.
One Day Workshop on Sustainability and Implementing BS 8901- 2009
Date: 30th September 2009
Location: Marcus Beck Room, 1 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 0AE
(Map http://www.onewimpolestreet.co.uk/contact/location.php )
Time: 8.30 Registration, Workshop 9.00 to 17.00
Sustainable Event Certification (SEC) is pleased to be providing this one day workshop on sustainability and the new version of BS 8901-2009, the British Standard on sustainability management systems for the events industry.
This one day workshop will help you understand what sustainability is about and will provide you with the knowledge and tools to be able to achieve BS 8901.
The standard has just been revised and is designed to help organisations in the events industry improve the sustainability of their activities. It prescribes a management system framework and specific requirements which organisations need to implement within their organisation.
The course is structured around interactive group work, discussions and presentations and will be delivered by a trainer who is not only directly involved in the development of BS 8901 but is also currently certifying organisations to the standard.
The topics for the workshop include:
• What is sustainability and why is it an important business issue
• BS 8901 - a framework for managing business
• BS 8901 benefits and challenges
• Designing and implementing management systems to meet BS 8901
o Building on your existing systems
o Conducting issue analysis and stakeholder engagement
o Setting objectives, targets and action plans
o Implementing operational controls, monitoring and measurement
• Achieving certification to BS 8901
We have designed and developed a number of tools and template documents to enable you to achieve BS 8901 efficiently and cost effectively. This BS 8901 Toolbox includes for example:
• A generic sustainability policy
• Tools for identifying sustainability issues including a checklist of issues
• Stakeholder management register
• Example objectives, targets and key performance indicators
• Generic BS 8901 manual
• Auditing templates
The application of these tools will be illustrated during the workshop and the complete Toolbox will be provided electronically to all attendees.
Who should attend?
• Event managers working on behalf of public sector and corporate clients
• Senior managers from suppliers and contractors in the events industry including catering, logistics, lighting, exhibitions, security, etc
• Event clients and sponsors who are looking to improve the sustainability of their events
• Senior executives in experiential and communications management
• Organizations planning to tender for 2012 Olympic contracts (the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) recently released its London 2012 Sustainable Event Guidelines in which they expect companies and organisations that they work with to be working towards implementation of BS 8901)
• Anyone considering the adoption of ISO 9001 on quality management or ISO 14001 on environmental management
• Anyone whose clients have mentioned BS 8901 or ISO 14001
• Individuals already involved in implementing BS 8901
Learning outcomes
On completion of the workshop, delegates will understand:
• The concept of sustainability and why it is becoming a real business issue
• The requirements of BS 8901 including key concepts and definitions
• The most critical and difficult parts of BS 8901 including sustainability issue identification and stakeholder engagement
• The relationship between BS 8901 and ISO 9001 on quality management and ISO 14001 on environmental management
• The process to achieve certification to BS 8901
This course provides you with all you need to meet the requirements of BS 8901. If you are interested in attending the course then we would be pleased to hear from you.
The cost of the course including the BS 8901 toolbox is £350 plus vat per delegate which includes refreshments, lunch, course and training materials.
To register your interest, please contact: Tim Sunderland on 07521 316 136 or via email: tim@sustainableeventcertification.com
