About BS 8901 > What is it about?
What is it about?
BS 8901 is about sustainability. Sustainability, in a nutshell, is how an organisation continues to run its activities in a commercially successful way whilst contributing towards a stronger and more just society and reducing its impact on the environment. BS 8901 apples to an organisation’s system for managing event related activities, products and services and describes the elements of a management system that will help an organisation improve its sustainability performance.
BS 8901 involves developing a policy for sustainability, engagement with stakeholders and identifying key sustainability issues. From this, objectives and targets need to be set for improving performance and measures implemented to control and minimise negative impacts.
BS 8901 does not specify which sustainability issues to manage or what performance to achieve. What the standard requires is that organisations have in place a transparent process through which it systematically evaluates the issues relevant to its operations and sets objectives and targets for improvement.
The standard requires organisations to:
BS 8901 follows the traditional management model of “plan – do – check - act” and shares common management system processes with the ISO 9001 Quality Management standard and the ISO 14001 Environmental Management standard. Organisations that already meet the requirements of ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 are well placed to achieve BS 8901. Wherever possible, it is preferable to build upon existing management systems to meet BS 8901.
“BS 8901 is not just about green issues. It is about how organisations understand the marketplace that they operate in and how they adopt strategies that will enable them to prosper.
It is about delivering events that not only have a minimal environmental footprint, but which exceed clients and attendee expectations, contribute to stronger communities and networks, build capability and generate a good return on the resources invested.
It is about improving resource efficiency, enhancing customer relationships, reducing risk, stimulating innovation and creativity, improving employee motivation and behaving responsibly.”
The overall approach is illustrated in the diagram below:
BS 8901 is about sustainability. Sustainability, in a nutshell, is how an organisation continues to run its activities in a commercially successful way whilst contributing towards a stronger and more just society and reducing its impact on the environment. BS 8901 apples to an organisation’s system for managing event related activities, products and services and describes the elements of a management system that will help an organisation improve its sustainability performance.BS 8901 involves developing a policy for sustainability, engagement with stakeholders and identifying key sustainability issues. From this, objectives and targets need to be set for improving performance and measures implemented to control and minimise negative impacts.
BS 8901 does not specify which sustainability issues to manage or what performance to achieve. What the standard requires is that organisations have in place a transparent process through which it systematically evaluates the issues relevant to its operations and sets objectives and targets for improvement.
The standard requires organisations to:
- Designate appropriate responsibilities and provide the necessary resources and training
- Managing the supply chain effectively
- Implementing a communication plan with stakeholders
- Maintain and control documentation and records
- Implement operational control procedures including measuring performance against targets, correcting problems and conducting management system audits and management reviews
BS 8901 follows the traditional management model of “plan – do – check - act” and shares common management system processes with the ISO 9001 Quality Management standard and the ISO 14001 Environmental Management standard. Organisations that already meet the requirements of ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 are well placed to achieve BS 8901. Wherever possible, it is preferable to build upon existing management systems to meet BS 8901.
“BS 8901 is not just about green issues. It is about how organisations understand the marketplace that they operate in and how they adopt strategies that will enable them to prosper.
It is about delivering events that not only have a minimal environmental footprint, but which exceed clients and attendee expectations, contribute to stronger communities and networks, build capability and generate a good return on the resources invested.
It is about improving resource efficiency, enhancing customer relationships, reducing risk, stimulating innovation and creativity, improving employee motivation and behaving responsibly.”
The overall approach is illustrated in the diagram below:
