>>
Site Map
>>
Forums
>>
UK News
Forum module - topics in forum:
UK News - Breaking news in the field of health and safety
Smarter working = greener business
In the wake of the Climate Change Bill being published, Work Wise UK, the national campaign to promote smarter ways of working to improve people’s work-life balance, has offered an immediate answer to some of the problems of the environmental impact of human activity on the globe: the world needs to reform the way it works.
This advice comes as the main political parties highlight their environmental credentials in the race to lead the green political agenda.
The issue of energy efficiency has been brought to the fore recently with the publication of the Stern Review and the new Climate Change Bill. Issues of congestion and road charging have also been raised and hotly debated. These issues and debates make it clear that in the future businesses will be increasingly called upon to do all that they can to become energy efficient and to limit their impact on the environment. Work Wise claims that the adoption of smarter working practices is one simple way businesses can go about achieving this.
The organisation says that the widespread introduction of smarter working practices would significantly reduce the need for travel, both commuting and travel for business, making a huge impact to the levels of CO2 emissions from transport sources. Enabling more home working, more flexible working, better remote and mobile working, all have the impact of reducing the need to travel, and staggering the required travel patterns, which will also reduce peak time congestion, in itself a major contributor to pollution levels.
Phil Flaxton, Chief Executive of Work Wise UK, comments:
“The need to work from nine to five, five days a week, dates back to the industrial revolution. However, this is unnecessary in the modern age of the internet and a globalised 24/7 economy. The realisation of the damage our working patterns are causing the environment further underlines the need for us to have a workplace revolution so that we can minimise the impact of human activity on the environment.
“This will probably be one of the least costly, and most effective steps that companies could take to make their contribution to reducing emissions.
“Adopting smarter working practices is a win-win situation: not only will it help reduce emissions, it will also provide staff with a better work-life balance and make them more productive.”
To highlight the benefits of smarter working, Work Wise UK has organised Work Wise Week, which this year will run from Wednesday 16 May to Tuesday 22 May, and will include National Work from Home Day on Friday 18 May.
Businesses can improve their environmental impact by encouraging employees to consider alternative means of travel. One way to do this is through the creation of a travel plan; a package of measures produced by employers to encourage staff to use alternatives to single-occupancy car-use.
Travel plans can offer benefits not only to the organisation and its employees, but also the community that surrounds it. It may help to relieve local parking or congestion problems or improve public transport connections across the area. It may also relieve stress on employees through reducing delays or providing the opportunity to cut their travel commitments by working from home on occasion.
A travel plan contains a list of practical measures tailored for the site, which will encourage staff to use alternatives to individual car travel. It should be seen as part of an overall transport plan, and should also address the company vehicle fleet.
The plan should include:
a site audit - an assessment of existing problems on the site, usually including feedback from staff surveys and/or focus groups;
a business audit - addressing existing costs for business travel, cost of car parking, fleet cars etc;
a programme of costed measures for implementation;
plans for publicity and promotion to raise awareness; and
objectives, achievable targets and plans for monitoring the success of the plan
