Getting value from BS7750: Lessons learnt from quality management

This article suggests some do's and don'ts when implementing BS7750. BS7750, like many other management standards, provides a framework for managing and auditing the environmental aspects of a business. The underlying intent of the standard is to provide a traceable route to identify and assess environmental issues. Problems may arise in realising the intent of this standard where an organisation allows achievement of the standard to become its ultimate goal rather than the means to achieving a goal. In such a situation there is danger of management being driven by the requirement to adhere to the procedures associated with the standard rather than focusing upon the objective. To avoid such problems it is necessary to first view BS7750 as a means by which an organisation may achieve a goal to which the organisation is already committed. The standard is simply a framework which the organisation uses to adapt and ‘fill-in’ to reflect its own situation and meet its own needs. This paper discusses some of the lessons learnt when applying or implementing other standards, such as BS5750, and identifies some of the key steps in getting the most out of BS7750. Copyright © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.