News

Monday 12 December 2011

Triple Awards win for Blackmores!

Blackmores are delighted to announce its recent success at the Hertfordshire Green Awards and the Hertfordshire Business Awards 2011. Blackmores won two awards at last month’s Green Awards ceremony for their development of an online Environmental Management System for NHS Trusts. They were presented with awards for ‘Best Environmental Project of the Year’ and the ‘Green Innovation Award’. Following the success at the Green Awards, Blackmores went on to win the ‘Creative Innovation’ award at the Hertfordshire Business Awards 2011.

The aim of the new Environmental Management System (EMS) is to help Trusts to reduce their environmental impact and to help them to reduce their costs for energy and waste. South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust was the first to implement the system and achieve BS EN 16001 and ISO 14001 certification. Their achievement was reducing their carbon footprint with a saving of 2,500 tonnes of CO2 and £1 million in revenue. They now also have a means to quantify, monitor, measure and reduce all their environmental costs.

Mel Blackmore, Managing Director comments, “Legislation and regulation is causing a huge burden for NHS Trusts and we wanted provide a system that was intuitive, easy to use and cost-effective, so we teamed up with a technology partner, Integrum, and pioneered a unique online system tailored to NHS Trusts needs to help them obtain their environmental and quality standards certification.

“It is wonderful to get recognition for pioneering the NHS Environmental Management System. Our software partner, Integrum, and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust worked hard with Blackmores to develop a system that would deliver results and we are delighted to win the awards. Our aim is to roll the EMS out to other NHS Trusts, and we have also developed and tailored the system for use in the construction industry.”

Barbour EHS’ Preferred ISO Consultancy Partner

Blackmores has been chosen as the preferred provider of ISO Standards Consultancy services on behalf of Barbour Environment, Health & Safety and as such, will be implementing, maintaining and developing management systems for Barbour EHS clients who would like to achieve and attain ISO Certification. Barbour EHS is a specialist ‘Health, Safety and Environment’ company with a 40 year history in supporting professionals in this sector. Barbour customers are professionals from large blue chip organisations, public sector bodies, SME’s and medium sized organisations across all industry sectors.

Blackmores Achieves ISO 9001 Certification

Blackmores are proud to announce that they are an ISO 9001 certified company. Having been assessed and approved by a UKAS Accredited Certification Body, the Blackmores team were presented with their certificate.

Mel Blackmore, Managing Director said, “I am delighted that as a leading management systems consultancy and specialists in our field, we are able to boast that we practice what we preach.”

ISO 50001 is the new energy management standard to help organisations improve profitability, cut their CO2 emissions and meet climate change targets.

This new internationally recognised standard will help organisations of all sizes understand baseline energy usage and put in place action plans, targets and energy performance indicators for reducing consumption. BS ISO 50001 has been in development for a number of years with energy management experts, representing more than 60 countries from across the world, coming together to establish the framework.

It is anticipated that BS ISO 50001 will replace BS EN 16001, which is likely to be withdrawn from use in 2012, which given their similar approach should not present an issue for current users of the European standard.

Mike Low, Director of Standards at BSI said: "BS ISO 50001 is a significant new global standard that will bring tremendous business value to organizations across the world that are having to grapple with rising energy costs and greater governmental climate change legislation."

Blackmores ‘Quality Crew’ paddle to victory by a dragon’s head

12 Dragon Boat teams competed in Challenge Central’s Dragon Boat Racing event held at Fairlands Valley Sailing Centre, Stevenage, in aid of local charities. Blackmores’ chosen charities were Oliver's Fund and Mercy Ships.

On a fantastic day, with great weather there were some amazing races and the day was enjoyed by all as the teams battled it out. The Quality Crew had been strong throughout and proved too much for Active4Less in the final. Both teams were neck and neck as they approached the finish line, but the Quality Crew powered through to win by a dragon’s head.

Mel Blackmore (drummer) said: “This is the third Dragon Boat Racing Event that Blackmores have won and our success has always been down to fantastic teamwork.”

Dragon boat racing final 2011

Tuesday 22 February 2011

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SlaM) is reaping financial and environmental rewards as a result of its commitment to reducing carbon emissions.

Blackmores achieving sustainable results in the NHS video

The Trust is fully compliant with the forthcoming Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) requirements. The Trust has also been certified to the Carbon Trust Standard and is compliant with the environmental management standard (ISO 14001) and the new British Standard for energy management (BS EN 16001).

Graham Richards, Head of Estates and Facilities said, "We take our commitments to reducing our carbon footprint and delivering value for money to taxpayers very seriously indeed. We didn't want to just do the bare minimum but instead have sought to set an example to others as well as to challenge ourselves."

All companies (including public sector organisations such as NHS Trusts) that consume over 6,000 megawatt hours of energy a year will be required by law to register their energy use by 30 September 2010. Those that do not face an immediate £5,000 fine and £500 for every day thereafter until they do so.

Mel Blackmore, a Director at Blackmores who offer a bespoke system to help NHS Trusts meet their environmental obligations said:

"Earlier this year Blackmores found that many NHS Trusts are not identifying or documenting environmental requirements to meet imminent regulatory and legislative requirements.

"Many are not only ill prepared for the CRC but they also fail to meet best practice standards on environmental management issues. The cost and environmental benefits of doing so are significant and given the climate of spending cuts and a painful squeeze on NHS funds it is perhaps surprising that they are not taking these issues more seriously.

"SLaM is leading the way with it's commitment to reducing carbon emissions which is largely thanks to the hard work of Graham Richards and his team. It is likely that SLaM will be the first NHS Trust in the country to achieve the environmental and energy management standards."

Read the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SlaM) case study

Greening the NHS - Making the case for implementing an Environmental Management System

The NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy for England (CRS) sets an ambition for the NHS to help drive change towards a low-carbon society. The strategy shows the scale of reduction in carbon required for the NHS to progress towards the Climate Change Act requirements, and recommends key actions for the NHS to become a leading sustainable and low-carbon organisation.

The NHS has a carbon footprint of 18 million tonnes CO2 a year.1 Achieving the Climate Change Act target of a 26 per cent reduction by 2020 and an 80 per cent reduction by 2050 presents a tough challenge for all NHS employees.

To achieve the government's 2020 reduction targets, NHS organisations need to implement effective planning now. However, data gathered from 17 directors of estates and facilities, energy managers, and environmental managers within NHS Trusts – via a self-assessment GAP analysis at a recent Blackmores Greening the NHS event – highlights the lack of environmental procedures and the communication of environmental requirements.

Read Greening the NHS - Making the case for implementing an Environmental Management System

For more information contact Blackmores on +44 (0)1462 450591 or e-mail enquiries@bqms.co.uk

Copyright Blackmores 2011