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Cleaner Technology Projects in Denmark 1997

Employee Participation in the Implementation of Cleaner Technology

Medarbejderdeltagelse ved indførelse af renere teknologi
Miljørapport nr. 354, 1997, Miljøstyrelsen

In all five companies the employees have been a major resource for the environmental effort, and some employees have actively contributed to the implementation of the various activities, just as they have been interested in obtaining influence and in integrating the work environment in the environmental efforts.

The employees have - as a resource with knowledge about environmental problems and with ideas about solutions - taken part in the formulation of the environmental policy, the setting up of targets and selection of fields of efforts, the preparation of plans of action and the implementation of solutions. The active employee participation in these fields has contributed to the creation of continuous environmental improvements, just as the preventive environmental work to a higher degree than is usually the case has been rooted in all the nooks and crannies of the companies.

In the environmental groups the employees have generally been engaged and motivated in order to take part in the reduction of the environmental effects of the company. But the involvement has been closely connected to the work environment, the support from the management and the traditions of the company, among other things with regard to employee participation in changes. Influence on the organisation of the work promotes motivation of the employees - also in environmental questions. No member of the personnel of the five companies has demanded cash reward for participation in the environmental efforts, but the management has to provide the necessary hours. Apparently the best form of reward has been that the ideas of the environmental groups have been taken seriously and that the suggested environmental improvements have been carried out.

On the shop floor environment often equals both external environment and work environment. The employees have had a legitimate interest in ensuring the connection between work environment and the external environmental efforts so that environmental improvements did not lead to deterioration of the work environment. In companies that already had a good work environment it was a matter of integrating environmental and work environmental work; whereas the employees in a single company had a "give and take" attitude because of a number of pressing work environmental problems. The intimate connection between environment and work environment has supported employee participation as a central pivotal point of the environmental effort, just as the employees have had an interest in influencing this field.

Below are outlined some general conditions of the promotion of employee participation in the environmental effort:

	Continuous process
	Adapted approach
	Learning process
	Communication
	Flexibility

The five companies - Gabriel, HL-filet, Kompan, Skjern Paper Mill and Tican Slaughterhouse - have all chosen different approaches to the preventive environmental work. Two of the companies have implemented cleaner technology and have completed most of the main activities in a preventive environmental effort, whereas three of the companies during the course of the project have implemented a certified environmental management system according to BS 7750. The companies have also chosen different ways in doing this as the employees of two of the companies have contributed to the implementation, whereas relatively few employees were involved in the system construction in the third company, but later environmental groups were set up in each section.

In the light of the experiences from the project the following conclusions can be summed up:

	Employees are an essential resource for the environmental efforts and can contribute to all main activities in pollution prevention;
	A comprehensive approach must include both work environment and external environment and can anchor an environmental management system in the organisation;
	There is no single right approach, because the companies have different conditions for environmental efforts based on employees;
	Environmental improvement is a continuous learning process with interaction between practical experiences and inspiration from new, untraditional approaches;
	A flexible organisation can delegate responsibility to either an environmental group or to the health and safety committee;
	Setting aside time, delegation of responsibility and competence, prompt replies to proposals and so forth are necessary conditions of the active participation of the employees;
	Participation of all employees depends on the fact that their interest in a work environment and a stimulating job is considered;
	Increased environmental awareness and change of work routines and habits concerning a "good environmental housekeeping" can be created through internal environmental communication on key figures, results, etc.

A further presentation and documentation of the practical experiences from the project can be found in the three company reports and in the pamphlet and manual about Employee Participation in Preventive Environmental Work (Medarbejderdeltagelse i forebyggende miljøarbejde).

Author/ institution

Børge Lorentzsen and Per Tybjerg Aldrich, DTU
Arne Remmen and Lene Nielsen, Aalborg University

This report is subsidised by the National Council for Recycling and Cleaner Production

ISSN no. 0105-3094
ISBN no. 87-7810-739-3

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