Whilst claiming that we can “save mother earth” is a long shot as some
environmental damage is irreversible, we as the asset management and
maintenance workforce can definitely claim that we contribute to
sustaining and wisely utilising the remaining resources and the
environment.
The importance of our industry’s contribution to this cause cannot be
emphasised enough. Our every action has an influence on the environment.
Just think for a moment about the potential negative influence if the
following activities and situations are not addressed:
- incorrect disposal of assets, components and waste
- failure to replace worn filters and seals leading to smoke immersions and oil and water spillage
- impaired assets causing power leakage, loss of containment of vapours, gas clouds and toxic fumes.
We all know that such situations are just the tip of the iceberg and we
may feel that things have gone so far that it won’t really matter if we
keep on supporting bad practices. But your and my actions can and do
make a difference and we have to immediately change our thinking about
the importance of our role.
To ensure that we take ownership and run with responsible practices, we need to put the following basic elements in place:
- a standard management commitment (yes, the commitment must also come from the top)
- visual measurements to see that our activities actually pay off
- long-term planning to ensure that strategies and plans are in place
that will create reliable assets that deliver on sustainable service
delivery or production - a competent workforce that can put all the strategies and plans to
work and that can continuously improve as new challenges, legislation
and regulations dictate.
Once in place, these factors will contribute to a sustainable asset management operation.
Let us all make a conscious effort to join the host of organisations and
initiatives that strive to lighten our carbon footprint by doing what
we do on a daily basis with integrity and to perfection.