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The Environmental Self-Assessment Program (ESAP)
is intended to serve as a tool for improving environmental management systems
through business organizations. By
carefully measuring and analyzing performance using this program, business can
pinpoint ways to increase the quality of environmental policy, planning,
implementation and monitoring. More
importantly, the ESAP allows
organizations of all types to prioritize environmental improvement
opportunities.
The ESAP is designed to measure and improve
corporate environmental management performance over time, with a focus on
corporate-level policy, systems, and performance measurement programs. This program can assist a company, regardless
of its size, business sector, or geographic scope of operations, in evaluating
its environmental management performance relative to the 16 Principles of the
ICC Business Charter (found on pages 3-5 of the ESAP for your reference). Executing the program will enable management
to pinpoint opportunities for improvement in the company’s environmental
performance.
Each of the 16 ICC Principles are divided into a set of elements – t
hese elements describe the
activities necessary to implement the principle. Each
element contains four successively comprehensive performance level descriptions
– respondents determine which performance level description best
describes the overall performance of the company or division. Respondents then score their company against
each element. (The company’s score is indicated on a scale from 0 to 4.)
Respondents then rate the importance of
each element – respondents assign an “importance weighting” to each
element based on its relative importance of the principle within the company.
Respondents should use the Basis
for Assessment column to make note of the comments and materials that
substantiate their assessment for each element.
This will allow others in the organization to understand the assessors’
reasoning, and provide a basis for future assessments that measure
progress. Explicit references to
verifiable documents and programs will improve the consistency of year-to-year
assessments.
The ESAP can be used to assess individual
divisions or the entire company. Best
results emerge when multi-function teams discuss and refine perfections. Annual execution of the ESAP demonstrates change in company performance over time. Scale
scoring enables the company to gauge its performance relative to a total
quality approach. Rating company
performance for reach element pinpoints areas of weakness and strength.
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