A simple guide to EMS: not only has John Kinsella written the book on EMS, but he's also made the movie.

My work with Environmental Management Systems began about 10 years ago--in Argentina. A client asked me what I knew about the new ISO 14001 standard, and I had to answer, "Not much." But I promised to find out more.

When I returned to the U.S., I located a daylong seminar promising to answer my EMS questions. I arrived eagerly at 8 a.m. It was dreadful.

Hour after hour of black-and-white overhead charts, graphs and disconnected ideas left me numb--and thinking one question: "Can't anyone explain this to me?" Attendees were falling asleep. I was lost, bored and glad this punishing day was ending.

Then, someone said, "This is going to be a significant development, as important to environmental issues as ISO 9000 had been to the idea of quality." Despite my readiness to give up, I'd learned just enough that day to see that this man had it figured correctly.

Today, we know that when an organization genuinely commits itself to the creation of a good EMS, the result is astounding: No longer must it sacrifice the environment in order to maximize profits; or do right by the air, water and earth at the expense of its bottom line.

RELIEF FROM BOREDOM 

But 10 years ago, learning how to make sense of ISO 14001 was about as interesting as watching paint dry. I tried to get more information, read a lot of materials that were much like that awful one-day seminar. Clients would ask, "Are there any good books or videos than can help us understand?" And the answer was: No. And no.

Out of frustration, I teamed up with a technical writer named Annette McCully and, in 1997, set out to write a book that explained ISO 14001 and showed pretty much anyone how to create and implement an EMS. No one needed an advanced degree to understand it, and "Handbook for Implementing an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System" has by now sold thousands of copies. Companies such as Weyerhaeuser have bought hundreds for its managers.

It was a first step in simplifying the EMS saga. But it wasn't the last.

LIGHTS. CAMERA. ACTION.

In 1998, I recruited an Emmy award-winning scriptwriter to the EMS cause. I spent weeks teaching him the theory and practice of this visionary tool. He, in turn, brought along a cinematographer whose award-winning work has appeared on PBS, the Discovery Channel and other major networks.

Together we created "The Case For Environmental Management Systems," a 15-minute video that documents corporate EMS successes. Suddenly, EMS was not only understandable--but also compelling. Workers on shop floors went from grousing, "I don't get it," to saying, "This is cool."

For a lot of our clients we customize the video. We'll spend a day or two interviewing their people and shooting their facilities, and then insert their story into the master show. We did this at Alaska's Fort Greely, and the result was inspiring.

Between all of Greely's construction projects and the loading in of components for the ground-based missile defense system there, it would be easy for environmental issues to get ignored. But the video has helped inspire the post's EMS efforts, partly because it's so well crafted and partly because it showcases recognizable Greely personnel explaining why the EMS is simple and valuable.

For organizations with a relatively large staff, or whose people are not centrally located, video is a cost-effective way to train people. Everyone likes watching video; it's user-friendly, and can even "air" on a company's intranet. Because it allows you to decentralize training and push it lower in the organization, it makes managers' jobs easier by sharing the burdens of education.

People often make the mistake of thinking EMS is only about writing manuals and procedures-and then implementing them. But it's also about communicating how these manuals and procedures fit into the workings of the organization. We've found that video translates what appears to be a complex subject into a story everyone can understand.

John Kinsella has worked as an environmental consultant for more than 25 years. His EMS clients have included Weyerhaeuser, BP, Hewlett-Packard, the U.S. Navy, 7-Eleven stores, and the port authorities of Houston, Portland and Los Angeles. Kinsella is west region vice president for Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure Inc.