« Back to Facilities Management News Home

« Green

Western Specialty Contractors: Environmental Preservation a Daily Commitment

Celebrating the natural environment and raising awareness for environmental issues worldwide is the goal behind World Environment Day on June 5. For Western Specialty Contractors, a masonry and concrete restoration specialty contractor, environmental preservation is a job site priority and a daily corporate commitment.

"We are committed to the protection of the environment and we work to ensure that our services do not result in the generation or release of materials that could impact the environment," said Western Specialty Contractors Safety Director Eric Olson. "It is our goal to reduce the environmental impacts of our services and to operate in an environmentally responsible manner."

Western's environmental policy applies to all aspects of its operation, including its corporate office. As Safety Director, Olson is responsible for ensuring that the policy is communicated and implemented by all employees, who have accepted a responsibility to participate in environmental education awareness programs, recognize and reduce or eliminate environmental exposures, abide by the objectives of the policy and comply with all federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations.

Western Specialty Contractors' management also works to ensure that resources are available to its employees that enable them to achieve Western's environmental objectives which include:

• Continually examining the environmental impact of all activities on job site-specific plans.
• Conducting performance evaluations during job site safety and environmental audits performed by field safety managers, insurance loss control representatives and industrial hygienist consultants.
• Purchasing and using products and raw materials that are not hazardous to the environment and seeking to reduce the emission of any volatile organic compounds and other elements that are harmful to the environment.
• Emphasizing environmental programs and providing necessary training to employees at scheduled events throughout the year.

Western also works with owners, designers and general contractors on projects to select the lowest VOC-emitting products available that meet the product quality requirements and lower the overall footprint of the company.

"We survey hazardous and waste materials stored at each job site and establish goals to control any waste materials. When we do encounter waste materials, we create a waste disposal plan with a reputable hazardous disposal company," said Olson. "Our research also continues in evaluating state-of-the-art equipment for controlling dust and fumes on job sites, plus evaluating the miles per gallon of our fleet vehicles and setting an annual benchmark."

More From 6/2/2017 on FacilitiesNet