Southern Group Environmental Health Committee
Pollution risks in Northern Ireland are being reduced by a scheme that trains graduates to work as Environmental Management Systems Officers (EMS).
The Southern Group Environmental Health Committee (SGEHC) supports the needs of the Environmental Health departments of nine councils in Northern Ireland and other partners, promoting health and well-being.
IN 2004, they secured £1.5m funding for a project aimed at encouraging and supporting 270 SMEs and nine councils to implement an EMS and to adopt more sustainable practices.
The projects aimed to implement EMS into both businesses and services within councils, and one measure of success was the number of council services and businesses who were certified to the relevant environmental standards. The major challenge was to train and develop a team of officers to work with the local businesses and councils.
The programme of training included an understanding of environmental standards, the principles of auditing, environmental legislation and how and what applied to specific businesses.
In all 10 officers completed the training and they have brought 130 businesses and 17 services in 9 councils through to certification.