Suchergebnisse

The environmental impact of human activity has considerably grown, particularly from the 20th century. Citizens, plus different social, scientific, business and political groups, are becoming aware and getting organised to improve this matter by warning about the very high environmental and life style cost due to our lifestyle. So behaviour compatible with environmental conservation and improvement is expected of companies and organisations. In relation to this thesis, its importance in the health sector, specifically haemodialysis, is not questioned, but the natural resources haemodialysis employs, and the production and suitable management of the waste it generates, are generally ill-known, many of which are classified as hazardous (drugs, chemicals, radioactive and infectious products). Hence such products have a highly negative environmental influence if not responsibly processed. Indeed, we do not think of health organisations as advanced institutions that play a role in improving and respecting the environment and environmental health, which is paradoxical. Thus safe, sustainable health waste management is vital, but poorly known and recognised by citizens and health professionals. Its improvement can be promoted through environmental management systems that go beyond regulations, protocols and policies to improve this management, helped by good individual, social and institutional environmental practices. Environmental management systems (EMS) are solutions that help combine socio-economic success and preserve natural resources which might be applied in any organisation that wishes to improve the internal management of its environmental problems. Two international standards stand out: ISO 14001, introduced by 1996 by ISO – International Organization for Standardization; EMAS (European Commission - The European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme), launched by the European Commission in 1993, and improved in 2001 by incorporating ISO 14001 requirements. Assessing the current status of environmental systems in ...