Environmental Policy, Organisation and Arrangements (Incorporating Wildlife and Ecological Considerations)

Creation date: 22.05.18 Last updated: 23.06.21

Statement of Policy

Dave Ford Tree Care LLP shall be committed to reducing the impact of their undertakings upon the environment and shall appoint and retain a competent advisor to assist them in meeting their obligations.

We shall use the guidance set out in ISO14001: 2004 ‘Environmental Management Systems’ to help structure our activities and to help us to continually improve our environmental performance and reduce our environmental impact.

  • We shall ensure that the policy of the organisation is documented and maintained to be appropriate to the size and nature of the environmental impacts of our activities and services
  • We are committed to continual improvement and the prevention of pollution
  • We are committed to complying with all applicable legal requirements and with other requirements which relate to our environmental aspects
  • The management system shall provide a framework for setting and reviewing environmental objectives and targets
  • This policy shall be communicated to all persons working for or on behalf of the company
  • This policy shall be displayed within the organisation at all times and shall be available to all interested parties

In order to meet this commitment, Dave Ford Tree Care LLP shall pursue the following objectives:

  • To ensure compliance with all applicable environmental legislation and guidance
  • Be prepared to deal with the demands of future legislative developments
  • To ensure that harmful impacts are foreseen and controlled including the lifecycle (including disposal) of plant and equipment
  • To reduce emissions
  • To prevent pollution
  • To improve waste management practices
  • To reduce consumption of natural resources
  • To minimise noise and other nuisances
  • To continuously assess environmental performance
  • To ensure that the working culture encourages constructive conservation
  • To assist in the management of ecology
  • To identify and safeguard wildlife

The necessary personnel and financial resources will be allocated to assist the company in meeting its environmental objectives.  In addition, the company shall continue to raise the levels of environmental awareness throughout its workforce and to promote this awareness to its customers and suppliers.

The Partners shall have day-to-day responsibility for applying environmental interface arrangements and procedures, ensuring that these are applied effectively and that there is adequate training, instruction and supervision.

Staff shall have continuous responsibility for applying environmental interface arrangements and procedures.

Employees shall be briefed and trained on environmental practice in the field.  All employees, at whatever level, and sub-contract labour shall be required to take reasonable care of any environment that may be affected by anything that they do, or fail to do, in the course of their employment.

Clients shall be actively encouraged to take advantage of our commitment to recycle all arising waste material.

Arrangements

The following arrangements shall be put in place to:

  1. Enable the organisation to meet its obligations and ambitions in respect of environmental and ecological management.
  2. Ensure compliance with all applicable environmental legislation and guidance.

Environmental Policy

The Partners shall define the company environmental policy and ensure that, within the defined scope of its environmental management system, it:

  • Is appropriate to the nature, scale and environmental impacts of its activities, products and services.
  • Includes a commitment to continual improvement and prevention of pollution.
  • Includes a commitment to comply with applicable legal requirements and with other requirements to which the company subscribes which relate to its environmental aspects.
  • Provides the framework for setting and reviewing environmental objectives and targets.
  • Is documented, implemented and maintained.
  • Is communicated to all persons working for or on behalf of the company
  • Is available to the public

Environmental Competence

The company shall retain competent advice in respect of environmental management.

Partners and supervisors shall receive environmental awareness training which shall include the application of company policies, procedures and rules and any specific situations that they may be expected to deal with in the course of their work, such as bat awareness.

Our operators shall hold nationally recognised NPTC certificates of competence for the operations which they are expected to perform. The assessment criteria for these qualifications include a requirement for underpinning knowledge of the environmental impacts that they are likely to have in the course of their regular work.

Environmental Risk Assessment

Prior to commencing work on site, a specific environmental risk assessment may be completed if appropriate.

Methods shall be planned that shall reduce the environmental risk to a level which is as low as reasonably practicable.

Emissions

The organisation shall ensure that potentially harmful emissions into the environment are appropriately controlled and reduced by a process of impact identification, measurement and continual improvement.

Operators shall use hand tools such as hand saws where practicable thus reducing the use of petrol driven equipment. This is of course much safer as well as a reduction in the use of fuel and the production of gaseous emissions, noise and dust.

Vehicles and plant shall be replaced with fuel efficient, low emitting diesel vehicles or with LPG vehicles when they are due for renewal. Emission levels shall be a key consideration when selecting replacements.

The organisation shall ensure that vehicles, plant and equipment are well maintained as recommended by the manufacturer, to be as emissions efficient as possible.

Routes shall be planned using factors such as the avoidance of congested areas and the length and type of journey. Satellite navigation units shall be used to assist this planning.

Local suppliers shall be used where possible in order to avoid unnecessary road transport miles.

Pollution

All operators shall be trained in practices designed to prevent pollution including the reading of COSHH assessments.

Company COSHH assessments shall contain information on the actions in the event of spillage.

The company shall use biodegradable lubricants where such are available.

All operational vehicles shall carry a spill kit and a dry powder fire extinguisher.

A spill kit shall be placed in close proximity to any potentially hazardous substance stored at the depot.

Waste Management

All waste material arising from ‘consumables’ shall be sorted and removed to appropriate recycling facilities.

Products shall be selected which are not overly packaged in order to reduce waste output.

All arising woody waste material shall be removed from site and returned to our depot for recycling. The waste is either composted and returned to the land as mulch on amenity planting or is removed to the biomass power generation industry by a specialist contractor.

Consumption of Natural Resources

Although not a manufacturer and not needing to use a significant amount of natural resources to undertake our service, it is an aim of this company to reduce its consumption of natural resources where possible.

We shall ensure that all equipment is switched off at the wall in the evening before we leave the office.

All light bulbs have been replaced with the energy saving type or LED where available thus saving electricity and vastly extending the life of batteries.

Employees shall drive fuel efficient, low emitting diesel or LPG vehicles and shall plan routes carefully in order to find the most appropriate route and to avoid congested areas.

Noise

In order to minimise noise output during operations, the company shall ensure that vehicles, plant and equipment are well maintained as recommended by the manufacturer.

Working hours shall be agreed with the client prior to the operation and stakeholders and residents in the locality shall be notified of the potential for noise nuisance where deemed necessary.

Petrol driven equipment shall not be used unless the exhaust system and silencer are in good order.

Constructive Conservation and Management of Ecology

The company shall ensure that the working culture encourages constructive conservation.

Notwithstanding the requirement for hazard identification and risk minimisation, we shall aim to create or improve local habits in the course of our undertakings.

Appropriate advice shall be sought from qualified ecologists or other specialists if specific environmental interface issues are identified before, during or after operations.

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health

Hazardous substances include any substance that could cause harm or irritation to employees or others, or harm to the environment. They include fuels, oils, chemicals, pesticides, preservatives or similar.

Substances considered for use shall be assessed and less harmful substances shall be used wherever practicable. Assessments and details of their safety precautions shall be made available to employees at the offices and where the substances are stored and used.

Employees shall be kept informed of the hazards that they are exposed to and to the relevant safety precautions.

As well as the above, pesticides, including herbicides, insecticides and preservatives, have specific requirements. They shall be securely stored, in their original containers, and their usage recorded. Pesticides shall only be mixed and used by trained and certificated personnel.

Oil and Fuel Storage

The Oil Storage Regulations require that oils are stored in such a way as to avoid damage to the environment in the case of a spill etc. The company shall abide by the requirements of the regulations in respect of storage arrangements.

Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres

The DSEAR protects against risks from fire, explosion or similar events arising from dangerous substances used or present in the workplace. Company shall abide by the requirements of  DSEAR and carry out appropriate risk assessments in relation to any qualifying substances and provide measures to eliminate or reduce the risks as far as is reasonably practicable.

The Company shall provide the necessary equipment and procedures to deal with accidents and emergencies and provide information and training to staff. Where an explosive atmosphere may occur these areas will be zoned and suitable warnings put in place.

Emergency Preparedness and Response

The company shall establish, implement and maintain a procedure to identify potential emergency situations and potential accidents that could have an impact upon the environment and shall state how it shall respond to these incidents.

Prior to commencing work on site, a specific environmental risk assessment shall be completed. Methods shall be planned that shall reduce the environmental risk to a level which is as low as reasonably practicable.

An emergency plan shall be included in the method statement for the site/task.

The company shall respond to actual emergency situations and accidents and prevent or mitigate associated adverse environmental impacts.

The Partners and senior management shall periodically review and, where necessary, revise the emergency preparedness and response procedure, in particular, after the occurrence of accidents or emergency situations.

The company shall also periodically test such procedures where practicable.

Monitoring and Review

The Partners and senior management shall review the company environmental management system, at planned intervals, to ensure its continuing suitability, adequacy and effectiveness.

Reviews shall include assessing opportunities for improvement and the need for changes to the environmental management system, including the environmental policy and environmental objectives and targets.

Records of the management reviews shall be retained.

Management review meetings shall include:

  • The results of internal audits and evaluations of compliance with legal requirements and with other requirements to which Company subscribes
  • Communications from external interested parties, including complaints
  • The environmental performance of Company
  • The extent to which objectives and targets have been met
  • The status of corrective and preventive actions
  • Follow-up actions from previous management reviews
  • Changing circumstances, including developments in legal and other requirements related to its environmental aspects
  • Recommendations for improvement

The outputs from the management review meetings shall include any decisions and actions related to possible changes to environmental policy, objectives, targets and other elements of the environmental management system, consistent with the commitment to continual improvement.