Main Environmental Manual
Document : EN002 revision 01
Briarcare Limited 2003, 2004, 2005
Contents
Document history of document EN0023
Copyright notice4
UsefulContact Information4
Abbreviations and notes5
Company Profile6
Background6
Services8
Environmental Management System14
Introduction to theEMS14
Environmental Policy18
Planning18
Implementation and Operation22
Checking and Corrective Action29
Management Review31
DOCUMENT HISTORY
This section shows the approval and revisions of this document since its first issue.
Changes from the previous version will usually be indicated by a vertical line in the left margin opposite the change, unless there is a major re-write or it would interfere with the clarity and meaning of the document.
Version / Comments / Approved by / Date approved / Date of next review01 / first issue of document
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
The contents of this manual are the property of Briarcare Limited and associated companies, and this manual may not be reproduced either in part or in whole by photographic, mechanical, electronic or any other means without the prior written permission of a Director of Briarcare Limited.
USEFUL CONTACT INFORMATION
Head OfficeBriarcare House
Harp Lane,
Cavendish road,
Clare,Sudbury,
Suffolk.
CO10 8PH.
Tel: 01787 279000
Fax: 01787 279007
e-mail:
web:
Bury St Edmunds Office10 Manchester House
113 Northgate Street
Bury St. Edmunds
Suffolk
IP33 1HP
Tel: 01284 701124
Fax: 01284 723805
Halstead Office 3-4 East Dene
Trinity Street
Halstead
Essex
CO9 1JF
Tel: 01787 477233
Fax: 01787 477599
Ipswich Office 3 Hawker Drive
Martlesham Heath Bus. Park
Ipswich
Suffolk
IP5 3RQ
Tel: 01473 631931
Fax: 01473 631990
Gt Yarmouth OfficeBusiness Park
Suffolk Road
Great Yarmouth,
Norfolk
NR31 0ER
Tel: 01493 443190
Fax: 01493 669592
The Briars Hunts Hill
Glemsford
Suffolk
CO10 7RP
Tel : 01787 282249
Fax: 01787 282516
Email:
web :
Brookwood ManorLittle Waldingfield
Sudbury
Suffolk
CO10 0TH
Tel: 01787 248062
Fax: 01787 247525
E-mail:
web:
ABBREVIATIONS & NOTES
Throughout this manual and its associated procedures, “Briarcare Ltd” may be abbreviated to “Briarcare”. The expression “Environmental Management System” may be abbreviated to “EMS”.
The expression “Briarcare Ltd” in fact represents a set of companies who have the same owners / directors and senior management team :
Briarcare Ltd
Brookwood Manor Ltd
The Briars Ltd
Briarcare Recruitment Ltd
Further details are to be found in the EMS scope document, EN070. Where there are site and/or company differences, this will be referred to in the appropriate document, otherwise the EMS will apply to all sites and companies.
Where a specific job title is mentioned in the text of this manual and its associated documents, it is not intended to restrict the activity to the named job holder, in that the person who would normally deputise for that person would be expected to do that activity in their absence.
Company Profile - Briarcare Limited
Briarcare Ltd commenced in the Domiciliary Care Industry within the Suffolk Area in 1997. In August 2001 we moved into the County of Essex widening the coverage of the Domiciliary Area. Essex areas were newly acquired in March 2002 , the Ipswich office services in 2003 and the Norfolk area ( Gt Yarmouth Office ) in early 2005
The Directors of Briarcare Ltd also manage two Residential Care Homes in Suffolk, The Briars and Brookwood Manor, one of which cares for service users who have dementia.
R / Recognition of the individual's rights, privacy, respect and confidentiality.
I / Independence - enabling individuals to live in thier own homes for as long as possible.
A / Assisting with the necessities but not forgetting social needs.
R / Regular structured supervision for all carers to ensure their views and opinions are taken into account regarding individual care.
C / Care provision by care professionals working as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
A / Assessment of the requirements for the service user to ensure adequate arrangements are agreed in principle with family carers and all concerned.
R / Role of family carers - recognition of the need to understand the stress and personal pressure that family carers experience.
E / Effective community care - home care is the foundation of community care by supporting people, when and however it should be required.
Directors Karen Stokeld & Peter Clarke
receiving their Investors In People Award
Brookwood Manor
The Briars
Services
Briarcare Ltd offer the full range of domiciliary services including residential places at The Briars and Brookwood Manor .
All our staff receive on going training, and we have received the Investors in People award.
We provide the following as part of our service:-
It is essential that time and energy are spent trying, to improve the value and quality of a person's life. . .
MATCHING WANTS TO NEEDS
Offering social and emotional care - physical care can be an excellent opportunity to establish a rapport with the individual.
Respite service - generally a few hours to give the personal family carer a break.
Night sitting service - when a person needs someone in attendance at night.
Discharge from hospital - a more intensive service for people who have been discharged early or need to ease the move from hospital to home.
Preparation for the day ahead - helping people to get out of bed, dressing, washing, shaving and dental care, bathing to name a few personal care requirements.
At the end of the day - assistance to prepare for bed.
Assisting with the preparation of meals - eating can be one of life's pleasures and a social activity.
Shopping - encouraging independence and participation in this process, collection of pensions and prescriptions.
Laundry & housework - help with these everyday tasks.
24-hour care - giving the family carer a longer break.
We also offer Specialist Care Schemes, for example, assisting family carers in looking after the terminally ill.
When offering any Care Package, this will be agreed and clarified in advance between the person needing the care, their family carer, GP, Social Worker and BriarCare.
We will establish from the outset how much each person wishes us to undertake each task and any personal preferences.
The Briars Residential Care Home
The Briars Residential Care Home for the elderly opened in September 1994. The Residential Care Home for those service users who require 24 Hour care.
The Briars is not registered as a nursing home or to look after those service users who are mentally impaired.
The Briars, is a detached Period House, approximately 350 years old adjoins the main street of the large Essex / Suffolk border village of Glemsford, convenient for shops and buses to Sudbury.
Brookwood Manor
Brookwood Manor, is an 18th Century Tudor Manor House and sits in its own grounds in the heart of rural Suffolk. Brookwood Manor was built in 1884 in the Tudor style, but its history goes back to the 15th Century.
Located rurally, in its 3 acres it provides space, peace and its gardens provide safe places to walk or sit, or to maintain any interests in gardening or wildlife.
The village of Lavenham is two miles away in the Parish of St Peter and St Paul which has one of England's finest parish churches. Brookwood Manor sits on the boundary of Little Waldingfield which is serviced by a village Shop, Post Office and visiting library.
Sudbury is an ancient market town and can be reached easily by a bus service which passes by Brookwood Manor on an hourly basis. Newmarket is the home of horseracing and is 30 miles distance; Bury St Edmunds is 12 miles distance and is a busy and beautiful market town.
Brookwood manor is a privately owned home with its mellow old charm, in magnificent surroundings. The home offers a high standard of care in a homely, caring and secure atmosphere to enable service users to maintain maximum independence.
Registered by Suffolk County Council, in a category described as follows, Older People with Mental Infirmity- MP (e) Brookwood Manor is not able to look after service users who have severely challenging behaviour or nursing care.
Visitors are encouraged at any time to help maintain the very important links with family and friends.
Single and twin accommodation available with panoramic views and wheelchair access.
Long or short stays available.
Emergency call system.
Individual care plans under the guidance of the Manager to ensure the physical and social needs of the service user are being met.
Visits arranged from all professional services.
Individual dietary preferences catered for.
Viewing welcome at any time.
FACILITIES
A. The accommodation provided consists of mainly single private bedrooms but are pleased to offer the facility of twin accommodation should any Service User wish the opportunity of sharing. Brookwood Manor has 20 Single Rooms and 4 double rooms.
The accommodation allocated at the time of admission will be agreed with all parties and in the event that the Service user is not able to make an 'informed choice' regarding the sharing of a bedroom, the next of kin or Social Worker will make that choice on their behalf. Should it be necessary to change a bedroom, this will be agreed with all parties prior to the change. Possible reasons for a room change may be urgent maintenance that cannot wait until the room is vacant, flood or significant change in the Service users health.
B. Service users are welcome to bring any favourite pieces of furniture providing it is in reasonable condition and is consistent with Fire, Health & Safety Regulations. Any portable electrical equipment will be subject to a check in accordance with the 'Electrical Worthiness' Certificate.
Consent must be given by the Manager prior to bringing any new electrical equipment on the premises.
C. A Dining Room situated on the ground floor will be used at meal times but the provision of light meals will be offered should attendance in the Dining Room not be possible at times due to illness. All meals, snacks, drinks provided are included within the weekly fees payable.
D. Lounge/Day Room/Dining Room are communal areas which can be used at leisure.
E. Ample bathroom and toilet facilities are located to bedrooms and communal areas for convenience and special bathing facilities are provided for those who find bathing difficult.
F. Laundering will be the responsibility of the staff and any such items of personal clothing in need of replacement or repair will be brought to the attention of the Service user, Carer/Family. Laundering facilities are included within the fees. Should you wish to launder your clothes yourself, please inform the Manager/Staff who will be pleased to arrange to assist you. Otherwise, all laundry will be done for you and placed back in your private bedrooms. Any laundry items requiring Dry Cleaning will be charged to the Service user concerned.
G. Toiletry requisites - should you have any particular favourite please inform the staff who will be happy to arrange the necessary purchases on the Service users behalf. A small quantity of stock is kept on site so that these supplies can be purchased directly from the home.
H. Hairdressing - we are able to call upon the services of a local hairdresser as and when required. Any costs incurred will be met by the Service user.
J. Chiropody - Visits by Chiropodist will be made every 6 weeks (approximate) so that Service users can ensure their foot care needs are undertaken. Costs will be met by the Service user.
Environmental Management System
Introduction
Briarcare has established, documented and implemented an environmental management system. Briarcare also operates and maintains this management system in such a manner as to continually improve it.
This management system will be in accordance with the requirements of BS EN ISO14001 : 2004. Briarcare determines how it fulfils these requirements though several mechanisms, including :
- Checking that all parts of the system have been documented (checklist EN068) and the documents are still valid after changes
- An internal audit procedure (EN013), whose schedule (EN017) covers the entire standard
- Monitoring and measurement activities (EN015) and compliance checking (EN016)
- Running reviews of the EMS (EN012)
The scope of the EMS covers all the activities, processes, and services of Briarcare, that is those that Briarcare can control or Briarcare can reasonably be expected to influence. These have been summarised in document EN070, and are used as a starting point for identifying the environmental aspects.
Scope
The Scope of the EMS is more fully defined in document EN070, but in brief, this includes :
- The provision of services and associated activities for The Briars
- The provision of services and associated activities for BrookWood Manor
- The operations and associated activities in the various company offices
- The operations by company staff to service users in their homes
- The recruitment and training activities
Management System
A model for this management system, and the interrelation of some of the procedures, can be found in the diagram on the next pages, and the table below.
The model basically follows a PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT cycle or model:
Operation / Activity / Clause(in ISO 14001:
2004) / Main procedures
PLAN
/ Establish an EMS etc ….….to meet the requirements of the standard
Define a scope of the EMS / 4.1
4.2 / see diagram
EN002
EN068
EN070
Establish an on-going planning process / 4.3 / see diagram & EN002
Identify environmental aspects and evaluate inputs / 4.3.1 / EN003
Identify legal & other requirements (+ set internal performance criteria if appropriate) / 4.3.2 / EN005,
EN028
Establish and implement procedures for new products & activities / 4.3.1 / EN019
set environmental objectives with targets / 4.3.3 / EN006,
EN004
establish management programme / 4.3.3 / EN008
Develop & use performance indicators / 4.3.3 / EN002
DO
/ Implement & operate the EMS / 4.4 / EN002Create management structures & assign responsibilities with adequate resources and authority / 4.4.1 / EN002
Ensure personnel are trained, competent & have sufficient environmental awareness / 4.4.2 / EN009
Establish processes for internal communication / 4.4.3 / EN010
Establish processes for external communication / 4.4.3 / EN018
Develop & maintain the EMS documentation / 4.4.4 / 128 OP
EN002
Establish & implement document control / 4.4.5 / 128 OP
Establish & implement operational control / 4.4.6 / eg EN027,
EN020, etc
Ensure emergency preparation & adequate response / 4.4.7 / EN011
CHECK
ACT / Conduct on-going monitoring & measurement activities / 4.5.1 / EN015
Ensure the status of legal compliance is evaluated, and also compliance with other requirements to which the organisation subscribes / 4.5.2.1
and
4.5.2.2 / EN016
Identify nonconformities, take & implement corrective & preventive action / 4.5.3 / EN014
Ensure there is an adequate & managed record system / 4.5.4 / 128 OP
Conduct regular EMS audits to a schedule / 4.5.5 / EN013
Conduct management reviews of the EMS / 4.6 / EN012
The EMS is mapped in more detail in document EN068.Environmental Management System Interrelation Overview diagram
Environmental Policy
The company has derived and defined an environmental policy, which is to be found in document EN001. It is designed to be appropriate to the nature and scale of the Company’s activities, processes, products and services, and to be appropriate to their Environmental impacts.
Included in the policy, there are commitments by the company to:
- the prevention of pollution
- continual improvement
- compliance with relevant and applicable environmental legislation, regulatory requirements, EU directives and other requirements
The policy is available:
- for visitors and staff in the reception areas
- for staff and others working for and on behalf of the company in the office on the company computer network
- in the staff handbooks, and communicated to all staff and others working for and on behalf of the company
- on company web sites
It is used as a starting point and framework for setting and renewing environmental objectives (EN006)
The policy is also reviewed for content and effectiveness as part of the process of management review of the EMS (EN012).
Planning Activities
Environmental Aspects
The company has derived various procedures (EN003) in order to identify the
environmental aspects of its activities, processes, products and services. In setting up the EMS it has made extensive use of those procedures as part of the initial environmental review. The same procedure (EN003), and additional checklists for new services, processes, activities etc (EN019) are used in introducing new items to the framework of the EMS. The initial list of items and activities is to be found in EN030, which is then evaluated into EN029, the register of significant environmental aspects.
The registers are periodically re-evaluated using EN003 to ensure the registers are up-to-date. The planning process, and how EN003 is interlinked with the other processes, is described in the diagram below :
This process is part of the planning activities required by the company in establishing and running its EMS.
The re-evaluation process will include input from:
- incident investigation and re-evaluation of aspects /impacts (EN014)
- part of the output from the management review of the EMS (EN012)
- part of corrective action/preventive action (EN014)
- new process, activity or service introduction (EN019)
The identified impacts/aspects are used as an input into the process of setting objectives (EN006) and the environmental management programme (EN007).
Legal and Other Requirements
As another part of the general EMS planning process, (see diagram) the company has established and maintained a procedure for identifying applicable and relevant legal and regulatory requirements, other requirements, and EU directives. The procedure is EN005, which produces a list of relevant items in EN028. The procedure (EN005) allows for a periodic re-evaluation and update of requirements, in view of the changing legislative framework and introduction of new directives. A list of the standards, directives and other documentation retained by the company in its operations can be found in F044.
The procedure, (EN005) also is used in conjunction with EN003, to help evaluate how they apply to the environmental aspects list, in order to derive the register of significant environmental aspects. This is used later on to help determine if the company is achieving compliance with relevant environmental legislation and regulations (see overview in EN016). It is also used as part of the input into the procedure for deriving the company’s Environmental objectives (EN006).
Objectives and Targets
The company has established a procedure (EN006) to establish a list (EN004) of environmental objectives for the organisation. The procedure uses as some of the inputs, the register of significant impacts (EN029) and the list of environmental legislation (EN028).
Objectives are set which have performance targets and time scales, and the ownership of these various objectives ranges from individuals to groups within the company, depending on area of operation and responsibility. Use is made of the appraisal system to help assign individual’s objectives, where appropriate. Setting targets/time scales and the review of the objectives is accomplished at the Management Review meeting (EN012) or other management meetings. Further advice on setting up performance measurements can be found in procedure 172 OP.