How can you ensure that process improvements do not harm the environment or public health?

2 Perform a risk assessment

A risk assessment is a systematic process of identifying, analyzing, and evaluating the hazards and uncertainties associated with your process improvement. You need to consider the likelihood and severity of different scenarios, such as accidents, spills, emissions, exposures, waste generation, and resource consumption. You need to quantify the potential impacts on the environment and public health, using indicators such as life cycle assessment, carbon footprint, toxicity, and exposure levels. You need to compare the baseline and the improved scenarios, and identify the trade-offs and uncertainties.

3 Implement mitigation measures

Based on your risk assessment, you need to implement mitigation measures that can reduce or eliminate the negative impacts of your process improvement. Mitigation measures can include engineering controls, such as installing safety devices, monitoring systems, and waste treatment facilities; administrative controls, such as developing standard operating procedures, training programs, and emergency plans; and personal protective equipment, such as gloves, masks, and goggles. You need to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of your mitigation measures, and monitor their performance and compliance.

4 Seek feedback and review

After you implement your process improvement, you need to seek feedback and review from your stakeholders, and measure the actual outcomes and impacts of your change. You need to collect and analyze data, such as process parameters, product quality, customer satisfaction, environmental performance, and health and safety records. You need to compare the results with your expectations and objectives, and identify any gaps or discrepancies. You need to solicit feedback from your stakeholders, and address any issues or concerns they may have.

5 Learn and improve

Finally, you need to learn from your experience and improve your process improvement practices. You need to document your process improvement project, including the objectives, methods, results, feedback, and lessons learned. You need to share your findings and best practices with your colleagues and peers, and seek their input and suggestions. You need to update your knowledge and skills, and keep abreast of the latest technologies and trends in your field. You need to continuously look for new opportunities and challenges to improve your processes, while minimizing the environmental and public health impacts.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?