Check legislation frequently

As developments in environment legislation – both in the specific print-related legislation such as solvents, and more general regulations – happen frequently, Dalley recommends checking the law annually as a minimum and preferably every six months. One way of keeping up to date is via the environmental pages on the government’s business websites – there are separate sites for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, with the information on support and compliance tailored accordingly for each jurisdiction.

The other most commonly used way of staying in touch with developments is through trade associations. The BPIF, for example, carries out site checks and offers one-to-one support on what is needed to comply with legislation, and runs workshops on various aspects of environmental best practice (see box). These are advertised regionally and are generally free to members, although some seminars cost £45 and the workshop on lean manufacturing is £120 for a full day’s training. The legislation update courses run twice a year.

Increasingly, printers – particularly larger companies – have taken to educating themselves, however, by applying for certification in environmental management to the international standard ISO 14001. One of the requirements is that the company demonstrate that it understands all the environmental legislation that applies to it and is complying with it.

“Companies that have gone down that route must have a system in place for tracking legislation, and if you are certified to those standards an independent auditor will come and check you once or twice a year,” says Dalley.

However you choose to keep up to date, you have to make sure it is a comprehensive method because, while failure to comply with the appropriate legislation is initially likely to result in a ticking off from the regulator, things could ultimately prove costly if the law is persistently or seriously breached.

Each piece of legislation will have an identified regulator – usually either the Environment Agency in England and Wales or the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency in Scotland, or the local authority’s environmental health department.
“If you don’t comply, usually there’s a dialogue with the regulator,” explains Dalley. “The regulator comes along and says, ‘We don’t think you’re complying, what are you going to do about it?’”

Enforcement can also include ‘stop notices’ – a demand that the cause of any particular problem should cease. This can halt or seriously curtail production.
“I had a case recently where because of a fault on the equipment controlling emissions, the company was in danger of having the presses stopped for certain times during the day – or completely while the equipment was remedied,” says Dempster.

Persistent non-compliance can lead to a court appearance, and breaches of environmental law are criminal offences. A director or employee receiving a criminal record is, if nothing else, bad PR.

“Individual directors, managers and company secretaries can all be personally prosecuted if the regulator considers that they have deliberately or negligently contributed to the offences,” adds Dempster. “They could also be disqualified from being directors in the future.”

Or they could cease to be a ‘fit and proper person’ and be prevented from holding environmental permits or from obtaining contracts from local or central government authorities.

WHERE TO GET HELP
Keep up to date via the government’s business websites:

  » bit.ly/i0SXzx    -England
  » bit.ly/xVYCQ9  -Northern Ireland
  » bit.ly/wGAXdt  - Scotland
  » bit.ly/x9ZBnq   -Wales