thebigword Achieves ISO 14001 Certification

The world top-20 translation and interpreting company, thebigword has achieved ISO 14001 Certification which is awarded to companies that have committed to continually reducing their environmental impact. thebigword has enlisted a multitude of techniques to ensure it is on track to reduce environmental impact.

Howard Coney, thebigword’s BMS and Compliance Officer says: “Our Energy Conservation Hierarchy encourages all employees to seek ways to eliminate, reduce, and use energy more efficiently to head towards the least energy consuming operations.”

This includes encouraging a paperless office through such changes as e-invoicing, standardised double-sided printing and encouraging green transport through such methods as the Car Share scheme which gives priority parking spaces to those who car share. There is also a Ride2Work bicycle purchase scheme – which enables employees to purchase a bike and benefit from tax and VAT savings – and a Corporate Metro Card reduced cost travel scheme, working together with the West Yorkshire Travel Plan Network.

Howard Coney says: “As we improve our monitoring of the amounts of waste produced and materials and energy consumed we will be better able to target reduction strategies and establish the effectiveness of different initiatives.” He adds: “The EMS implementation has allowed us to understand exactly what our significant environmental impacts are, and to establish a monitoring programme and set objectives and targets to reduce these impacts year on year. This is an evolution in our business practices.”

Being an environmentally sound corporation is essential in this increasingly globally aware society and thebigword has made great strides to ensure its UK offices are recognised as being at the forefront of sustainable business practices.

Achieving ISO 14001 Certification is no mean feat and is an excellent achievement for thebigword as it works towards becoming a sustainable business. Howard Coney is proud of this certification as he says: “Obtaining the ISO14001 certification gives me an immense feeling of pride that all the hard work we have put into turning clauses in the standard (that can initially appear very logical and cold) into a live and very practical system sets thebigword on track towards real environmental improvement. ISO14001 certification is a clear demonstration of the direction thebigword is moving in.”

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