ECOSPACE (Waste Management Schemes)
Every manager dreams of their employees understanding risks and seeing opportunities for improvement in all areas of activity.
Certainly, it is easier to convey information and get feedback from blue-collar workers regarding HSE risks than it is for environmental safety. Issues of health and life preservation are more easily understood than how an individual worker can personally contribute to environmental protection, especially if this factor is not explicitly stated in their job description.
Training every single employee in industrial and consumer waste management procedures according to legal requirements is not necessary. So, how do you teach and instill eco-habits in staff, particularly blue-collar workers?
At the Novovoronezh NPP, one way to improve the level of environmental culture among workers — specifically their clear understanding of what types of waste can be generated within their stationary workplace — is through "Waste Management Schemes." This is an effective, field-tested tool for improving environmental culture (an integral part of safety culture).
The same algorithm is applied:
- when engaging contractors for construction, installation, and repair work at the nuclear power plant's territory and facilities;
- to increase the environmental literacy of office-based personnel;
- at collection points for returnable containers from paints and varnishes;
- at collection points for PET bottle caps (to donate proceeds for the treatment of sick children).
Years of practice show that workers find it much easier to sort waste into containers by type and have become more responsible regarding these procedures. Environmental risks have been transformed into environmental opportunities.