Toolkit provides sustainability help for ES departments

Sustainability practices have evolved beyond just environmental concerns. They not only must encompass compliance, reductions and efficiencies to protect the environment, but also consider the health and safety of employees and patients as well as the communities in which they operate.

The Association for the Health Care Environment (AHE) of the American Hospital Association will soon launch the Environmental Sustainability Toolkit, sponsored by Tork, an Essity brand.

This toolkit will provide health care facilities and managers with the means to assess current practices as well as tools to help develop best-practice guidelines. The Sustainability Toolkit can help facilities put green initiatives to work not only for the planet, but also for the benefit of its patients, employees and the bottom line.

The Environmental Sustainability Toolkit will include templates for creating a sustainability statement and identifying key stakeholders and champions along clinical and nonclinical staff, a sample organizational chart, and information on how to conduct a sustainability assessment.

Sustainability initiatives can have a large-scale environmental impact, as well as add meaningful business value. The Environmental Sustainability Toolkit empowers organizations to effectively implement and assess programs to introduce sustainability as an integrated part of their operations.

The alliance between Tork and AHE is specific to their mutual commitment for environmental sustainability and highlights the active engagement of environmental services as thought leaders and change agents who are leading the way with sustainability programs.