BS 8901 is the new British Standard which has been developed specifically for the events industry with a purpose of helping the industry to operate in a more sustainable manner. The standard defines the requirements for a sustainability event management system to ensure an enduring and balanced approach to economic activity, environmental responsibility and social progress relating to events.
It requires organisations to identify and understand the effects that their activities have on the environment, on society and on the economy both within the organisation and the wider economy; and put measure in place to minimise the negative effects.
BS 8901 shares many of the common management principles of other management system standards such as ISO 9001 (Quality Management), ISO 14001 (Environmental Management) and BS OHSAS 18001 (Health and Safety Management) including the Plan-Do-Check-Act approach. The key requirements of BS 8901 include:
- Sustainability Policy
- Issue identification and evaluation
- Stakeholder identification and engagement
- Objectives, targets and plans
- Performance against principles of sustainable development
- Operational controls
- Competence and training
- Supply chain management
- Communication
- Monitoring and measurement
- Corrective and preventive action
- Management System audits
- Management Review
Is BS 8901 applicable to my organisation?
It is important that all aspects of an event are sustainable. Event organisers need to consider the social, economic and environmental impacts of organising their event. Every choice, from the venue and travel arrangements, through to the content of the delegate packs should be designed to be as ecologically responsible as possible. BS 8901 is therefore relevant to the following:
· event organisers or individuals involved in overall co-ordination of the event
· event venues including hotels, convention centres and sports venues
· suppliers and contractors of key activities relating to the events industry
· industry associations and councils
