The New Year has started on a high note for the Safety, Health and Environment team at AstraZeneca's site in Loughborough. The international pharmaceutical company's R&D site covers about 70 acres and employs over 1200 people. Staff on site are applauding the success of the team in winning a prestigious international award for the quality and high standards of the management of the environmental impact of the site. The award, known as ISO 14001, is the strongest independent evidence obtainable to measure the success of the management of the environmental impact of the site, based on Bakewel l Road, Loughborough.

Simon Blease, who led the team in achieving the award, explains, " Whilst the name of the award may not mean much to people, it represents an exceptional achievement and is very good news for both staff working here and the local community. For all the team here, it has been extremely satisfying to know that we are achieving high environmental standards and levels of awareness."

The award was given following an exhaustive four day visit by an expert team from Det Norske Veritas, an independent global auditing and certification body in environmental management and quality. The auditors detailed investigation looked at every detail of the site's environment policy, targets and objectives and their implementation.

These cover all operations on site from steam generation to disposal of waste. The site had to provide evidence on every external waste impact, including discharges from the energy centre, sewerage output, the disposal of office rubbish, and fuel usage. As well as the immediate impact on the local environment, the award assesses the long term impact of activity on site, including how potential new medicines are made and any long term effects they may have on the environment.

The auditors subject the policies and procedures to detailed scrutiny; companies seeking the award have to show that the policies are appropriate and challenging, adhere to all relevant legislation and are rigorously enforced. AstraZeneca R&D Charnwood also had to show that it was continuously improving its performance and raising its standards.

Simon Blease explained "We achieved the award because staff throughout the company believe in the importance of environmental matters and because of the investment in, and high specification of the new buildings on site, including a very high specification Energy Centre and Pilot Plant. It has definitely been a team effort and is a great way to start 2002 ".

The site will be checked on a regular basis to ensure it continues to improve and will be re-examined in three years by which time it is expected that energy use on site will have been further reduced.

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