Read Are You Throwing Money in the Trash? Occupational Risks, Environmental Hazards and Operational Inefficiencies in Waste Management are a Triple Threat to your Bottom Line Links to an exte

Occupational risks, environmental hazards and operational inefficiencies in waste management are a triple threat to your bottom line

Waste management is prone to a num-

ber of potentially costly issues, from workplace injuries to environmental contamination, and it’s easy to see why. Overexertion and heavy lifting – two common ailments that can result from lugging heavy garbage containers and lifting bags into dump- sters – are also two of the main causes for workplace injury, according to 2015 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employers pay an average of $60,618 for each workplace injury claim and lose an average of 39 working days each year. Add in potential fines for improper disposal and the financial toll that any inefficient process can take, and it becomes clear how problems in the waste management pro- cess can become costly very quickly.

48 BUILDINGS 01.18

“Every company, from an office or fac- tory to a construction site or hospital, produces and must dispose of waste,” explains Derrick Masimer, Vice President of Sales Operations for Toter, a manufac- turer of ergonomic waste carts, contain- ers and lifting equipment. “However, improper disposal, hauling and lifting practices can cause overexertion, repeti- tive stress or back injuries, result in slip and fall incidents or expose workers to other workplace hazards. Taking a closer look at your facility’s waste stream and making a few simple changes can have a huge positive effect on workplace safety and injury prevention.”

Where Hazards Happen Facilities with waste management

processes that require manual lifting and dumping are the most vulnerable to workplace injury claims, Masimer says. Bending, reaching overhead, lifting heavy items or even just slipping on some trash that has escaped its receptacle can easily result in a workplace injury.

continued on page 50

Are You Throwing Money in the Trash?

“Front load dumpers have loading heights of 4 to 5 feet, which can be a risk to staff who are trying to lift a 30-pound garbage bag over their head and into a dumpster. There’s a chance of back inju- ries,” adds Geoff Aardsma, Vice President of Client Services at Enevo, a technology- enabled waste and recycling services provider for facilities. “These are steel containers that aren’t always the safest, so if you interact with the steel, there’s the chance of a cut. The area around the dumpster always needs to be kept very clean because otherwise rodent infestations or slip and fall situations might arise. Some properties also have mechanical equipment like compactors, and those have several moving parts with safety concerns.”

Environmental risks abound as well, especially if you’re disposing of potentially dangerous material. A spill that’s not dealt with properly or an improper disposal that contaminates the whole load could result in fines – to say nothing of what could happen if you miss someone else throwing

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50 BUILDINGS 01.18

hazardous waste into your waste stream because you aren’t paying attention.

“We have procedures in place to show that we document and track our waste stream. It would surprise you what ends up in a dumpster from illegal dumping,” says Bob Valair, Director of Energy and Environmental Management for Staples. “We’ve had medical waste, dead animals, building construction materials and land- scaping material. Having a waste services company come in as a partner helps us minmize illegal dumping problems without putting Staples and our associates at risk.”

The direct and indirect costs associated with a contaminated container can get expensive, Valair notes. That’s why it’s so important to know what’s in your waste and ensure it’s being disposed of properly. Locking containers and proper signage will also cut down on illegal dumping.

Other Sources of Inefficiency

Fines and worker’s compensation claims aren’t the only ways your disposal process could be wasting money. In a way, the entire process is built on inefficiency, so it behooves you to do what you can to find savings opportunities.

“The activity of generating waste is a cost,” Aardsma explains. “You spend money on waste at every point. First

you purchased material that you didn’t end up using or that had packaging you couldn’t reuse, so now you have to pay for somebody to segregate it and treat it as waste. Then you have to have somebody transport it to a waste container. You have pieces of your real estate dedicated to col- lecting that waste – if you have an office building and they have to put in a com- pactor to deal with the waste, that’s space that could have been loading dock space or parking spots. Then, of course, the cost of collecting and properly disposing of these materials costs money. You have to look at the entire process of waste gen- eration from supply chain to disposal.”

Landfill volume fees are a great place to look for savings opportunities. The more you recycle, the less has to be hauled to the landfill. Staples separates e-waste (such as batteries and cell phones), mixed paper, cardboard, pallets, batteries, old equip- ment and other materials. Weekly inspec- tions make sure everything is going to the right place according to Staples’ policies and procedures. The retailer also main- tains detailed documentation throughout the whole waste cycle, Valair explains.

Next, review how often your waste containers are picked up. If trucks are coming by too often, you’re wasting money; if they don’t come often enough, the overflow attracts pests and creates a

hazard around the container. “We have a right-sizing program that’s

based on volume of sales and auditing to make sure we have the right container. We continue to audit to make sure there’s no cardboard, mixed paper, plas- tic or metal going into the waste stream, which also helps with right-sizing,” Valair says. “We know stores A and B need a 6-yard container picked up every 10 days. Store C needs an 8-yard con- tainer picked up every week. However, if you’re cleaning out the building, you can call for an extra pickup.”

Staples also utilizes smart compactors with gauges and sensors that let FMs know when the container is nearly full so they can call for service, with a goal of scheduling pickups when the container is full instead of half-empty. Automated collection of data about waste genera- tion can save not only money, but a con- siderable amount of time, adds Masimer.

Raising Revenue and Forecasting Future Needs

As you work to increase your recy- cling percentage and decrease the vol- ume of trash bound for the landfill, it’s crucial to enlist employees and tenants to make sure the maximum amount of waste is diverted. Not only is this better for the environment and less wasteful of your FM budget, it can actually generate revenue in some cases.

“You can get money for things like plastic, pallets and shrink wrap,” notes Valair. “Why pay to have it disposed of when you can reduce your waste cost and show generated revenue? We com- municate to our associates that we care about the environment and that they can have an impact. Do your research and find the right waste and recycling part- ner to help you manage your costs and develop your business plan.”

For One Bush Street in San Francisco, an 18-floor office tower with 22 tenants, this took the form of a building-wide effort that started with a free recycling consultation. A survey revealed that most of the tenants wanted composting and recycling collection, so the build- ing management firm, Tishman Speyer Properties, instituted a green team with a representative from each office tenant. SF Environment, the city’s environmental

1

It would surprise you what ends up in a dumpster from illegal dumping. We’ve had medical waste and dead animals.

—Bob Valair, Director of Energy and Environmental Services, Staples

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www.buildings.com BUILDINGS 51

agency, trained the team and supplied posters, fliers and stickers to raise aware- ness of the building’s new policies.

Key to this effort was demonstrating to building custodians that their role wasn’t to separate recycling from trash, but to manage a new organization sys- tem for collection. Day porters service the compostable collection containers in kitchens and conference rooms so that the night janitors don’t have extra work, and management recognizes the custo- dians with quarterly gift certificates. The results speak for themselves: One Bush Street achieved a 76% waste diversion rate, keeping 260 tons of material out of the landfill each year. Disposal costs have dropped by over 50%, translating to an annual savings of $24,000.

In addition to better diversion practic- es, an emphasis on continual training and improvement is crucial, adds Aardsma.

Anyone who interacts with the waste should be educated in safe disposal tech- niques, including keeping the disposal area clean, lifting without sustaining a back injury and packaging certain kinds of waste to prevent spillage.

“We follow a very pragmatic approach of investigating and benchmarking cur- rent waste generation behavior, which involves understanding what you’re throwing away, how much is being thrown away and the best way to get it from its point of generation to the point of collection. It’s about handling material in an efficient manner that protects the health and safety of folks who are inter- acting with the materials,” Aardsma says. “Then at the point of collection, we want to provide every opportunity to handle the waste in the most environmentally friendly way possible, including recog- nizing hazardous waste and focusing on

recycling and waste reduction.” Don’t stop improving your waste man-

agement practices after you’ve got cost, safety and efficiency under control, Valair urges. Waste generation rates and the contents of the waste stream can change over time. Monitoring your organiza- tion’s output lets you keep an eye on these trends and adjust your practices or pickup frequency accordingly.

“Continue to revisit the processes because things are changing. The market is changing from a revenue per- spective and costs are going up,” Valair says. “Even if you set up your program years ago, continue to evaluate your processes. Take every opportunity to generate good business practices throughout your organization.” B

Janelle Penny [email protected] com is Senior Editor of BUILDINGS.

WASTE MANAGEMENT RESOURCES

Could your waste management procedures use some work? Check out these useful tools.

1 2 3 SAN FRANCISCO DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT

SFENVIRONMENT.ORG

This city agency offers a wealth of information for businesses, including a Zero Waste Toolkit with free signage to demonstrate what belongs in recycling, composting and garbage containers. Case stud- ies demonstrate how San Francisco businesses have saved thousands of dollars by reducing waste.

WASTEWISE AND ENERGY STAR PORTFOLIO MANAGER

EPA.GOV

Already tracking your energy consumption in the EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager? You can track your waste in it too. Once you’ve got a handle on waste track- ing, join the WasteWise program to receive formal recognition for your waste reduction efforts.

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (OSHA)

OSHA.GOV

OSHA isn’t just a reporting agency – it also has a number of tools to help avoid workplace injuries in the first place. Check out their fact sheets and recommended procedures to develop your organization’s pro- tocols for safe lifting, hauling and more.

B_0118_WasteManagement.indd 51 12/19/17 10:56 AM

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Exploring the Value of Risk Management for Projects: Improving Capability Through the Deployment of a Maturity Model —ROBERT JAMES CHAPMAN

Chapman and Associates Limited, Sandhurst, GU47 0FL U.K.

IEEE DOI 10.1109/EMR.2019.2891494

Abstract—This paper presents a maturity model structure to support effective project risk management. The structure is based on five maturity levels and nine categories. The premise of the paper is that the goals of risk management, the practices required to implement the discipline, and the common obstacles to implementation must be reflected within a model, otherwise fully developed mature practices will not be realized. Through a literature search, the paper examines the common goals and practices of project risk management together with the challenges experienced in its implementation. A maturity model structure to support embedding effective project risk management is proposed. The model is applied to four live projects and a direct correlation is drawn between the introduction of the model and improvements in the effectiveness of risk management.

Key words: Risk management, maturity model, category, competency, maturity level

1. INTRODUCTION

RISK management has attracted adversemedia coverage as a result of the repeated andwell-publicized failures associated with its implementation [Kimball, 2000]. Despite the increased professional and academic attention that risk management has received following these failures, further instances of failure are still prevalent [Chapman, 2011]. Against a backdrop of constant change, organisations appear unable to understand and respond to the risks that impact strategic decision-making and operational performance, (EYGM [2014]). Long-established organizations which have been implementing project risk management (PRM) for a number of years (such as the BBC, British Airways and BAESystems) are still struggling to establishmature risk management practices ([Kimball, 2000]; [White House, 2008]; [Hubbard, 2009]; [NAO, 2000], [2004] & [2014];

[Dietz &Gillespie, 2012]; [Minsky, 2016]; [Airmic, 2017]; and The Irish Times, [2017]). It has been argued that organizational performance has been undermined by poor lines of sight from the boardroom to project performance, (EYGM, [2014]). This is significant given the growing recognition that risk management is critical to the success of projects and as a consequence the performance of the organizations that implement them (EYGM, [2013]). The basic questions of what is it wewant to accomplish, what activities must be undertake to realize the goals defined andwhat barriers to riskmanagement implementation will wemost likely encounter are rarely explored in sufficient depth or together. The development of mature effective risk management practices is reliant on a combination of: establishing the goals of riskmanagement, determining the core riskmanagement activities to secure the goals, recognition of the common barriers to completing the activities and the creation of a road

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map to increasematurity. While recent interest inmaturity models is demonstrated by the proliferation of models, their contribution to the development of effective risk management practice has been limited due to their structure and content.

2. THE IMPORTANCE OF

PROJECTS TO BUSINESSES

AND GOVERNMENTS

Projects are important for the financial success and longevity of individual businesses. These projects often represent major investments by individual businesses and are vital to business development, market share and organizational longevity. Project failure can be detrimental to an organization’s reputation, share price, stakeholder confidence, bottom line performance and significantly, realization of its strategic objectives. Ernst and Young’s analysis (EYGM [2015]) suggests that approximately US$682b is wasted on underperforming projects across the globe annually. As advised by the UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) “Ninety-five per cent of the UK government’s policies are delivered through major projects. Successful project delivery is therefore essential to the government in terms of delivering its promises and objectives. However historically the majority of major projects in government have not delivered the anticipated benefits within the original time and cost expectations” [NAO, 2013]. More recently, in a subsequent report, the NAO stated “the public sector has had a poor track record in delivering projects successfully” [NAO, 2016]. This track record is injurious given that within its 2016 report it stated there were 149 projects in the Government Major Projects Portfolio which had a combined whole-life cost of £511 billion with an expected spend of £25 billion in 2015-16 [NAO, 2016]. Project failure in this context is critical for the UK government. The 2013

NAO report emphasised the risk of over-optimism in government projects1. Project success has traditionally been measured by delivery of the scope on time, within budget to stakeholder satisfaction followed by satisfactory bringing- into-use.

2.1. Effective PRM Supports Project Delivery PRM is

internationally recognised as a vehicle to predict, examine and take proactive action to remove or reduce the threats to a project’s objectives [Woods et al 2007]. Research has shown that effective risk management is positively correlated with improved project performance, (Irimia-Di�eguez et. al., [2014], [Junior and Monteiro de Carvalho, 2013]; [Raz et al., 2002]; [Zwikael & Ahn, 2011]; [Ropponen & Lyytinen, 1997]; [McGrew & Bilotta, 2000]; [NASA 2011], and [Banjanin, 2010]). ISO 31000 [ISO, 2018] promotes risk management and suggests the discipline will enhance the likelihood of organisations achieving their objectives and protecting their assets. Conversely inadequate risk management has led to specific disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon oil rig which exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, causing one of the worst man-made disasters in history. A United States National Commission [NC, 2011] investigation attributed the disaster to management failures that crippled “the ability of individuals involved to

identify the risks they faced and to properly evaluate, communicate, and address them.” Given growing project complexity [Chapman, 2016], the importance of effective decision making is taking greater prominence. However effective analysis of alternative courses of action will only occur when there is an understanding of the threats and opportunities associated with each. As a consequence, risk management must be at the heart of decision making (Flyvbjerg, [2003]). The scale of projects and the ramification of delays and cost overruns has pushed risk management into the consciousness of senior management and boards. In addition, consultancies that are the most effective in managing risk on behalf of their clients and to their own existing operations will in the long run outperform those that are less so.

3. EFFECTIVENESS DRIVEN

BY RISK MANAGEMENT

MATURITY

For any organisation, risk management effectiveness is driven by the assessment, recognition and management of the maturity of its risk management practices (Antonucci, D. [2016]). This view is supported by research conducted by the following Ren and Yeo (2004), [Zou, Chen and Chan (2010)], [Hopkinson (2011)] and Mu, Cheng Chohr and Peng (2013) who have demonstrated the importance of employing a formalised risk management maturity assessment process to measure risk management processes, culture, practice and resources. Risk maturity is a measure of the capability of an organisation to take andmanage risks in a balanced and well-informed manner and is fundamental in ensuring risk is considered in decision making processes, [Airmic, 2017].

3.1. The Meaning of ‘Mature’ and ‘Risk Maturity’ There is

no universally accepted definition

1. The report refers to writers on optimism bias. Of interest is the extract from Dan Lovallo and Daniel Kahneman, Harvard Business Review (2003) Delusions of Success: How Optimism Undermines Executives’ Decisions: “When forecasting the outcomes of risky proj- ects, executives all too easily fall victim to what psychologists call the planning fallacy. In its grip, managers make decisions based on delusional optimism rather than on a rational weighting of gains, losses, and probabilities. They overestimate benefits and underestimate costs. They spin scenarios of success while overlooking the potential for mistakes and mis- calculations. As a result, managers pursue ini- tiatives that are unlikely to come in on budget or on time—or to ever deliver the expected returns”.

EXPLORING THE VALUE OF RISK MANAGEMENT FOR PROJECTS: IMPROVING CAPABILITY THROUGH THE DEPLOYMENT OFA MATURITY MODEL 127

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of risk maturity. The term ‘mature’ adopted for this research is taken to mean a state of being fully developed or having reached its most advanced stage in a process, in the same way a mature technology is a technology that has been in use for such a length of time that most of its initial faults and inherent defects have been removed or reduced. The English Oxford Living Dictionaries [EOLD, 2018] provides the example of a mature market which is one which has developed to the point where substantial expansion and investment no longer takes place. By way of clarification antonyms of mature are under- developed, unprepared, inexperienced and incomplete.

3.2. Maturity Evaluation

A method of evaluating maturity and how well risk management is working across an organisation is through the use of a maturity model, [Airmic, 2017]. To be of value, project maturity models must reflect both the goals of risk management against the stages in an organisation’s project life cycle and the primary risk management practices required to deliver the process. In addition, they must address known hurdles or obstacles so the progression from one maturity level to another represents a clearly recognizable ‘gear change’ or process improvement, having overcome one or multiple challenges. The absence of a model within an organization implies a lack of understanding of the essential building blocks of effective risk management and the competencies required to incrementally develop mature practices.

3.3. Why Maturity Models are Important For the majority of

organisations, risk management practices exist in some form. However, to satisfy internal stakeholders that its risk management practices are effective there needs to be a clear

understanding of the ‘As-Is’ – in particular any shortcomings of the current approach, the desired future ‘To-Be’ state and a ‘road map’ of how to accomplish the required maturity level. Risk maturity models succinctly describe, by visual means, a structured approach to the description and communication of both the ‘As-Is’ and ‘To-Be’ states. The commonly recognised benefits of maturity models for organisations are as follows: � Improved risk management

culture. � Improved visibility of the threats

to a project’s objectives. � Improved management of

threats. � Improved overall project

performance and realisation of project objectives.

� Increased customer satisfaction. � Increased productivity through

smaller project teams retained for shorter durations.

� Increased profit due to fewer unpleasant surprises and resultant rework.

� Increased likelihood of securing new and repeat business.

� Improved compliance with ISO standards.

� Incorporation of lessons learned from areas of best practice

� Implementation of more robust, mature practices

� Improved visibility of the link between management and engineering activities

3.4. Understanding the ‘As-Is’ State Determining the ‘As-Is’

position is required to prepare an improvement plan from ‘where-we- are-now’ to ‘where-we-want-to-get- to’. To inform the ‘As-Is’ state of risk management maturity, a project would gather information directly from outputs of activities contained within the individual stages of the adopted project life cycle (PLC). The PLC would typically be based on a project management methodology, such as PRINCE2, the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) or one developed in-house together with associated project governance processes. These outputs (as guided by the project management methodology) would include but not be restricted to: benchmarking, training reviews, internal audit findings, lessons learned, business case preparation requirements, project reviews, gate review findings, project closure reports and quality audit findings, as illustrated in Figure 1. These outputs are common to most projects and hence it is

Figure 1. Challenges to the implementation of project risk management.

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considered do not warrant individual explanation here or reference to the PLC stage they would be derived from.

3.4.1. Application of Maturity Models:

Maturity models are similar to change management processes in terms of assessing the performance of all or aspects of an organization; planning improvements; designing interventions; communicating the interventions;

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