In our previous post we discussed the importance of enterprise companies caring about their -and our- environment. For years, the refrain against environmentalism was that addressing such concerns cost money and jobs. Fortunately, the views of industry are changing and ultimately to the economy’s benefit. Certainly, more stringent pollution controls such as more advanced scrubbers on the stacks or more secure chemical storage measures cost a given business real money, but that was never a real business argument until one compared the true costs of not implementing those pollution-control measures. As we talked about last time, business never operated in an open system that allowed a given pollutant to travel beyond its own environs and employees harmlessly. As such, whatever pollutants that were released into the system incurred less obvious costs to the business itself and to the community.
ERP AND YOUR BUSINESS: HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT MEANS HEALTHY BUSINESS
One such cost that we may now be facing is declining health in the workforce from a variety of substances released into the environment. Mercury, for instance, is of growing concern as it has tripled in the world’s oceans, inevitably making it into our own food supply. With the growing popularity of seafood (so much so that the Bluefin tuna may be driven to extinction) and our growing knowledge of the health benefits of eating fish, mercury consumption is bound to cause increased health problems in the American workforce. While industries may have saved money on the front end by removing only the minimum mercury required from their various industrial byproducts, increased sick leave, lost productivity, and rising health costs may very well be more costly.
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals may present another lesson in true costs for American industry. Despite repeated efforts of lobbyists to block studying the issue, researchers have uncovered disturbing effects of this class of substance. With possibly enormous effects on obesity, which comes with a host of other health issues, endocrine-disrupting chemicals could have a tremendous impact on the entire future of the American workforce. Cancer, diabetes, joint problems, and any other of obesity’s good friends may wind up costing businesses (and their own families) millions more than due diligence in what those businesses release in to the world. Costs don’t come in just one form or at one time. The world, as a closed system, has a way of making us all pay for our mistakes, returning what we’ve released in to the environment in one form or another. When balancing the books, we can’t pretend that the only costs are the ones staring us in the face.
How does your enterprise company plan to combat environmental factors on business? Let us know by leaving a comment, and be sure to join us for our next installment on ERP and the environment.