Healthcare Businesses Risk Unnecessary Costs And Fines By Failing To Comply With Green Laws, UK

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 25 Sep 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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Businesses in the healthcare sector risk throwing away thousands of pounds each year on unnecessary charges and environmental fines by failing to stay on top of important green legislation.

To help small and medium-sized healthcare businesses recognise their environmental obligations, the free environmental law website http://www.netregs.gov.uk has just launched online guidance for businesses in the healthcare sector.

Set up by UK environmental regulators, the Environment Agency for England and Wales, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and SEPA in Scotland, NetRegs.gov.uk is the primary source of plain English guidance on environmental law for small and medium-sized businesses in the UK.

An independent study undertaken by environmental consultants EFTEC has discovered that businesses that already take advantage of NetRegs' free regular email updates are saving on average £2,615 per year by reducing time spent searching for environmental guidance *. For those that visit NetRegs.gov.uk every week, this rises to a saving of £5,296 a year.

Richard Martin, Programme Manager for NetRegs, explains: "Good environmental awareness is crucial for businesses operating in the healthcare industry, with laws governing waste disposal a key area of focus. Those responsible for environmental compliance must be aware of the law and must understand how to comply.

"By using http://www.netregs.gov.uk as a source of information and guidance as our research demonstrates, healthcare businesses stand to make significant cost savings and avoid fines, as well as limit the impact of their business on the environment."

He concludes: "Many businesses may find that they only need to make small changes to their practices to comply with environmental law. With consumers being increasingly concerned about the green credentials of service providers, these changes will also bring big benefits in terms of customer perception."

-- NetRegs was launched in 2004 to provide SMEs in the UK with free guidance on complying with environmental legislation, without the need to register.

-- NetRegs - http://www.netregs.gov.uk- is a partnership between the Environment Agency in England and Wales (EA and EAW), the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA)

-- The website currently offers specific guidelines for 112 business types in the UK - covering about 80% of all UK businesses.

-- Businesses can receive free email alerts from NetRegs to keep up to date on forthcoming legislation or any changes to current environmental regulations. Visit http://www.netregs.gov.uk

** EFTEC economic evaluation of the benefits of NetRegs to SME users, March 2008

NetRegs