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Environmental Safety

The Need to Establish a Vast Protection Perimeter

BY Paul Provost, M.Sc., National Coordinator, Environmental Protection Programs

Whether we talk about protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, preserving environmental quality, or managing sustainable development, the common denominator remains the same: we must ensure environmental safety for current and future generations. With the recent explosion of environmental phenomena such as climate change, natural disasters, smog and waterway pollution, people are becoming acutely aware of the fact that we are highly dependent on the natural environment. Building on this realization, the time has come to strengthen our delicate, but neglected - even abandoned - relationship with nature. Over time, environmental safety will become more rooted in many public and private organizations in Canada and abroad. Through a growing dedication to this issue, staff at the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) are already making a contribution to environmental safety.

Pillars of Action

Most people associate penal institutions with images of fences, high walls, bars, and heightened security and supervision. Others associate them with rehabilitation, personal learning and professional development programs, based on the expectation that human beings will change for the better. For environmentalists, a penitentiary is a microcosm of an urban centre, which inevitably consumes natural resources (energy, water and material) and generates refuse in the forms of gaseous, liquid and solid waste. Aware of this ecological reality, their main concern focuses on minimizing environmental repercussions. Whether they are regional environmental coordinators, health/safety/environmental officers, plant maintenance chiefs, technical supervisors or managers/directors at various levels, the work of CSC’s environmental professionals interfaces with many disciplines and functions, and includes an array of responsibilities, such as the following:

• tracking environmental compliance (legislation, regulations, directives);
• implementing the Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006);
• maintaining the Environmental Management System (EMS);
• measuring and conserving energy and water;
• responding to environmental emergencies;
• managing halocarbons (CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs);
• controlling hazardous materials and managing hazardous waste;
• managing wastewater treatment systems operated by CSC;
• measuring and managing solid waste (recycling and composting programs);
• monitoring petroleum storage tanks; and
• managing drinking water quality.

Commitment — A Measure of Success?

Since the 1990s, CSC has generated consistent achievements on this front, culminating in the emergence of a corporate culture focused on environmental safety in the above-mentioned areas. However, as with other CSC functions, we do not have unlimited resources, and this reminds us that, in spite of goodwill and commitment, the pace of progress often seems to be insufficient. We are confident that the recent implementation of environmental accountability structures at all levels of CSC will produce more tangible results. In fact, with the publication of the next SDS (December 2006), the accomplishment of environmental targets will, more than ever, be dependent on greater participation by staff at all levels of the organization.

Everyone should be concerned about environmental safety, both at work and at home. With a wide range of signs indicating that natural mechanisms to reduce ecosystem pollution are being depleted, let us ask ourselves seriously: How much longer can we allow ourselves to fall behind? If we truly believe in the ability of human beings to change for the better, the ultimate proof in the eyes of environmentalists is the solid establishment and maintenance of an environmental protection perimeter. It is no longer time for debate, but rather for action — actions that are incorporated into the way we live, so that our behaviours are always marked by respect for our environment and its safety. ♦