{my}dentist Case Study

17 July 2019

{my}dentist implemented ISO 14001:2015 certification to make sure they could keep on top of their environmental impact and stay ahead of their competitors.

Europe’s largest dental care provider, {my}dentist has 600+ practices committed to providing the latest dental treatments and helping the nation improve their oral health. Currently, an impressive 4 million+ people in the UK trust the company with their dental care and hygiene needs.

Serious about being green

{my}dentist had been looking at the possible benefits of gaining ISO 14001 certification for a long time and they saw it as an important step forward in showing their patients that they were serious about being a part of a greener and more environmentally responsible future.

{my}dentist used a consultant to help them implement their management system, GMD Associates; a registered consultant on NQA’s ACR recommended NQA as one of the certification bodies they could choose. The deciding factor for {my}dentist was the friendly service and added value they felt they received from NQA from the beginning of their certification journey.

{my}dentist subsequently found NQA’s set of standards to be parallel to the principles and ideology of their company. They are now proudly recognising they are one of the first major dental care providers in the UK to be acknowledged for their environmental commitment. Another important factor in {my}dentist’s decision to implement their Environmental Management System was to help them meet and proactively tackle the challenges of the future and customer demands head on.

Laura Fletcher, Commercial and Customer Experience Director for NQA, said:
"It is fantastic to see {my}dentist achieve ISO 14001 certification across all of its UK locations. Implementing a management system within an organisation of this size is no mean feat and {my}dentist’s commitment to continual improvement across all levels of the organisation is truly inspiring. The achievement of ISO 14001 accredited certification should be celebrated by {my}dentist – huge congratulations from the NQA team."

Penri Cunnah, Group Head of Health & Safety said:
"Our auditor, Richard Walsh, was extremely helpful and friendly, guiding us through the process and providing valuable insight. We’re extremely proud of our whole team who worked hard to ensure we achieved our ISO 14001 certification."

Facing challenges

{my}dentist found that one of their biggest challenges was convincing colleagues that achieving ISO 14001 was the right step forward, cementing their commitment to improving their environmental impact. They needed to be able to find time within their already busy schedules to document processes that were already being used on a regular basis and find a consistent approach to align over 600 practices, no easy feat.

Ultimately, {my}dentist had 4 main objectives; to achieve significant company-wide reductions in their:

Carbon footprint
Waste production
Costs
General environmental impact of their operations

Eight times round the Earth

{my}dentist’s internal ‘Green Forum’, a mixture of representatives from across the business, worked towards attaining ISO 14001 certification for over a year. To date, their successes include a reduction in annual business mileage of 200,000 miles – equivalent to eight times round the Earth - and the roll-out of energy-saving LED lights at its support centre, training academy and larger practices.

The company boasts very specific ongoing targets to continue to reduce its carbon footprint over the next five years including improved management of waste and utilities.

Signs of improvement

Moving forward {my}dentist will regularly review their systems with the help of their consultants and maintain momentum within the internal staff structure through interactive internal communications and presence at their annual clinical conference.

Their companies next step is to focus on their utilities consumption with enhanced reporting by practice type, all whilst trying to reduce their CO2 emissions from car, rail and air travel.

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