AN Australian Government-backed training on environmental management for officials of the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau (MGB) featured the initiatives of a cement firm in Cebu to draw insights for their workshops.
Participants of the workshop on “Managing Environmental Issues within the Regulatory Framework of the Minerals Sector in the Philippines” visited the Taiheiyo Cement Philippines Inc. (TCPI) plant in San Fernando and the mined-out areas operated by Solid Earth Development Corp. (SEDC) recently to learn from the programs of the Japanese-run firms in Cebu.
They also learned from the joint Social Development and Management Program that both companies have adopted, and from their Environmental Enhancement and Protection Program.
Best practices
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources chose the operations of TCPI and SEDC to showcase the best practices that have been adopted in the country’s mining industry in the training conducted recently by the University of Queensland-Sustainable Minerals Institute (UQ-SMI) based in Brisbane, Australia.
UQ-SMI professor Graeme Mcllveen lauded TCPI officials, led by Hiroshi Harada, senior vice president for production and plant manager, for being consistent in adopting the integrated management system that follows strict international standards, especially with regard to the environment.
Standards
TCPI was the first cement plant in the Philippines that adopted an Environmental Management System certified to be compliant with the standards under ISO 14001.
TCPI also holds a certification that the safety and health management systems it has been using at its plant meet the standards set under Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series 18001:1999, while its quality management systems are also in line with ISO 9002 standards.
The participants visited other mines and manufacturing plants that use earth materials for a comprehensive learning andheld discussions on environmental management, monitoring, auditing and risk assessment.
