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Promoting EMS for the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Sector
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Links
Improving Environmental Performance through Lean and EMS Integration
In October 2004, the U.S. EPA Sector Strategies Program produced a report that profiles Findings and Recommendations on Lean Production and Environmental Management Systems in the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Sector. Recognizing that lean production-a leading business model being applied in many sectors of the U.S. economy-and EMS both affect environmental performance, EPA initiated research to better understand the relationship between lean and EMS. The report, which is based on interviews with managers at five shipyards, concludes that lean and EMS are compatible and synergistic approaches. The report also describes strategies that organizations have used and/or could use to improve their environmental performance and reduce costs by combining lean and environmental management practices.
EPA plans to continue working with the shipbuilding and ship repair industry, as well as other sectors, to enhance the environmental performance outcomes associated with implementation of lean and EMS. For more information about the relationship of lean production to the environment, visit EPA's Lean Manufacturing and Environment webpage.
Environmental Management Systems: Systematically Improving your Performance
In October 2003, Sector Strategies released a brochure highlighting the benefits of EMS implementation at shipbuilding facilities. Environmental Management Systems: Systematically Improving your Performance was created in partnership with SCA, ASA, and nine shipyards that have already adopted EMSs.
- Color version (PDF) (12 pp, 4.8 MB)
- Black and white version (PDF) (12 pp, 340K)
EMS Implementation Guide for the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Industry
In 2003, Sector Strategies released the final version of the EMS Implementation Guide for the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Industry. Created in partnership with ASA and SCA, the Guide describes an EMS that is based on the ISO 14001 standard and reflects EPA's National Environmental Performance Track emphasis on sustained compliance, pollution prevention, and information-sharing with the community. The Guide provides detailed information to shipyards interested in implementing an EMS and incorporates lessons learned and examples drawn from the experience of shipyards that participated in the Sector Strategies pilot.
National EMS Pilot
In July, 2003, EPA recognized six shipbuilding and ship repair companies that successfully adopted an EMS as part of the Sector Strategies Pilot. The pilot facilities are a diverse group that represent seven states and include both small and large businesses, shipbuilding and ship repair operations, and government and commercial contract holders. Sector Strategies assisted participating shipyards by providing a customized EMS implementation guide, training workshops, a forum for discussion, and technical support. Prior to the pilot, only two of approximately 400 shipyards in the U.S. had implemented an EMS. These two shipyards - National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego, CA, and the Coast Guard yard in Baltimore, MD - made significant contributions to the pilot. Pilot participants include: Bath Iron Works, Bender Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Company, Electric Boat Corporation, FirstWave Marine, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, and Southwest Marine.