In collaboration with the Swedish Forest Industries Federation’s group at the Swedish Institute for System Development (SISU), SSG Teknik has been assigned the task of developing an environmental training course tailored for employees in the pulp & paper industry. The personal environmental certificate for the forest industry, as the course is called, will be launched in mid-2007.
It has long been understood by the Swedish Forest Industries Federation’s SISU group that there is a great need for an industry-wide environmental training course for employees out at the mills. Until now all of the mills have run their own environmental training courses, which has not been particularly cost-efficient.
The SISU group has therefore assigned SSG Teknik AB the task of producing an industry-wide basic training course founded on the much-appreciated interactive Personal Environmental Certificate course developed by Utbildningsgruppen AB in collaboration with IVL, the Swedish environmental research institute. No previous knowledge is required and using a question-answer format the course gives fundamental knowledge about the nine largest environmental areas and how threats can be reduced in these areas.
The personal environmental certificate course contains an exercise segment, a knowledge bank, an individual action plan and a certificate that is awarded upon successful completion of a knowledge test.
Customized for forestry
“The environmental training course now being produced for the forest industry is to deal with environmental considerations from a more “wooded” forest industry perspective, that is to say cover environmental impact from felling to finished paper. On the next level it will also deal with managing the environment at the individual mill,” says Solveig Eriksson, who is responsible for management systems at SCA Forest Products and also a member of the SISU group.
Accordingly, the personal environmental certificate will be part of SSG’s interactive training portfolio for pulp & paper mills. The portfolio also includes ENTRE for contractors as well as a new, basic work environment training course for employees.
“In this context SSG is the perfect partner for us,” says Solveig Eriksson.
A special project group will be appointed by the SISU group and it is to serve as a reference body and sounding board for SSG and also quality assure the contents of the course.
Cost-efficient and simple
As is the case with ENTRE, the Personal Environmental Certificate will be accessible via a special portal at SSG’s website that is linked to the intranet of each individual mill. The approach is cost-efficient and easy for the mill personnel to manage. SSG will be responsible for handling renewal and updates and, when necessary, adapt the course to the needs of specific mills and plants. The latter alternative is optional.
Interest in participating in the Personal Environmental Certificate course is judged as very high in the forest industry.
“By the end of October we hope to know for certain who will participate initially and the course will be underway before the summer of 2007,” says Johan Nylander, SSG business area manager for Health, Safety and the Environment.
The next step is for SSG to send out introductory information and enquire about interest among companies in the industry.
“In the first phase we will be concentrating on the mills in Sweden. In phase two we’ll launch an English version of this environmental training course for the forest industry,” says Johan Nylander.
SISU group member Solveig Eriksson, SCA.