Environmental Awareness Training

Years ago, KI determined that all employees, as part of the KI team, need to contribute to environmental compliance at the facilities. Certain key individuals serve as focal points for the gathering and distribution of information.

• Employees/technicians must be familiar with the environmental policy and be aware of the requirements related to their job. The employees/technicians should feel free to contact any other individuals with their environmental concerns or questions.
• Supervisors/Product Line Managers are to be resources for employees/technicians for general environmental questions and information.
• Plant Environmental Engineers are individuals with overall environmental responsibilities. The role of the Plant Environmental Engineers is to address compliance issues in the plant, such as obtaining permits, filing necessary reports, training, and distributing general information concerning environmental issues and policies.
• The Corporate Compliance Officer's role is to assure that plant managers and environmental engineers are taking appropriate action to ensure environmental compliance.

Environmental Compliance Manuals

In an effort to continuously improve the facilities' environmental performance and as a basis for a planned compliance audit program, KI has begun developing comprehensive environmental compliance manuals for each manufacturing facility.

Compliance Auditing

These environmental compliance manuals are to serve as a tool to confirm that all environmental program requirements are being met, facilitate transfer of site-specific information from the manufacturing facility to the corporate office, facilitate transfer of information from the current environmental manager to their predecessor(s), and provide a guide for routine audits.

ISO 9001

As part of KI's business philosophy to build the highest quality business and institutional furniture, KI implemented a Quality Management System for all of its manufacturing plants and related corporate functions. These Quality Systems were audited and are certified according to ISO standards. ISO 9001 was developed by the International Organization for Standardization to "facilitate the world-class exchange of goods and services." It is a standardized framework for building, operating, and documenting a quality management system. KI is among an elite group of United States manufacturers who have acquired ISO 9001 certification.

Several principles of the ISO 9001 system have positive impacts on environmental aspects of KI's manufacturing facilities. Some examples include the following:

• KI is focused on their customers' needs and expectations, including the expectation that office and institutional furniture lines should be designed and produced with environmental considerations at the forefront.
• KI involves all team members in their continuous improvement process. Due to this involvement, there have been numerous successes in the areas of resource conservation, waste reduction, and efficiency.
• Continual improvement is a constant mantra of the environmental program and the quality program.
• Supplier relationships are critical to KI's success. KI is proud of the accomplishments of major suppliers in the environmental area.