Management Systems

Moving towards one Integrated System

In a large and diversified organization like BCE, ensuring that sustainability principles are applied consistently requires effective policies and management systems. BCE's corporate responsibility issues and related policies are currently managed by means of various processes that support the company's sustainability vision. As of 2006, the company is initiating the expansion of its Environmental Management and Review System, which is based on the ISO 14001 standard, to include other sustainability issues. (See below for details).

The mandate to coordinate the development and management of this system has been given to the Corporate Responsibility and Environment team.

As the focal point for all sustainability issues, the Corporate Responsibility and Environment team's main responsibilities include:

• Coordinating the company's efforts to realize our sustainability vision
• Facilitating the implementation of our sustainability strategy
• Developing and controlling the company's environmental program so that environmental risks and opportunities are managed in a diligent and cost-effective manner.

More info on the complete mandate

Our current Environmental Management and Review System (EMRS) is an integrated management tool that identifies potential problems or opportunities, reduces risks, ensures continuous improvement through a rigorous feedback process, and controls costs. On-going legal monitoring is an integral part of the system, which enables BCE to exercise due diligence in managing environmental issues.

Planning

The Corporate Environmental Action Plan (CEAP) is the system's main management and control tool. Revised and approved annually, the plan details all the environmental activities to be undertaken by Bell Canada as well as BCE subsidiaries currently integrated in Bell's Environmental Management System. The CEAP identifies funding requirements, as well as accountabilities and deliverables, and allows for follow-up of the company's progress in meeting its objectives. Results and analysis for improvement opportunities are presented to the Environment Issues Network (EIN) committee for review and action.

Implementation

Within the Environmental Management System, Bell has clearly defined a series of programs encompassing all environmental issues of the business. To ensure each program meets its goals, Bell sets specific objectives, identifies responsibilities and develops procedures.

Measures and Evaluation

To ensure that our management system and each of the programs are effective, Bell has put a number of control points in place. These include:

• Legal and GAP analyses conducted on a continuous basis to identify and correct non-compliances
• Environmental reviews which are performed to follow up on environmental programs at various Bell sites
• The Environment Risk Evaluation process which is used to evaluate the environmental performance of some of our suppliers
• The Environmental Questionnaire which is sent to Bell's suppliers to collect information on their environmental performance and to assist the company in the selection of environmentally responsible suppliers
• Internal and external audits which are performed on a regular basis
• Performance measures related to the Corporate Environmental Action Plan which are reviewed by business unit Officers and subsidiary Presidents on a yearly basis.

Review and Improvement

Reporting quarterly to the Audit committee of the board of directors, the EIN is in place to ensure that Bell's environmental policy is current, and that the company is taking the necessary action to comply with its environmental policy. As well, Bell has implemented various working committees to ensure that the programs work in harmony and they reflect the reality of daily operations.

In 2005, we revised our environmental review process to gain better control of environmental issues in our businesses. The new process enables us to quantify how procedures and programs are applied in our operations. This gives us:

• a clear and accurate picture of how procedures and programs are applied in the field, at a given point in time;
• the opportunity to identify areas for improvement, specifically with regards to our actual programs and procedures, how they are communicated to employees, and the processes adopted by individual business units.

Programs covered by our reviews include residual materials, incidents, petroleum products, air emissions, pole storage, network and general site conditions. Our evaluation method provides a quantitative measure of a group's level of compliance to procedures and their effectiveness in managing environmental risks and opportunities. The resulting "risk index" is used to prioritize improvements.

Environmental information system

The EMRS is supported by comprehensive documentation and a sound information system. The web-enabled system serves three main purposes: It is used as an information database on all issues and programs, as a planning tool in preparation for the yearly CEAP, and finally as a reporting tool by which performance is measured and by which issues of importance are resolved.