Keep Scotland Beautiful

KSB have been part of the environmental landscape for over 50 years and aim to help people to change the way they think about the environment, while encouraging them to take action to improve and protect it.

The charity is present in every village, town and city in Scotland, with their activities estimated to make a difference to 1 in 5 people in the country.

Catherine Gee, Corporate Services Director at KSB, told us what the charity’s aim is;

We work collaboratively to achieve positive change; improving people’s quality of life and environment. Our goal is to make Scotland a cleaner, greener and more sustainable place to live, work and visit.

ISO 14001:2015 appealed to KSB as it helps prove their environmental commitment;

We have an ambition to be a beacon of sustainability and environmental practice in the way we manage our operations and how we undertake our work. Our ‘Greening KSB Manual’ and gaining ISO 14001 are important parts of ensuring we ‘walk the walk’ and become an example of good practice.

Catherine commented on why KSB chose to work with the British Assessment Bureau;

BAB was our preferred option as their list of clients included UK wide charities, meaning they would ‘understand’ our organisation. From our initial communication with BAB, there was a sense of friendly, personal contact and we feel that we ‘know’ our representatives. We’ve felt supported throughout the process.

Already having an Environmental Policy in place meant that the processes within ISO 14001 felt familiar;

The ISO14001:2015 implementation process was clear and communicated well from all BAB representatives through emailed documents and phone calls. Any queries we had were answered fully, and in good time.

KSB’s dedicated Auditor gave beneficial feedback on the processes being formalised, which resulted in the Audit experience being a rewarding one for the team;

Both Stage 1 and 2 Audits were positive and enjoyable experiences. Our Auditor provided us with well-constructed feedback and encouragement.

Now KSB are certified to the latest version of the internationally recognised Environmental Management Standard, they’ve already experienced benefits;

Certification to ISO 14001:2015 has further increased the sense of pride and ownership towards our ‘Greening KBS Manual’ throughout our charity.

Displaying the certificate in the office helps promote the achievements internally, which has boosted morale;

We display our awarded certificate alongside our Environmental Policy Statement in our reception area – which allows us to promote it to our visitors and employees.

Catherine and her colleagues are aware of the importance of displaying their ISO 14001 logo to promote the achievement. Certification will help to develop the charity moving forward, as Catherine discussed;

We’ve embarked on adding the logo onto our publications and website – we’ll embed its use as standard in future. We’re also looking to use our success to work with stakeholders, suppliers and future partners.

Since 1969, we’ve been helping organisations stand out with our assessment and training services. Today, we are an award-winning Certification Body, we have certified thousands to the ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001 and OHSAS 18001 internationally recognised standards; achieving an average 99% recommendation rating.