Helen Maher environmental services officer, HSE, Southern Area, says staff are very keen to see recycling at work.
I work as the environmental services officer with the HSE Southern Area. Essentially I manage issues surrounding waste, water quality, waste water and energy management for the hospitals in Cork and Kerry.
A big part of my job is keeping ahead of upcoming legislation covering waste management, water pollution and energy. My job is to put mechanisms in place to ensure we are compliant from day one. For example, from January 2007 the energy efficiency in Buildings Directive means that all public buildings will have to have an energy rating. Each hospital in the HSE Southern Area will need to have an energy audit. We need to manage hospitals as they are now with a view to having a good rating.
Energy management is one of the bigger challenges in my role.
Energy costs are increasing all the time and electricity costs are expected to increase by around 12 per cent next year. So even if there are big improvements in energy efficiency, energy costs are still rising and a hospital won't see the cost benefits.
Obviously energy efficiency issues in Cork University Hospital (CUH) are different from those in the likes of a community hospital.We have installed a combined heat and power system in CUH, which generates electricity on site and can result in savings of up to 60 per cent. We have an emission trading permit to monitor CO2 emissions from the boilers, and plans are under way to install a building energy management system into the hospital to maximise efficiency.
Even reducing the temperature of a heating system in a hospital by one degree can have significant savings.
In a small hospital, the focus is on the heating and water systems and making sure these systems are running at their optimum levels.
Another big aspect of my job is to promote environmental awareness and make people conscious of how our actions can impact on the environment. The environment in which people live and work has a key influence on their health.
Staff awareness and co-operation is very important to get any new system to work. People are now very environmentally aware, and staff are very keen to see recycling and environmental systems implemented at work. Many are doing it at home.
When it comes to waste disposal in hospitals there are three types - infectious, commercial and hazardous.
Hospitals now pay more than €1,000 per tonne for treatment of infectious waste, and €300 per tonne for commercial waste disposal to landfill. Segregation of infectious waste is critical.
Last May I organised a Race against Waste seminar for staff in conjunction with the Department of Environment. A recycling directory for staff identifying recycling companies in the Cork and Kerry areas was produced. Cardboard and paper, for example, can be diverted from expensive landfilling to recycling which is free. The aim is to give staff advice on how to divert waste away from landfill and advise them on dealing with waste contractors.
I am based in the technical services department of the HSE Southern Area, in the South Ring Business Park in Cork, where other departments, including the ambulance and corporate learning department, are based. I arrive in work at 9.30am to avoid the traffic and work until after 6pm. I also spend time out and about visiting various hospitals in Cork and Kerry. It's a very exciting time to be working with the HSE. There is a lot of change coming down the line and people are really open to change.
In interview with Fiona Tyrrell