Health Sector Report: Environmental Impact, Ethics, and Regulations

This report delves into the health sector, analyzing the impacts of sustainability and ethical business practices. It explores how managing emissions to air, land, and water is critical, alongside the role of environmental management systems (EMS). The report examines the challenges faced by the health sector, including ethical considerations like patient confidentiality and equitable care, and environmental concerns such as pollution from healthcare facilities and pharmaceutical waste. It highlights the need for sustainable practices, the benefits of EMS implementation, and the importance of stakeholder engagement in promoting environmental responsibility. Recommendations include the adoption of EMS, regular water and chemical drainage system evaluations, and baseline soil and water testing to mitigate environmental harm. The report concludes with a call for proactive management of environmental and ethical issues to ensure the health sector's sustainable development and positive public image.

Running Head: HEALTH-SECTOR
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Health Sector
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7/31/2019

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Impacts of sustainability and ethics.........................................................................................................2
Impacts of managing environment...........................................................................................................4
Environment management system...........................................................................................................6
Recommendations...................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8
References...................................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The health sector is considered as the sector of the economy build-up of the organisation
that focused on health products and services linked to health and clinical care. Some of the
examples of healthcare sectors are biotechnology organisations, health insurance companies,
pharmaceutical companies, and organisations that maintain the clinical and hospitals (Addicott,
McGivern and Ferlie, 2007). The biotech industries consist of different companies that are
engaged in the research and development to develop new drugs, medical devices, and treatment
methods. The healthcare sector becomes one of the largest and rapidly growing industries in the
world. For example, in the UK the whole population is covered under the National Health
System (NHS), which is funded by the general taxation and run by the UK Department of
Health. There are different aspects can impact the health care industries such as ethical and
environmental issues (British Medical Association, 2013). In this particular research report, the
impacts of managing the emission to the air, land and water will be discussed. The impacts of the
environmental management system and need for the sustainable and ethical business practices
will also be included in the report including the theory, regulations, and the challenges industries
usually experience.
Impacts of sustainability and ethics
Sustainability needs assessing systems; counting building substructure and organizational
performs and applying procedures in line with the appropriate budget design. A healthcare
facility requires reliable and strong engineering schemes to make sure safety for its clients.
While other businesses might be more eager to try novel technologies and approaches to endorse
sustainability, healthcare services must find answers established to work in the exclusive health

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care atmosphere (Schmidt, Gostin and Emanuel, 2015). A planned approach to wellbeing care
sustainability can include aspects, for example, limited finance, the difficult facility authorization
processes, and reduced risk acceptance. The climate is altering and is devising recognizable
impacts on people’s health and wellbeing, however more intensely on those who are previously
susceptible. Such impacts comprise a rising trend in the regular yearly number of warm days and
associated expiries and hospitalizations. It is now well-known that the idea of sustainability for
health sector business now comprises the environmental as well as social facets. Health care
possesses performance, ecofriendly, working and management values like any business.
Consequently, sustainability in the health care sector will require to have related ‘sustainability'
features, as it is a community service that functions as a commercial whether or not it is private
organization or public. Factually healthcare has had public outreach programs and the broader
communication in communal aspects. Sustainability endures to grow as a protruding issue, and
as usual development, the healthcare sector should react as other businesses (McGain and
Naylor, 2014). They must maintain their service to optimum level or standard for patient safety
and recovery, avoid ethical issues. Ethics in Healthcare is not just related to the decisions made
by a single person; it is also related to the decisions made in managerial offices and in the
boardrooms collectively. Business Ethics in the Healthcare offers viewpoints that can support
healthcare directors achieve the uppermost ethical values as they experience their parts as
healthcare providers, companies, and communal service administrations. Researchers suggest
strategies and standards based on the information that the healthcare sector is dedicated to rights
of the patients, too cautious stewardship of possessions, to just functioning circumstances for
employees, and to the facility to the public. The health care providers must avoid conflict of
interest, balanced the profit with the facilitating patients and delivering basic care, provide equal

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care to every patient deprived of discrimination. Some of the ethical that may arise during the
patient care in a health care setting such as issues related to patient confidentiality, patient
relationship, malpractice and negligence (Crane, et al., 2019).
Impacts of managing environment
The health care sector is extremely interrelated with industrial actions that produce much
of the country’s air, water, and soils pollution. Therefore the organizations must evaluate
emissions openly and indirectly associated with the health care area, and possible damaging
effects on community health. Decreasing direct and unintended emissions must be reflected as
the key aspect of constructing a harmless health system to progress health care superiority and
competence and diminish unintended opposing both direct and indirect effects (World Health
Organization, 2017). Reductions in emissions of air, water and soil that are associated with the
health care organization can have direct advantages, for instance in US by reducing the 3.7
million yearly mortalities that happened due to the poor quality of ambient air globally resulting
in ischemic heart disease, heart attack, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, lung malignancy,
and acute infections to lower respiratory. Managing the emission of air, water and land can be
helpful in increasing the quality of life. If the organization produces possibly damaging
emissions and it is the environmental authority owner they must apply the Monitoring
Certification Outline. They might need an environmental certification if their business activities
create emissions that potentially cause the air, water or land pollution. The license sets out how
to manage the emissions of the organization (Smith et al., 2013).
The environmental policy obligates companies to effective environment-friendly
stewardship and confirms that they manage and diminish the negative environmental impacts of

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their operations. The environmental management, counting risk management, direct their actions
in, for instance, stops the pollution which can affect the people nearby the organization. When
the organization planning to open a new pharmaceutical plant they should go through the
preparation process, this involves a thorough analysis of the possible impacts of this plant on the
local people and the ecosystem and habitat, including the water and soil erosion (Yuan, 2013). In
pharmaceutical industries, there is a number of residues discharged such as dust, sludge,
pharmaceutical waste etc. which needs to be emitted effectively in order to reduce its impact on
the people and animal as well as the quality of soils. Water is the needed for the manufacturing
in drug production, which is discharged from the plant contain spent fermentation raw material,
aqueous solution, the leftover raw material that mixed with the water and affect the water
animals, causes water and air pollution. Hospital waste like an anatomical waste, chemical waste,
infected syringes, and the needle can also affect the environment negatively. Effective
management of the emission process can reduce this risk. It has been identified that companies
and hospital with proper management of the air, water and land emission have better revenue,
patient satisfaction and reduces the ethical issues (Vallero, 2014). Pharmaceuticals waste can
pose a severe risk to aquatic environments. The Hospital wastewater is the main cause of this
contamination, which native wastewater management plants are frequently ill-equipped to
manage. Additionally, clean drinkable water is essential in hospitals to safeguard the health of
the patients. Pathogens for example Legionella, norovirus and the cryptosporidium in drinking
water are able to pose a threat to the wellbeing of hospital patients’ because they are more
vulnerable to even low contact to pathogens. To address this, secure, superior quality potable
water is important. In order to retain the safe water in the hospital, assessments of the risk

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associated with water supply, effective water emission, and effectual water quality management
technologies are vital (Eckelman and Sherman, 2016).
Environment management system
EMS defined as the management of environmental programs of an organization in the
comprehensive, systematic, organized and written manner. It comprises the structure, planning,
and resources for growing, applying, and managing the policy of the organization for
environmental safety. The environmental management system in the health sector act as the tool,
or the procedure to enhance the environmental performance and the data mainly plan, pollution
management and waste reduction, training of staff, reporting to the higher authority and setting
the targets (Massoud et al., 2010). It provides a systematic method to handle the environmental
affairs of the organization; it gives the order and continuity for the healthcare setting to deal with
the environmental issues by the allocation of the resources, assigning duty and current
assessment of the practices and procedures in the organization. It helps the employees to
understand the requirement of the legislature to better control the impacts, importance, priorities,
and goals of a product or service. The environmental management system focuses on the
continual development of the system and a way of applying policies and objective to encounter
the desired outcome.it ensures the environmental consciousness and competence of staffs. Some
of the benefits of implementing the environmental management system include better
environmental performance, improved obedience, inhibition of pollution, maintenance of
resources, better efficiency and less costs of services, improve the morale of health care
providers, enhances the image of healthcare setting among patients, regulators, stakeholders, and
lenders (Ronnenberg, Graham and Mahmoodi, 2011). However, there are some disadvantages of
implementing environmental management system such as cost of implementing the system, a

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requirement of more time and resources, too burdensome, the resistance of management and staff
as they see the environmental management system as the unnecessary, scope, costs associated
with the training of staff. These disadvantages can be minimized by effective implementation of
the EMS. The organizations implement the EMS in their setting can give their business great
credibility with the patients and stakeholders. It can help the companies in marketing as the can
highlight the credentials of their organization as the environmental aware setting that has
established a commitment to the enduring environmental improvement by adverting or yearly
reporting (Wiengarten and Pagell, 2012).
Recommendations
 At all levels of production and health care services, the organization must be familiar to
the environmental and social significances of their activities (Addicott, McGivern and
Ferlie, 2007).
 They should have methods and procedures in place to recognize and evaluate
sustainability problems that are intrinsic to the organization.
 At the panel level, describe the acceptance sustainability challenges level and reflect the
respective possible concerns on integrity and status.
 Proper management of pharmaceutical waste and hospital waste should be done.
 The health care organization must conduct the testing of baseline soil and the surface
water at all the places. They should check at the location of the central water facility for
the already set parameters.
 Conduct monthly examination of water and chemical drainage systems prevent water and
soil pollution (Vallero, 2014).

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 The health sectors like pharmaceutical companies and the hospital must engage their
stakeholder in the process of applying an environmental management system.
 Employees must be informed about the aims and advantages of applying the
environmental management systems
 Employee participation and empowerment will make sure that the communication of
ideas about EMS and feeling of working together toward the targets will retain the
performance of EMS at the topmost of the employees’ awareness, and facilitate
enhancement (Mitchell, 2013).
Conclusion
The health sector is presently the fastest growing sector which focused on developing and
producing medicinal products, and health care services. The pharmaceutical industries must
consider the need for sustainable and ethical practices as it has both positive and negative
impacts. The sustainability of an organization is associated with addressing issues like limited
finances and reduced risk management. The ethical practices in the health care organization are
linked to client satisfaction and the public image of the organization. Managing the emission of
air, water and land is essential for reducing pollution. Managing the emission of air, water and
land is linked to the reduced mortalities and enhanced public image. The pharmaceutical
industries discharge chemicals and waste in the water bodies that might infect the animals as
well humans, therefore they must use the environmental management system for the proper
management of their waste. The EMS can help the organization to enhance environmental
performance to reduce pollution. Some of the recommendation for the health care sector includes

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a proper assessment of the activities related to the environment, conducting a monthly evaluation
of water and chemical drainage, and informing the employees about the EMS and its goals.

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References
Addicott, R., McGivern, G. and Ferlie, E., 2007. The distortion of a managerial technique? The
case of clinical networks in UK health care. British Journal of Management, 18(1), pp.93-105.
British Medical Association, 2013. Health and environmental impact assessment: an integrated
approach. Routledge.
Crane, A., Matten, D., Glozer, S. and Spence, L., 2019. Business ethics: Managing corporate
citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Eckelman, M.J. and Sherman, J., 2016. Environmental impacts of the US health care system and
effects on public health. PloS one, 11(6), p.e0157014.
Massoud, M.A., Fayad, R., Kamleh, R. and El-Fadel, M., 2010. Environmental management
system (ISO 14001) certification in developing countries: challenges and implementation
strategies.
McGain, F. and Naylor, C., 2014. Environmental sustainability in hospitals–a systematic review
and research agenda. Journal of health services research & policy, 19(4), pp.245-252.
Mitchell, B., 2013. Resource and environmental management. Routledge.
Ronnenberg, S.K., Graham, M.E. and Mahmoodi, F., 2011. The important role of change
management in environmental management system implementation. International Journal of
Operations & Production Management, 31(6), pp.631-647.
Schmidt, H., Gostin, L.O. and Emanuel, E.J., 2015. Public health, universal health coverage, and
Sustainable Development Goals: can they coexist?. The Lancet, 386(9996), pp.928-930.

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Smith, P., Ashmore, M.R., Black, H.I., Burgess, P.J., Evans, C.D., Quine, T.A., Thomson, A.M.,
Hicks, K. and Orr, H.G., 2013. The role of ecosystems and their management in regulating
climate, and soil, water and air quality. Journal of Applied Ecology, 50(4), pp.812-829.
Vallero, D.A., 2014. Fundamentals of air pollution. Academic press.
Wiengarten, F. and Pagell, M., 2012. The importance of quality management for the success of
environmental management initiatives. International Journal of Production Economics, 140(1),
pp.407-415.
World Health Organization, 2017. Safe management of wastes from health-care activities: a
summary (No. WHO/FWC/WSH/17.05). World Health Organization.
Yuan, H., 2013. Key indicators for assessing the effectiveness of waste management in
construction projects. Ecological Indicators, 24, pp.476-484.