Environment, Health and Safety 
Tags: site certifications;legal compliance;ISO;OSHA
PROTECTING OUR E-RESOURCES: ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT AND EMPLOYEES 
Site Certifications and Legal Compliance
As part of Amdocs’ growing commitment to environment, health and safety, we have established a framework of measures, starting within Europe, to ensure that all Amdocs sites will comply, at minimum, with European Union legislation, even as applies to non-EU member states or countries.

Amdocs’ European operations have embarked on a mission for all major sites to comply with key environmental and safety guidelines, as defined by the International Standards Organization (ISO) and Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), namely by ISO14001 and OHSAS18001 certifications, by the end of 2009. This includes Amdocs entities Amdocs Management Limited (UK), Amdocs (UK) LTD and Amdocs Systems Europe Limited. Currently, the following specific office locations in Europe are ISO-approved by third-party certification:
  • UK London Fetter Lane – ISO14001 and OHSAS18001
  • UK Bath – London Fetter Lane – ISO14001 and OHSAS18001
  • UK Reading – ISO14001 and OHSAS18001
  • Cyprus – ISO14001 and OHSAS18001
  • Israel HQ – ISO14001 and OHSAS18001
Sites planned to achieve ISO14001 and OHSAS18001 compliance in 2008 and 2009 include:
  • Ireland – Dublin site - ISO14001 and OHSAS18001
  • Russia – ISO14001 and OHSAS18001
  • North America – Site identification and compliance still in planning stages
Energy
Amdocs has offices throughout the world, some of which are leased spaces and others wholly owned/leased premises. For Amdocs-owned sites including largely populated sites, Amdocs has already embarked on a program for the reduction of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by participating where available in local initiatives, such as the Carbon Trust in the UK.

In the absence of such programs and in larger facilities, particularly in Europe, Amdocs has utilized external consultancy services to assist our facilities managers in assessing energy savings opportunities for our sites. Currently, our UK sites have begun to implement and collate information for 2008.

In analyzing GHG emissions within our business activity, Amdocs has identified that the most significant and major source of GHG emissions arise from our consumption of power and from HVAC systems on our premises.

On non-Amdocs owned properties, partly leased/rented spaces and in facilities where Amdocs occupies a portion of the facilities, it would be difficult to monitor power consumption. In such scenarios, Amdocs requires non-essential PCs and visual display screens are turned off at the end of the day; we fit photocopiers and printers with timer switches so they only come on during the working day. In many of our offices in Europe and North America, we also fit light switches with motion sensors and apply solar films on south-facing windows.

Amdocs’ purchasing policy also mandates that, when buying electrical products, such as refrigerators, they must be energy-efficient.

In comparing our energy use from 2007 to 2008, we can see our energy-saving objectives are working! Since we instituted this program in 2008, we have achieved an overall reduction in our energy consumption by almost 12%. This is significant as our company has grown in size this year but energy consumption has decreased. We will continue to expand our efforts and monitor this trend further.

Green House Gas Reduction Project
In regards to Green House Gas (GHG) emissions owned and controlled by the company, GHG Scope 1, Amdocs sites utilize electricity as the major source of power, therefore there are negligible, if any, emissions to be monitored or lowered. This is further enhanced by our policy of encouraging the use of public transport as opposed to the provision of company cars for business travel. With respect to GHG Scope 2, emissions from purchased sources, it is relatively complex to calculate GHG emissions from electricity consumptions we buy as there are variables such as the source of fuel utilized by the power stations, which could also be a mix depending on the time, the day etc. Thus, we are not measuring or monitoring these at this time.

In examining our GHG Scope 3 emissions that are a consequence of the activities of the company, but occur from sources not owned or controlled by the company, the nature of our business activity incurs purchases mainly related to office based products, computers and electrical equipment associated with offices. We do realize that business travel ,particularly air travel, is a significant contributor to Scope 3 emissions and we have taken measurable steps to reduce carbon emissions related to routine business travel and for our customer events.

Although it is relatively complex to calculate GHG emissions from electricity consumption due to the factors detailed above, Amdocs positively encourages the purchase of eco-friendly fuel where possible.

Fleet Management
The opportunities Amdocs has identified to minimize the effects of climate change have been not only in the reduction of power consumption but also in our policy of encouraging the use of public transport as opposed to the provision of company cars for business travel.

Travel
Amdocs does not currently monitor green house gas emissions generated by third-parties, such as airlines. But, we realize that business travel, particularly air travel, contributes greatly to emissions. As a global company, Amdocs does engage in business travel. But for internal meetings, we have implemented advanced communications technologies, such as a network of videoconferencing facilities, and otherwise minimize travel as much as possible. And we have begun innovative initiatives, such as carbon offsetting at our InTouch customer event.

Waste Management
Due to the nature of Amdocs’ business activity, waste generated at our facilities is mainly in the form of paper and products associated with office environments. As part of our ISO 14001 program, all major Amdocs sites recycle some or all of the following: plastic bottles, paper and cardboard, batteries, glass, plastic cups, aluminum cans, toner cartridges and other office equipment. Unfortunately, there are locations where we are unable to do so, often due to the absence of recycling facilities in shared premises and multi-tenant sites. In some countries, there are simply no waste management vendors or facilities at all. We are working to address these issues.

In addition, Amdocs has converted to paper-free management systems. We discourage the unnecessary printing of emails and other documents and, when hard-copies are needed, especially for in-house use, we urge employees to use double-sided printing. These measures have generated large paper savings.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Restriction of Hazardous Substances (ROHS)
As a high-tech company, Amdocs utilizes an extremely large number of personal computers and laptops. Although waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) regulations do not place legal obligations on us, as a responsible corporate citizen, Amdocs voluntarily recycles electrical and electronic equipment. All our electrical waste is managed by licensed, responsible and authorized waste management operators in all countries we operate in.

In addition, Amdocs donates PCs and laptops to local charities. For example, Amdocs’ Cyprus location (one of our largest sites) donated used PCs and peripheral equipment to local schools, the Philippines’ Community Centre and AISC American International School Cyprus. There have been similar initiatives in Israel and North America.

Commute Alternatives
Amdocs recognizes that environmental savings can also be achieved utilizing modern communication technologies such as videoconferencing . We also are adopting where possible flexible working hours at our office locations, and in some locations, allow employees to work from home. These solutions not only reduce adverse environmental impact related to travel but also improve work-life balance, resulting in a safer, healthier, happier quality of life.