Pillar 9: Environmental & Social Responsibility
Contribute positively to One Health objectives and minimise harm to our world
What this pillar covers
Contribute positively to One Health objectives and minimise harm to our world.
Great veterinary workplaces ensure their everyday workplace practices help everyone to consider and care for their communities. They promote environmental sustainability, inform themselves and others on public and animal health and wellbeing issues, and support community initiatives and team members’ contributions towards various One Health and One Welfare objectives.
Pillar 9 is assisted by competencies relating to:
- Business operations management eg waste, water, power, transport, air
- Leadership including delegation, communication, change management
- Policy and process development and training
- Stakeholder engagement and communications
- One Health: Environmental, Social/Public and Animal Health and Welfare
Great veterinary workplaces achieve this through the following focus areas and goals:
9.1 Workplace Practices
Everyone can work in socially and environmentally conscious ways.
9.2 Engagement with the Community
Everyone is empowered to be considerate and helpful to the world around them.
Suggested Learning
Suggested learning for Pillar 9 includes on-demand AVA and THRIVE resources, AVA Chartered Veterinary Practitioner™ (CVP) and courses provided by our partners.
Explore each focus area
Expand each focus area for information on workplace practices and behaviours that contribute to a great veterinary workplace.
Everyone can work in socially and environmentally conscious ways.
- Team members conscientiously engage with One Health agendas and develop appropriate policies, protocols and knowledge through training. For example, an antimicrobial prescribing protocol is used, disease surveillance and reporting is well understood and facilitated, and the human-animal bond is regularly considered.
- Everyone is empowered to understand the impact of climate change on animals and OneHealth.
- A meaningful and regularly reviewed environmental sustainability policy exists, and appointed sustainability champions develop and report on initiatives and progress.
- Actions which support environmental sustainability and reduce carbon footprint, are embedded within daily work; for example recycling and appropriate reuse, low-paper practices, power saving initiatives (including insulation), green energy sources, water saving initiatives, and environmentally and socially conscious choices of products, packaging and suppliers.
Everyone is empowered to be considerate and helpful to the world around them.
- The organisation supports team members’ choice to undertake and/or report on pro-bono or charity-funded veterinary work. For example, this may be through agreed time-in-lieu, establishment of a workplace “benevolent fund”, care for wildlife, or through donation of sustainable consumables or equipment use.
- Everyone is supported in their efforts to make a positive contribution to the wider community within and beyond work contexts. For example, time is allowed within work to speak to local school children, a service club, livestock producers group or other animal club, and work experience students are well-supported through consistent induction and monitoring processes. The workplace may offer some annual community service leave for employees to contribute to the community in any way they value.
- Contribution to the veterinary community’s issues and initiatives are practically supported, for example through sharing related media content, attending events, participating in research, or making financial, in-kind or work contributions.
- Everyone can raise public awareness of the impacts of climate change on animals. For example, through hand-outs in Puppy Packs, posters in the waiting room, or discussing the impacts of issues such as heat stress on domestic pets or livestock.