Fences don’t make good neighbors.

Situation
A rapidly growing primary metals producer was experiencing chronic complaints from neighbors regarding noise from the manufacturing operation. The company is surrounded on three sides by residences in a predominantly rural setting. Frustrated by perceived inaction by the company, citizens were beginning to seek relief from local government authorities. Equally frustrated, company management could find no solution to the problem.

Our Approach
We worked with the leadership team to develop and implement a process to solve neighbor complaints as part of a new Environmental Management System. Public meetings were held with neighbors to understand their concerns and commit to working with them. Measurements were made to assess the noise levels from the operation.

A community hot line was established to encourage neighbors to inform the company whenever they had a specific concern. This was helpful in determining the source of different types of noise so effective countermeasures could be implemented. Neighbors and community leaders were invited to visit the operation to help them understand the sources of noise and see the actions being taken.

Results
Complaints were virtually eliminated. The company’s Environmental Management System was among the first in their industry to become registered to ISO 14001.