Environmental Guidelines

Preamble

Dealing responsibly with our environment as a holistic task for preventive human health protection is an essential part of our enterprise policy together with high patient care standards, top-level research, and optimal management. We are faced with major challenges in attempting to harmonize economic principles and ecological standards.

Our goal is active integration and innovative implementation of environmental protection in research, teaching, nursing, and diagnostic investigation.

Our guidelines are intended to provide orientation as well as motivation towards active participation in creating an environment-oriented hospital. The responsibility borne by the Charité as a place of teaching, research and medical care for future generations obligates us to work and act according to our environmental policy.

In practical terms, this means we must find ways to preserve resources as well as to avoid and reduce adverse environmental influences.

Guidelines

Guideline 1: Executive function

Environmental protection is one of the prime objectives of our enterprise.

Executives set an example for their staff and promote active integration of the environmental protection concept in research, teaching, nursing and diagnostic investigation.

Guideline 2: Basis for action

We pledge our adherence to all environmental statutory provisions and injunctions as well as to voluntary agreements and university guidelines. Whenever possible and economically justifiable, our standards go beyond the minimum legal requirements and are based on state-of-the-art technology.

Guideline 3: Environmental Program

To constantly improve internal environmental protection at the Charité, we formulate practical objectives and programs which we continuously upgrade and expand. We also develop suitable organizational processes and controlling concepts to achieve and systematically implement individual environmental objectives.

Guideline 4: Avoidance of adverse environmental influences

Adverse environmental influences in research, teaching, nursing, diagnostic examination and all other areas are avoided or reduced to ecologically and economically justified levels. Responsible use of water, energy, and all other goods is a self-evident concern of all staff members.

Guideline 5: Environmental education

To improve internal environmental protection, we promote not only qualification and motivation but also creativity and active participation of our students and staff at all levels by continuous information and special training programs.

Thus we also evaluate services, acquisition and research activities, and construction measures with regard to their environmental compatibility.

Guideline 6: Integration of all service companies

We encourage our contractual partners to apply the same environmental protection standards as we do, and we integrate them as far as possible in the environmental protection concept of the Charité.

Guideline 7: Communication and public relations

Conducting an open dialogue with staff, patients, service companies and the public to enhance mutual understanding is an important task for us. By active communication at all levels, we simultaneously promote the motivation and personal commitment of the staff to engage in environment-conscious action and active environmental protection. An annual report provides patients, staff, and the public with information regarding our environment-related activities.

These guidelines must now be brought to life, i.e. turned into real activities by substantializing the contents and converting them into measurable goals. For this purpose, the Charité urgently needs your commitment and your identification with our hospital and our goals.