Five Star Environmental Sustainability Audit

FIVE STAR AT A GLANCE

See your environmental sustainability performance more clearly

Go beyond compliance with an independent assessment of your environmental sustainability management systems, performance and opportunities for continual improvement.

4

core audit sections

5,000

available audit points

5

Best Practice Indicators

28

days for your final report

Turn Sustainability into Competitive Advantage

Turning sustainability into competitive advantage starts with knowing where your organisation stands. The Five Star Environmental Sustainability Audit (FSESA), developed by British Safety Council, measures performance against recognised best practice standards. Delivered by experienced practitioners, it provides practical insight, guidance, and a structured approach to improve environmental performance and build stakeholder confidence.

Start your path to Five Star

PLAN. DO. CHECK. ACT.

A comprehensive view of your sustainability management system

The audit follows the recognised PLAN–DO–CHECK–ACT management cycle, examining how environmental sustainability is led, implemented, measured and continually improved.

01

PLAN

Leadership, commitment & planning

Assess leadership, sustainability strategy, policies, governance, objectives, risks, responsibilities and organisational planning.

02

DO

Implementation & operation

Review how your organisation manages emissions, energy, water, waste, biodiversity, resources, transport and environmental impacts.

03

CHECK

Monitoring & measurement

Examine how objectives, KPIs, inspections, audits, supply chains and performance data are monitored and used to identify opportunities for improvement.

04

ACT

Evaluation & continual improvement

Understand how management review, governance, culture, reporting and future sustainability opportunities support lasting improvement.

THE FIVE STAR PROCESS

More than a review of the paperwork

Our auditors combine documentary evidence, stakeholder conversations and on-site verification to understand how your environmental sustainability arrangements perform in practice.

Review the evidence

Environmental sustainability policies, systems, documentation and supporting evidence are reviewed against the Five Star specification.

Listen to your people

Management, employees and other relevant stakeholders are interviewed to understand how your arrangements are understood and applied.

Verify what happens in practice

Site inspection and operational sampling provide assurance that documented environmental arrangements are being effectively implemented.

Turn findings into action

Your final report provides a quantified result, sectional scoring, observations, recommendations and practical action planning to support continual improvement.

Growing with you

More than just an audit, the Five Star Environmental Sustainability Audit delivers practical insight and expert guidance to support stronger environmental performance, while helping organisations embed a culture of continuous improvement. It is designed to help businesses move beyond compliance alone and use sustainability as a driver of resilience, credibility, and competitive advantage.

Start your sustainability journey

DEMONSTRATE MEASURABLE IMPACT

Turn sustainability into business advantage

Independent assurance can help strengthen performance, manage environmental risk and demonstrate credible progress to customers, regulators, investors and other stakeholders.

Financial

Identify inefficiencies, reduce costs, minimise revenue loss and help reduce exposure to environmental penalties.

Reputation

Strengthen credibility and demonstrate independently assessed sustainability progress to your stakeholders.

Operational

Pinpoint gaps, strengthen business resilience and benchmark environmental performance across your operations.

Legal & regulatory

Identify compliance risks, strengthen assurance and support regulatory and supply-chain obligations.

Customer & supply chain

Strengthen bids, customer relationships and confidence by demonstrating robust environmental governance.

ESG & reporting

Support environmental reporting and provide stronger evidence behind your organisation's sustainability commitments.

READY TO RAISE THE BAR?

Start your Five Star sustainability journey

Speak to our team about your organisation, your environmental sustainability objectives and how the Five Star Environmental Sustainability Audit could support your next stage of improvement.

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YOUR AUDIT OUTCOME

Clear findings. Practical next steps.

Comprehensive audit report

Receive your overall star grading, sectional scoring, observations, improvement recommendations and action planning tables.

Recognition & progression

Demonstrate achievement through the Five Star scheme and, subject to achieving a five-star rating, progress towards recognition through the Honour Awards.

Honour Awards: Your path to recognition

Achieving a Five Star Audit opens the door to some of the most respected awards in health, safety, and environmental management. These awards are your chance to showcase what makes your organisation stand out. Using your audit as the foundation, the process highlights the strength of your systems, your people, and your culture. For organisations that truly live and breathe excellence, it’s an opportunity to gain global recognition for the standards you’ve worked hard to achieve.

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