The Naval Communication Station, Harold E. Holt (NCS HEH) was constructed between 1963 and 1967. The operations at NCS HEH centre around a Very Low Frequency transmitter and antenna array that is used by American and Australian Naval Forces for communication with submarines.

Due to the extensive biodiversity of the area, as well as the adjacent Ningaloo Marine Park, managing the environment is of upmost importance to the Department of Defence who currently contract the operations on the Base to Boeing Defence Australia.

In 2002 Boeing Australia began the process of achieving certification to the ISO 14001 environmental management systems standard. Certification of site operations to ISO 14001 was achieved in March 2004. All Boeing Company manufacturing sites, world-wide, are now certified to ISO 14001.

Challenges inherent in a global system include differing legal requirements, site versus corporate attributes for certification and corporate targets versus site specific needs. On site challenges emerge over jurisdictional issues, contract requirements and impacts risk assessment as well as compliance requirements.

The EMS has helped Boeing maintain customer confidence and satisfaction in an increasingly important aspect of operations. It has provided a basis for many sites around the world to link with common and varied issues. As a result global and national reporting has been streamlined and a better understanding of impacts has allowed us to target areas for improvement.

An EMS certification is one way in which this can be achieved at a global level while still maintaining local level targets and objectives.