In recent years there has been considerable discussion in the EHS audit profession about how to apply the concept of risk to an audit program. The theory is that risk-based programs will likely result in a more efficient and effective application of resources and a more targeted focus on truly important issues. This article provides a tool and approach that could be used by audit program managers to not only classify facilities, but also…

On July 11, 2010, an article was published in the EHS Journal titled “EHS Audits – Have We Lost Our Way?” That article was followed a year later by a sequel that explored the topic more fully. The articles elicited numerous thoughtful comments and a lot of general discussion. The premise of the original articles
[continue reading…]

Environmental, health, and safety (EHS) auditing can be a challenging profession. It is fraught with ethical and technical dilemmas, the need to stay technically and functionally competent, and the need to have interpersonal skills and attributes that only Moses possessed. For example, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) auditing guidelines require auditors to be ethical, open-minded,
[continue reading…]

Many organizations have been conducting environmental, health, and safety (EHS) audits for decades now, and as auditors revisit sites on a 2- or 3-year cycle, one of the most frustrating aspects of the audit outcomes is that many of the same or similar findings of noncompliance seem to arise time and time again. This situation
[continue reading…]

The great majority of environmental, health, and safety (EH&S) professionals come from a background that is either primarily environmental in focus or primarily health and safety based. As the EH&S auditing profession has evolved, companies have integrated environmental topics with health and safety topics (and sometimes with others such as management systems or sustainability) on
[continue reading…]

On July 11, 2010, an article titled “EHS Audits—Have We Lost Our Way?” was published in EHS Journal.[1] It has since elicited a number of quite thoughtful and extensive comments and much general discussion. The premise of the article was that perhaps environmental, health, and safety (EHS) audit programs have evolved, particularly in the United
[continue reading…]