Enhance Your EHS Compliance and Audit Preparedness

An environmental health and safety audit helps workplaces improve compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. EPA requirements exist to ensure the safety and health of the environment, including humans,animals, property and resources.

Conducting an audit is a good way to determine how efficiently and effectively your organization manages its overall health and safety program, especially when storing or handling hazardous materials. To prepare, many organizations and businesses conduct internal EHS audits before receiving an external assessment from a third party—often a government agency auditor.

What Is an EHS Audit?

An environmental health and safety audit is a regulatory compliance assessment tool. EHS audits involve a workplace survey that helps regulators determine if workers, procedures and methods at a facility adhere to health and environmental safety rules. The audit may also reveal if equipment such as spill prevention or secondary containment systems meet compliance requirements.

How Do You Conduct an Environmental Health and Safety Audit?

The scope and breadth of your EHS audit depends on the needs of your business. To conduct your own EHS audit, identify factors such as the size of your business, focus areas and time to completion. Consider the following before conducting your audit:

Identify local, state and federal regulation requirements
Assess how regulation requirements impact your business
Develop processes to track tasks, trainings, spills, permits and other data
Comply with your organization’s internal best practices and standards
Be prepared for an unannounced, external auditor to arrive onsite

Why Follow an EHS Audit Checklist?

When you follow a clear EHS audit checklist, you’ll cultivate a safer workplace environment, maintain a stronger emergency preparedness plan, and pivot more easily when regulatory EHS requirements evolve or update over time. While there is no one-size-fits-all checklist, according to OSHA, topics on your checklist can include¹:

Management leadership
Worker participation
Hazard identification and assessment
Hazard prevention and control
Education and training
Program evaluation and improvement
Communication and coordination for host employers, contractors, and staffing agencies

To streamline the EHS audit, use technology to conduct paperless audits, review your audit data over time, and share your findings with company leaders to encourage transparent communication and implementation.

What Are the Benefits of an Environmental Health and Safety Audit?

When you perform a voluntary, internal EHS safety audit, you can uncover areas for improvement and quickly address them instead of waiting for results from an unannounced, external auditor’s inspection.

An EHS audit can help you:

Identify and resolve EHS compliance issues
Improve workplace health and safety
Reduce liability
Find efficiencies and save costs
Gain insight into current spill prevention and containment methods
Increase awareness of regulations among employees

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Stay EHS Compliant with Polystar Secondary and Spill Containment Solutions

As an engineer or consultant, your knowledge base and recommendations lay the foundation for a project’s success. Ensure you and your team adhere to current industry regulations when scoping out investments or industrial projects by choosing the right spill prevention or secondary containment system.

Browse our collection of products or contact us to learn more about Polystar Containment’s secondary containment and spill prevention systems. Contact us to Learn More

Additional Resources around Secondary Containment & Spill Prevention

While EHS compliance is one of the most important regulations to follow, there are several other requirements to consider when performing secondary containment or spill prevention. Below are additional resources and ways you can stay compliant with Polystar Containment.

Source: ¹ https://www.osha.gov/shpguidelines/docs/SHP_Audit_Tool.pdf