All the private
organization and industries have known the advantages of conducting
environmental, health and safety audits at their regulated facilities. In
general, the rationale of an environmental, health and safety audit is to make
sure conformity with the myriad of environmental, health and safety regulations
that have been propagated by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration
(OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC), and many other federal, state and local agencies. In accumulation,
contemporary audits comprise the implementation of environmental health and
safety management systems such as ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 and observance to
corporate standards or guidelines.
The formation of
safer work environments developed largely as a result of legislative and
regulatory requirements. Steadily, yet, organizations have become increasingly positive
about workplace safety, recognizing it as an effectual means of risk management,
consequence not only in a healthier work environment, but a more beneficial one
as well. Workplace safety,
usually an area defined - and ruled - by regulatory observance, is progressing
into one of the principal areas of hazard management for companies. Firms - in scrupulous
those operating on a global scale - are be acquainted with the economic and
management advantages of moving away from site-precise solutions, as well as
embracing firm-wide safety management systems.
Companies primarily
take action to these parameters by implementing systems on a
department-by-department base. These systems were mainly designed to keep
records and report significant incidents, in this manner ensuring suitable conformity
with the Act's provisions. In addition, the systems were generally department-explicit,
focusing on particular areas addressed in the Act (for instance Waste
Management, Incident Tracking, and Air Emissions Management); whereas larger
companies leaned to utilize external systems developed by consulting firms,
many developed their own in-house arrangements. In both cases, this consequence
in systems implemented on a site-by-site base, without consider for a consistent,
firm-wide application. Still now, many companies still run such patchwork
systems, resulting in complication with information collation and reporting, as
well as more fundamental problems with the management and allocation of
EH&S information on a firm-wide base.
Matters started
to improve in the late 90s, with the conception of The Occupational Health and
Safety Advisory Services (OHSAS) Project Group. This international alliance was
designed to deal with the confusion and division of global health and safety
systems by creating a single combined approach. In 1999, the group published
the OHSAS 18000 Series, which had two specifications: 18001, which endow with
requirements for an OHS management system; and 18002 which gave implementation
guidelines. In particular, 18001 were designed to facilitate companies to
develop and register incorporated quality, environmental and occupational
safety and health management systems.
In addition to
this global scheme, firms are more and more acceptance environmental health and
safety issues ahead of mere observance: it is progressively more seen as a
risk-management concern, with the result that systems are being developed and implemented
on a firm-wide basis, designed for incident avoidance rather than simple
reporting and information gathering. Furthermore, it is no longer accepted as
sufficient for EH&S systems to work independently of other business
management systems. To ensure comprehensive and efficient application of the
OHSAS framework, as well as total compliance with regulatory requirements at
state levels, systems ideally should operate alongside the firm's global
Enterprise Resource Planning, and be recognized as an essential component of
such. This requires the application and integration of fundamental safety
modules, including: Inspection and Audit; Incident Management; Document
Management; Training & Personnel Management; and Corrective Action.
OHSAS lead auditor courses
OHSAS lead auditor courses
Finally, to
ensure both effective risk management and comprehensive compliance, while
retaining a global presence, a firm's EH&S systems should be designed
"from the ground up", with input from relevant line-managers to
ensure cohesive and widely-accepted application, as well as comprehensive
integration with existing systems. Flexibility and accessibility is also
essential, to ensure effective enterprise-wide reporting by key personnel.
IRCA approved lead auditor courses
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