Auditing is a difficult subject—the term rarely conjures pleasant thoughts, and it’s often a dreaded event for the auditee. For the EHS department, it is a complex endeavor, one that EHS professionals often don’t feel they fully have a handle on as they’re presented with issues of program validity and reliability. For internal audit programs in large companies, scheduling can be a nightmare, with auditors swamped by primary-non-audit duties. While EHS departments do complete their audits and generate reports for the C-Suite, Board of Directors, and External Third Parties, the EHS audit programs I’ve observed often miss the mark.
Some of the recent EHS audit program challenges I’ve observed include: (1) integrating EHS management system audits with existing compliance audits; (2) developing procedures to close the gap between EHS program/system upgrades and the audit tools measuring them; (3) training auditors how to audit the EHS management system; (4) identifying leading indicators that can shorten the audit process or be used in site/plant self-assessment activities. Read More