4.19.2010
With roots in regulatory compliance, it is no wonder that the internal view for EHS professionals is not always rosy. At times even being called or thought of as a cop. There are numerous evolving concepts that impact EHS effectiveness well beyond regulatory compliance. Some of these include the use of EHS management systems and six-sigma. Another area is how EHS audits are conducted and findings used. Still another is the role EHS professionals can play when their context (you can also say “mental models”) shift from one that is compliance-based (cop-on-the-beat) to one of advising and coaching.
A piece to this shift is accountability. In an advising/coaching role, EHS accountability is shared in partnership. EHS management systems help provide a framework for partnerships to flourish.
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Posted By Charles Redinger | in Emerging Issues, Innovation, Personal Mastery, Strategic Thinking & Planning | Tags: Art of Inquiry, Coaching, Corporate Coaching, Dialogue, EHS Accountability, EHS Audit, EHS Coach, EHS Management System, EHSMS, EPA Compliance, Mental Models, OSHA Compliance, Partnership, Six-sigma | No Comments »
4.19.2010
Organizational culture is complex and according to many experts, not well understood. EHS professionals often think about culture in terms of a “safety culture.” While safety is clearly important, the topic of culture is all-encompassing.
An area that I continue to explore is how can EHS departments and their professionals impact overall organizational culture? Said another way, how can you build and leverage your EHS culture?
Professor Ed Schein of MIT is regarded as an organizational culture pioneer. I recently heard him speak. The title of the lecture was “From Managing Organizational Culture to Leading Multicultural Teams.” He shared how his thoughts on organizational culture have evolved over the past several decades and discussed some of the material in the soon to be released 4th edition of his landmark book, “Organizational Culture and Leadership”.
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Posted By Charles Redinger | in Emerging Issues, High Performance Teams, Innovation, Strategic Thinking & Planning | Tags: EHS Culture, EHS Leadership, EHS Management System, EHSMS, ISO 14001, leadership, Learning Organization, Organizational Culture, Safety Culture, Systems Thinking | No Comments »
3.26.2010
Auditing is a tough subject. The term rarely conjures pleasant thoughts. It’s often a dreaded event for the auditee. For the EHS department, it is a complex endeavor that the EHS professionals often don’t feel they fully have a handle on, as issues of program validity and reliability swirl around. With internal audit programs in large companies, scheduling can be a nightmare with auditors swamped by primary-non-audit duties. While the audit job gets done and reports are generated for the C-Suite, Board of Directors and External Third Parties, the EHS audit programs I’ve observed often miss the mark that the EHS department want to hit.
Some of the recent EHS audit program challenges I’ve observed are 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, and, 4) identifying leading indicators that can hopefully shorten the audit process or be used in site/plant self-assessment activities. Read More
Posted By Charles Redinger | in Auditing & Metrics, Corporate Social Responsibility, ISO News, Risk Management, Sustainability | Tags: Auditor Training, CSR, EHS Audit Program, EHSMS, ISO 14001, ISO 31000, OHSAS 18001, Sustainability, Systems Thinking | No Comments »
