The Green Tie – The Official Blog of NAEM

EHS Auditing In Trying Times

Frank Brandauer

After attending The Auditing Roundtable’s Spring Meeting I was struck by just how far EHS Auditing has come for something that effectively did not exist 25 years ago.

While often viewed as just a compliance tool, I believe that its true capabilities are often misunderstood and undervalued. Audits, like nothing else can actually drive change, deliver training, demonstrate organizational commitment, administer internal consequences, provide Board of Director level exposure and finally, improve compliance.

So how are we doing, what is the state of EHS Audit Programs today? To me it is not so clear, here are some of the view points that I heard being discussed;

• Most programs are doing remarkably well given the impacts of recent cost cutting efforts.
• Many programs have been slowing falling behind given acquisition growth over the last decade and recent budget cuts.
• Only a small number of companies still have a robust EHS Audit function and those are limited to organizations that have experienced compliance driven consent orders or Board mandated compliance programs.
• With the rise of EHS Management Systems and related System Audits, the actual need for Compliance Audits has been reduced.

Initially, auditing emerged in reaction to the fear of enforcement actions. Have we lost this driver given changes in enforcement in the U.S. and the lack of enforcement in developing countries? Or will our current financial problems bring enforcement back into popularity?

How robust and effective is your Audit program? Given the maturity of many audit programs and the current economic and regulatory situation, is it a time for a change?

May 26, 2009 at 1:30 pm 9 comments