Environmental Management System and Compliance Internal Audits

WSP USA completes combined compliance and internal ISO 14001 EMS audits for a representative sample of a multinational electronics and electrical equipment company’s 15 locations throughout the U.S., Central and South America, and Canada to support its ISO 14001 EMS program.

Through environmental compliance auditing, we determine if the facility is in compliance with federal, state and local environmental regulations as it relates to areas such as waste management; hazardous chemical inventory and release reporting; underground and aboveground storage tanks; safe drinking water; wastewater; storm water; air emissions; polychlorinated biphenyls; and emergency response plans including Emergency Action Plan (EAP), Emergency Response Plan (ERP) and Evacuation Plans.

During the internal ISO 14001 EMS audits, we verify the conformance of the facility’s EMS to the ISO 14001 (2004) environmental management standard. This is completed in conjunction with the environmental compliance audit. Relevant and available policies, documents and records are reviewed that support and describe the facility’s EMS. This may include, but is not limited to environmental policy; written EMS program manual; corporate or facility environmental policies and procedures; organizational charts; position descriptions; operation and maintenance budget information; performance metrics documentation; environmental files; emergency response plans; training requirements, documents, matrices, or records; documented environmental aspects and impacts; internal and external communication plans; EMS internal verification procedures; and procedures for identification and maintenance of relevant EMS records.

Each audit conducted by WSP includes document and record review, site visit, and interviews with company personnel responsible for development and implementation of the EMS and environmental management activities. Upon completion of the audit plan for a given period and assisting the locations with corrective actions, as applicable, we conduct review meetings with the client to assess the project completion and if any changes need to be made prior to the next audit round.

To reduce costs and improve compliance of the client’s EMS program, we proposed to conduct both internal audits concurrently and recommended a frequency to conduct the audits based on the client’s EMS program, operations conducted at each facility and the number of employees at each facility. The team also suggested modifications to make the client’s EMS program more site-specific and efficient. Implementing these recommendations resulted in less required audits conducted, more efficient site visits and site-specific audits that are more beneficial to the client.