Improperly managing environment, health and safety risk can be a costly mistake for environmental managers — environmental compliance alone cost companies $13.7 billion in 2016.
To manage a successful EHS program, it’s important to understand what EHS risk is as well as what it isn’t, according to an Antea Group blog, which highlights common myths about EHS risk with tips on how to tackle these challenges.
One common myth is that compliance equals prevention, which senior consultant Mark Ciriello writes is not the case. In the blog he suggests developing a tailored EHS checklist to help EHS and facility managers keep compliance priorities at the forefront.
A second myth is that “low EHS risk” means “no risk.” Ciriello says it is tempting to assume that incidents won’t happen at lower-risk facilities such as offices, labs, data centers, warehouses or retail stores. He offers the following tip for overcoming this myth:
Make sure your EHS program is tailored to the unique needs of your facility to ensure employee safety and productivity. When your EHS program is designed to meet employee and customer expectations, it can also help protect your brand’s reputation.
In other efforts to help companies better manage EHS risk and ensure compliance, in late December ASTM International has revised its guide for disclosure of environmental liabilities, called E2173.
Originally approved in 2001, the guide aims to help companies understand their environmental liabilities, improve the effectiveness of their efforts to reduce these liabilities, and prepare their environmental liability disclosures that accompany financial statements.