EHS Management System Gap Analysis
Is your organization meeting the environmental, health, and safety (EHS) standards you’re striving for through your EHS program?
Uncover and correct substandard areas through gap analysis to optimize performance
Is your organization meeting the environmental, health, and safety (EHS) standards you’re striving for? Using a gap analysis template can help structure this assessment and ensure all critical areas are reviewed. Whether ISO standards, industry best practices, regulatory requirements, your own internal benchmarks, or a combination, this systematic assessment of your management system will pinpoint gaps or weaknesses and help you prioritize improvement.
Be Confident That EHS Practices and Safety Management System Are Aligned With Business Goals
While your chosen EHS standards document what to achieve, the how may be less clear, and your actual practices may not be in sync with ideals. To reveal those gaps, DEKRA experts review your management system(s) in detail to determine how well it aligns with your expectations and how well it fits your business. This includes assessing such elements as policies, procedures, training, risk management, incident reporting, and communication.
By looking at what you say you want to do, and how that is actually being done, we provide an expert independent assessment of where gaps may exist and explain how to close them efficiently. DEKRA consultants partner with your teams to assist in closing gaps and sustaining EHS standards as your business evolves. Through proven tools and years of expertise, we can also recommend alternative systems and approaches that may be better suited to your needs and goals.
The outcome is a holistic view of your organization’s performance and what improvement actions to take to enhance culture, minimize risks, and operate within your desired EHS performance parameters. Organizations may undertake a compliance assessment proactively for fact-finding reasons or as a pressure test to see if internal perspectives align with independent analyses. A compliance assessment may also be conducted in response to a regulatory inspection, a corporate audit, a merger or divestiture, or changes in production, products, or services. Assessments can also be used as a mock preparatory audit.
Where to Start
A philosophy of continuous improvement is key for all management systems, including EHS. In that spirit, risk assessments can create a burst of improvement opportunities.
Whether you are looking to implement a safety management system, update or optimize your current system, follow an established framework (ISO or another), or better understand EHS strengths and gaps, you can jump-start your efforts by considering:
- What safety management system standards or frameworks you are using or aiming to implement, including a proactive approach and seamlessly integrating management systems where more than one exists.
- Your organization’s primary objectives (both internal and external) in implementing the management system. Does the scope (coverage of operations, processes, units, etc.) of the systems today meet or exceed those purposes? Is this acceptable?
- Are existing processes, documentation, or controls adequate and effective today? Would they be effective if business conditions change?
Let us help you ensure that the processes you expect to make your workplace safer are in place and serving their purpose — allowing each employee to go home healthy and injury-free each day, protecting the community, and supporting you in serving your customers.