Are you sure your company can pass a safety audit? Are you looking for clarification on exactly what health and safety programs and level of training your employees need to comply with OSHA and other regulations? Get started with a Gap Analysis!
As one of the first steps in identifying your organization’s health and safety strategy, a Gap Analysis should be performed involving a comprehensive evaluation of your organizations current H&S programs and procedures to determine if they meet applicable regulations, industry standards and good practices. This evaluation will focus on how your organization is implementing its current H&S program and where improvements should be made.
The emphasis of this evaluation is to target activities and resources that will make the greatest impact in reducing accidents, injuries and losses over the next year, while identifying compliance gaps in regulatory programs. At the end of the evaluation you will then have a written report of gaps in your program and the ability to create a prioritized implementation and correction plan!
A thorough Gap Analysis will require that you start with details regarding the various types of operations conducted by your organization, such as description of products/services and functional tasks. Then, the analysis should include a complete review of all the following documentation:
- Written health and safety programs (including emergency plans)
- List of chemicals or hazardous materials used on site
- OSHA Records (OSHA 300 forms) and other injury, accident reports
- Insurance (or other) property reports or EHS inspection reports if available
The best Gap Analyses are done by an independent third party—such as EHS Consultant—who can conduct a thorough, unbiased inspection of your facility to determine whether adequate compliance procedures are being utilized in your operations. The EHS Professional should focus the inspection on health and safety compliance issues and other regulations and guidelines applicable to your type of operation—their experience in this area should be qualified before the GAP Analysis gets started. All observations from the facility inspection will then be used to develop a report of findings with a prioritized list of items and recommended corrective actions for each.
A gap analysis is an easy affordable way to identify ways to improve your company’s Health and Safety program and overall compliance. Emilcott has been providing GAP Analysis and Comprehensive EHS Auditing services for over 25 years. We have worked in all kinds of facilities, from complex R&D / manufacturing, to privately-owned, small fabricating shops. Ask about our facility EHS review services, including our S.H.A.R.P. program designed for smaller businesses.