1. What is an EHS regulatory compliance audit?
An EHS audit involves the assessment and evaluation of your current compliance to health, safety and environmental regulations. The inspection considers the regulatory requirements applicable to your organization and highlights any discrepancies between these obligations and the reality on site. Compliance assessments should be implemented in parallel with regulatory monitoring, which defines and tracks all applicable regulatory legal texts.

2. Why should companies conduct regulatory audits?
EHS audits allow you to:

– Check the status of your EHS regulatory compliance: What areas need improvement? How can you improve your organization’s performance? Are your processes efficient and safe?

– Have a clear vision of your risks in relation to the applicable regulations and ISO standards: What regulatory requirements are not currently being followed? What environmental, health and safety risks exist in your organization?

– Take action to improve the health and safety of your teams: What corrective measures can be implemented? How can you prevent health, safety and environmental risks in the future?

– Establish a starting point to track the improved performance of your company: What is your EHS regulatory compliance rate at the start of your project? What do you need to track and improve upon to achieve your compliance goals?

3. The main components of an EHS regulatory audit

3.1. Regulatory monitoring
To set up a reliable regulatory compliance assessment procedure, your audits must be based on up-to-date regulatory information. EHS monitoring highlights all the latest regulatory requirements applicable to your organization, including local and international legislation. A comprehensive and interconnected EHS management platform allows your EHS audits module to be linked to your regulatory monitoring module, to optimize the assessment process and facilitate your risk management.

3.2. Personalized audit grids
Your EHS audit grids and checklists must be adapted to your organization, taking into consideration your scope (single or multi-site), company standards and areas of evaluation. These grids must be linked to your EHS management platform to enable data sharing and facilitate the auditing process.

3.3. Specific action plans
Once the report is completed, corrective and preventive action plans should be implemented to reduce workplace risks. The corrective action plan is essential for the regulatory compliance of your organization, while the preventive action plan helps to limit your on-site risks. Your EHS management platform should enable the creation and monitoring of these action plans, to ensure your long-term compliance.

4. Why should you use an EHS regulatory monitoring software?

There are several different types of regulatory compliance audits:

– “First party” or internal audit: offers a reference point for managing regulatory compliance and can be conducted internally by your organization in preparation for certification.
– “Second party” or external audit: performed by a third party linked to your business activity, such as a customer. It allows them to ensure your compliance during your collaboration.
– “Third party” audit: completed by an independent body capable of issuing certifications, either as an initial assessment or a certification renewal.
– Pre-audit or mock audit: conducted by an external EHS auditor in anticipation of an external regulatory compliance inspection.

The following audits are variable:
– Process audit: focuses on one or more processes in your organization, based on ISO standards and your internal documents.
– System audit: extended to your entire company.