Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) – also Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) or HES or HSE – is often used as the name of a department in corporations and government
agencies. The EHS guidelines were created by the International Finance Corporation
in 1998. Organizations based in the United States are subject to EHS regulations found in Code of Federal Regulations
, particularly 29, 40, and 49
Companies that aspire to be better environmental stewards invest in strong environmental, health and safety management, otherwise known as EHS. From an environmental standpoint, it involves creating a systematic approach to managing waste, complying with environmental regulations, or reducing the company’s carbon footprint. Successful EHS programs also include measures to address ergonomics, air quality, and other aspects of workplace safety that could affect the health and well-being of employees.
Overview
The EHS Guidelines are technical reference documents with general and industry-specific examples of Good International Industry Practice (GIIP).
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1. Environmental
- 1.1 Air Emissions and Ambient Air Quality
- 1.2 Energy Conservation
- 1.3 Wastewater and Ambient Water Quality
- 1.4 Water Conservation
- 1.5 Hazardous Materials Management
- 1.6 Waste Management
- 1.7 Noise
- 1.8 Contaminated Land and Remediation
- 1.9 releases to water
- 1.10 releases to land
- use of raw materials and natural resources
- energy emitted, heat/radiation/vibration
- waste and by products
Generally,for many manufactures factories or corporations, to comply with ISO14001 international standards to control environmental pollution. This international standard is based on the methodology known as Plan--Do-Check-Act,(PDCA).PDCA can be briefly described as follows,
-Plan,establish the objectives and processes necessary to deliver results in accordance with the organization's environmental policy.
-Do, implement the processes.
-Check, monitor and measure processes against environmental policy,objectives, targets,legal and other requirements, and report the results.
-Act, take actions to continually improve performance of the environmental management system.
2. Occupational Health and Safety
- 2.1 General Facility Design and Operation
- 2.2 Communication and Training
- 2.3 Physical Hazards
- 2.4 Chemical Hazards
- 2.5 Biological Hazards
- 2.6 Radiological Hazards
- 2.7 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- 2.8 Special Hazard Environments
- 2.9 Monitoring
3. Community Health and Safety
- 3.1 Water Quality and Availability
- 3.2 Structural Safety of Project Infrastructure
- 3.3 Life and Fire Safety (L&FS)
- 3.4 Traffic Safety
- 3.5 Transport of Hazardous Materials
- 3.6 Disease Prevention
- 3.7 Emergency Preparedness and Response
4. Construction and Decommissioning
- 4.1 Environment
- 4.2 Occupational Health and Safety
- 4.3 Community Health and Safety
HSE Management System
HSE refers to “Health, Safety and Environment”. It is another acronym for EHS. An HSE management system allows a company to manage various HSE programs in an automated way. There is a wide variety of HSE management systems, but in general there are some basic aspects of health, safety and environment that almost all HSE management systems will address.
What follows is a list of the topics addressed by most HSE management systems. To make it more relevant, we grouped the subject matters in three major categories.
Safety:
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
Physical hazards
Incidents and accidents
Health:
Industrial hygiene
Biological hazards
Chemical hazards
Psychosocial issues
Ergonomics
Environment:
Air emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide emissions
Water and wastewater management
Chemical management
Waste management, including hazardous waste
Energy management
In addition to the topics specific to each of the three main categories, the following are common to an entire HSE program:
Quality management
Regulatory compliance
Emergency responses
Preventive and corrective actions
Risk management
Training
Audits
Reporting
What is given above is not a complete list. Rather, it constitutes the minimum of a complete HSE management system. There are other features and characteristics offered by systems. In addition, HSE management systems can vary based on the type of industry that they are targeted at. For example, an HSE management system aimed at the oil and gas industry may have some differences compared to an HSE management system aimed at the retail industry.
Moreover, since there are different regulations for each country, it is important to determine whether the HSE management system is geared towards the type of markets where you are present. For example, if you are present heavily in the U.S., the EU and Japan, the HSE management system should be able to manage programs designed to achieve compliance to the environmental laws of all three jurisdictions.
