Uncover and fix compliance risks before they become problems.
Stay up to date with plans, permits, approvals, and reporting.
We manage all your environmental needs, start to finish
Easy, effective environmental training for your team.
Build your sustainability plan or EMS with expert help.
Fast, reliable environmental site assessments nationwide.
Supporting manufacturing operations with tailored environmental solutions.
Balancing owner & tenant needs with smart, risk-reducing environmental strategies.
Navigate environmental standards effortlessly, ensuring smooth supply chain operations.
Expertly serving the concrete sector with deep industry-specific environmental insights.
Ensuring environmental compliance while advancing towards sustainability goals.
Avoid costly pitfalls with comprehensive environmental due diligence for informed investments.
Learn exactly what RMA services cost, what drives those costs up or down, how we compare to others, and where to start.
Answer a few quick questions and get an instant online estimate for any of our services! Free to use and no personal info required.
Take our quick 10-question quiz to get a custom compliance report and estimated pricing based on your actual needs.
Think compliance is expensive? Use this tool to compare average RMA service prices against actual fines, straight from the regulations!
Start here! Everything you need to know about environmental compliance, explained clearly with tools, videos, and expert answers.
Timely updates, insights, and real-world guidance to help you navigate regulations, avoid fines, and stay ahead.
Get to know the RMA team, how we work, and why hundreds of businesses trust us with their compliance.
Access practical, no-fluff environmental training programs that meet your requirements and actually make sense to your team.
Written By: Doug Ruhlin | Aug 12, 2024
Time to Read 10 Minutes
Environmental audits provide tremendous benefits to businesses and industry, yet can seem to be mysterious and complicated to most. One question that's often asked is: who can do an environmental audit, or can we have someone within our own company do it?
These are great questions, since having the wrong person do your environmental audit might not deliver the results you wanted, and could in fact get you in deeper trouble than if you hadn't done the audit in the first place. The short answer? It's always best to hire a professional to conduct an environmental audit!
The longer answer? Let's jump in and discuss who can do an environmental audit, and who shouldn't!
If you've read this far, you've probably heard our commonly-used analogy between environmental auditing and getting your annual medical checkup from your doctor.
Just like getting that annual checkup, a regular environmental audit can keep you in great regulatory compliance health, safeguard your business, and allow you to sleep easy knowing that you have nothing to worry about.
Sounds like a winner, right?
One of the keys to this analogy is your doctor. Who is he or she? They're professionals, highly trained and skilled in their fields, and capable of evaluating you relative to a common set of criteria and standards (like your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and overall general good health criteria).
You go to them since you know they're experts, they can provide you with a comprehensive evaluation, and you probably don't have the kind of knowledge that they do.
Well, if you're sold on the idea that an environmental audit is like an annual medical physical, and you realize there are a lot of benefits to an environmental audit (along with some liabilities), then the inevitable question is:
If you followed my checkup analogy above, I think you can tell where we're going with this. That doctor should be an expert, should have a comprehensive understanding of what affects you, and should be familiar with your type of creature, namely a human being.
The person who conducts your environmental audit should have the same qualities: they should be an expert in the environmental field, have a comprehensive understanding of the rules and regulations that apply to you and your type of operation, and should have some degree of knowledge about your type of business or industry.
If you're sold and want a top-notch environmental auditor for your facility, reach out to us here at RMA for a quote! We'd love to explore if we're a good fit for each other.
Better yet - use our free estimate calculator below to get a ballpark idea of what an environmental audit will cost for your facility!
Got your numbers now? Good! To get a finalized REAL number for our team to complete your environmental audit, just drop your email in the end screen above and hit the button to submit. We’ll reach out, talk about your details, and get you a final number in-hand. Whether you choose to sign off from there is totally up to you!
One more thing that an environmental auditor should be is this: independent and unbiased. Ah-ha, that's where the rub with having you or your employees do it comes in!
For example, we've seen lots of situations where we'll start talking to a business owner about environmental audits, and they'll say "yeah, we've done them, I have my environmental person do them".
Okay, would that be the same environmental person who:
Isn't there a pretty clear conflict of interest here? This type of person can't be expected to be open, honest, and unbiased - it's not human nature to say "turns out I'm doing a bad job"! And what if your environmental manager only knows a certain portion of the regulations, such as being a real expert in air permitting issues, but knowing nothing about EPCRA reporting?
That's not going to work.
So you can see, choosing the wrong person for your environmental audit - whether it's a biased insider, or a less-than-expert consultant - can actually get you in more trouble than if you hadn't audited in the first place!
One way this happens is that you might get lulled into a false sense of security, thinking everything's okay, when in fact it's not. Believe me, we've seen this before. Someone comes in, knows little to nothing about some area of regulations, and leaves the facility thinking they're in great shape.
Next thing you know, along comes an inspector (or worse, a 3rd party lawsuit) who lets the poor business know (via a fine, penalty, or lawsuit) that they're actually not okay - they're in trouble.
Sure, you could possibly go after the auditor, but wouldn't you like to have avoided that in the first place by choosing the right person or firm for the job?
Wait a second, a doctor has an MD to prove they know what they're talking about, what does an environmental auditor have? Surely there must be some form of certification or license from the USEPA or the state, right?
Well, not really. There is no broad, comprehensive certification that I am aware of that "proves" that you have what it takes to be an effective environmental auditor, or know enough to do the job right. Some credentials are certainly helpful (such as being an ISO14001 Lead Auditor, or a Certified Environmental Auditor, (both of which I have), but you really have to dig deep to see how directly relevant they are to you, your business, and your environmental auditing needs.
And I hate to confuse you further, but you also need to consider - what type of environmental audit are you seeking? One that is completely comprehensive and covers "everything"? That type of audit requires a different skill set and knowledge level - probably from a team - than does an audit solely focusing on stormwater permit compliance, for instance. So, just because someone can do one type of audit, doesn't necessarily mean that they can do another type of audit.
Here at RMA, we tend to think we're pretty qualified auditors. We've conducted countless audits across a variety of industries for all kinds of different reasons. Reach out to us to see for yourself!
So, I am going to go out on a limb here and say that you probably shouldn't be doing your own audit, since it seems unlikely that whichever insider you choose will be both completely knowledgeable and completely unbiased.
Maybe that person could do audits for you down the road after you've had an initial, top-to-bottom comprehensive environmental audit, but for that first one, I'd say get an external expert (and maybe even consider legal counsel assistance that first time).
If you're going to have to select an external environmental auditor, here's some pointers on what you should look for:
So there are some thoughts on who can do your environmental audit. As I think you can tell, I'm obviously biased that you should hire an outside environmental expert like us to do your audit, at least the first time a comprehensive audit is done, when you're most likely to find the most glaring problems. If you're in that position, use some of the pointers above. After that, if you want to consider using your inside environmental personnel, then do so at your discretion.
Remember, audits are not just about finding faults; environmental audits are not about finding faults or penalizing businesses; they are about ensuring compliance, improving environmental performance, and fostering sustainable practices. By understanding the true purpose and benefits of environmental audits, businesses can approach them with confidence and see them as valuable tools for achieving long-term environmental and operational success.
Ready to get started? Connect with our seasoned consultants today for top-notch auditing services. Since 1992, we’ve been helping businesses of all sizes across diverse industries achieve compliance, boost sustainability, and foster continuous improvement. Let RMA’s expert team guide you in reaching your environmental goals. Reach out now and see how we can support your success!
Tags:
Environmental audit costs & prices are impacted by the variables at your facility. With the rise in 3rd party environmental lawsuits, and the very real threat of enforcement action at your facility...
Getting an Environmental Audit? Don't Make These 10 Mistakes! In today’s business world, staying ahead of environmental regulations isn’t just a smart move—it’s essential for long-term success. But...
Learn if & when you need an environmental audit. Environmental audits are a critical part of a company's environmental performance. But most companies still either don't do them, don't think they...
Tel: 888-RMA-0230 | Email: info@rmagreen
Copyright © Resource Management Associates