AM-10-102 Corporate Oversight of EHS Performance

Description:

High profile incidents, such as the 2008 dust explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Savannah, Georgia that killed 14 and injured 38 people or the 2005 explosion at the BP Texas City refinery that killed 15 and injured over 170 people, underscore the importance of corporate oversight of environmental, health and safety (“EHS”) issues and the need for companies to evaluate their EHS culture as part of their periodic reviews of EHS compliance programs and other management systems. The increasing frequency of criminal worker endangerment investigations in the aftermath of major incidents makes regular, pre-incident reviews of EHS management systems and culture even more important. This paper discusses techniques for assessing EHS performance with special emphasis on the importance of evaluating EHS culture.