If your environmental, health and safety (EH&S) manager or compliance programs director left the company, who would take on his responsibilities? Is there anyone else in the organization who knows how to keep the company in compliance with environmental regulations? Unfortunately, many times the answer is “no”.

When an employee leaves, he takes his institutional knowledge, or the knowledge they have gained from years of experience with the company, with them. If the company is not able to remain in compliance with the myriad of regulations, potential monetary fines from environmental agencies may be in store. However, there are many ways companies can help minimize the effects of losing institutional knowledge regarding environmental compliance.

First, the company needs to identify what knowledge needs to be shared; for environmental compliance, this includes federal, state and local regulations; how to inspect the facility for compliance and what actions need to be taken to maintain compliance. The company should, then, determine who will be responsible for this information. The person, or team, chosen would be able to take on the duties and eventually train someone else, should the current EH&S manager ever leave. Lastly, the company needs to determine the best way to document and share this knowledge with others. It is especially important for companies to continually encourage knowledge sharing to avoid disorder and confusion when an employee leaves.

If the thought of doing this alone is overwhelming, another option to ensure environmental compliance, despite turnover, is to hire an outside company to assist. Not only does it relieve employees from being overwhelmed and outside their qualifications, but it is also good to have a fresh set of eyes look at the facility. August Mack’s compliance assurance program (eCAP^®) is a system designed to do this. This program eliminates the loss of institutional knowledge and allows companies the ability to focus on their bottom line. Benefits of eCAP^® include:

• Facility inspections on a regular basis
• Organized data reports online
• Keeping up-to-date with new regulations
• No loss of institutional knowledge
• Support of environmental compliance experts on a daily basis

Regardless of how you manage your environmental programs, it is important to have a system in place in case you lose that critical person who holds much of the institutional knowledge. This is true for any area of your business, but more importantly, where it could increase potential liabilities from your non-compliance or negatively affect the environment.