Management system audits, sustainability

How and why are sustainability audits different from environmental, health and safety (EHS) audits or management system audits ... 

Boundaries or Scope. Compliance audits, management system audits, and early sustainability audits all generally measured activities based on the traditional... 

Resolving the recommendations and following-up on their effectiveness is a cornerstone of management systems. To reduce the prohahility of a repeat incident, the recommendations must he implemented and sustained. For lasting results, it is wise to audit all implemented recommendations periodically to ensure that they are continuing to achieve the intended objectives. 

Despite the similarities that sustainability audits have to compliance and EHS management systems verification processes, there are some important yet subtle distinctions to note. Those distinctions include the scope or boundaries of the assurance/verification activities, standards of practice, assurance criteria and evidence, and content of the assurance report. 

The Perstorp Group has developed its own SHE management system, based on the Swedish Safety at Work Act, ISO 14001, the EMAS, Responsible Care and the Business Charter for Sustainable Development. Since 1995 it has carried out 40 audits to prioritise actions needed to implement the SHE management system. There is a corporate objective to implement this system in all divisions by 2000. 

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