ESOHCAMP assessment begins Monday

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Robert Hazelett
  • 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
The Environment a l Safety and Occupational Health Compliance Assessment Management Program will conduct a base-wide assessment of Whiteman's compliance in 26 protocol areas including safety, occupational health and environmental regulations Monday through Friday.

Under the new ESOHCAMP format, Air Combat Command Headquarters will send 11 qualified and knowledgeable personnel with diverse backgrounds of expertise to assess all squadrons and tenant units on base.

The assessors will assist the base in identifying, tracking and acquiring command funds to correct potential problem areas and regulatory sensitive issues.

"ESOHCAMP used to be a week long, very thorough inspection of 14 environmental protocols, which was designed to measure the health of the installation's environmental programs," said Glenn Golson, 509th Civil Engineer Squadron Environmental flight chief, who said six months notice was given and hours of preparation went into getting ready for the inspection.

The entire ESOHCAMP process was overhauled with the intent of not only making the assessment more productive, but making it more cost effective, Mr. Golson said. "It is now conducted as a no-notice inspection to more closely resemble an actual regulatory inspection."

Mr. Golson said the goal is achieving sustained compliance. "Through root cause analysis, we should be able to go back in the process and ask questions until we identify tangible items that can be fixed," he said. The new ESOHCAMP process will focus on the problems regulators will target.

The last ESOHCAMP was held November 2003. Whiteman moved up five slots in the ACC base rankings from the previous ESOHCAMP.

The most significant change is the effort to investigate and eliminate the root cause of the findings. This is designed to cut down on repeat findings and promote sustained compliance. Whiteman is looking forward to being the first Base to participate in this new format and is anticipating doing very well.

"Whiteman is the first base to be assessed under the new ESOHCAMP format, and we're looking forward to it," Mr. Golson said. "Just like the B-2 is the cutting edge of the weapons system, we are on the leading edge of the new ESOHCAMP assessments."

ESOHCAMP covers the assessment of the solid waste, air emissions, hazardous materials, hazardous waste, water quality, wastewater, storage tanks and POL management programs.

For more information on how to prepare yourself or your shop for the assessment, contact the 509th CES Environmental flight at 687-6347.