Protect Your Business with a DG/ HazMat Transportation Compliance Audit
Currie Associates specializes in global audits, covering both international and domestic dangerous goods transportation regulations. Our experienced professionals provide a comprehensive assessment to help verify that your practices align with the required standards.
What is a DG Audit?
An audit, in the context of Dangerous Goods (DG) / Hazardous Materials (HazMat) transportation compliance, serves as a methodical examination of an organization’s systems, processes, and practices to verify if they meet regulatory requirements.
The primary purpose of the audit is to identify any potential gaps or non-compliance in the organization’s handling and transportation of DG / HazMat, with a focus on preparation and readiness for an inspection by a regulatory agency.
Currie Associates audits include a detailed written report that not only identifies potential deficiencies but also provides regulatory citations and highlights best management practices for consideration. Furthermore, the comprehensive review and report offers actionable recommendations designed to help correct any compliance gaps and enhance your overall management systems, to help prepare and safeguard your operations against enforcement actions.
Key Elements of an Audit Process
The audit process aims to be more collaborative than adversarial, helping organizations identify areas of concern, review logistical issues, and attempt to avoid potential enforcement action.
Here are some key elements of the audit process.
- Regulatory Compliance Assurance: By reviewing the management systems, procedures, and practices, the audit assesses if your organization’s DG program complies with relevant regulations (specific instances of regulatory non-compliance with citations referenced by section). This includes evaluating documentation like policies, training records, closure instructions, and hazardous waste manifests.
- Non-compliance Identification: The audit identifies areas where your organization might be falling short (shipping, handling, transport), including areas you may not have considered such as the mail room, IT department, or laboratory. The goal is to find overlooked areas that might lead to compliance issues and address them proactively.
- Best Management Practices (BMPs) Sharing: The audit isn’t just about identifying weaknesses but also about highlighting strengths. The report will share BMPs that can help improve processes, provide recommendations for improvements, and confirm areas where your organization is doing well.
- Training and Documentation Evaluation: A significant portion of the audit looks at whether employees have been appropriately trained. It evaluates whether training records, shipping documentation, and other necessary documents are in place and compliant with regulations, and provides training recommendations to meet regulatory requirements.
- Gap Analysis: The audit helps identify compliance gaps that might lead to frustrated shipments, incorrect packaging, or other mishandling of DG. This also involves assessing succession planning, identifying who can step into roles if necessary. If you are considering or currently utilizing a toller or third-party service for shipping, we conduct gap analysis audits at third-party sites.
- Inspection Preparedness: The compliance review helps your organization prepare for potential regulatory inspections by identifying if you are compliant and provides strategies on handling additional scrutiny. The review process is thorough, assessing everything from policies and procedures to employee training to packaging and shipping processes.
- Confidential Report: The final audit report includes both areas of strength and areas for improvement, offering actionable recommendations for regulatory compliance.
By working with Currie Associates, the audit process is more of a partnership with your organization to strengthen your practices, identify potential risks early, and mitigate the chances of penalties or other liabilities.
Considering or currently using a Toller or third party to ship or store your products?
- We have performed gap analysis audits on third-party sites for multiple companies and provided written reports on dangerous goods transportation compliance.
Reach out today to discuss your DG/HazMat Assessment. Call us at 518-761-0668 or complete our online contact form to get started.