Skip to main content

Helping Businesses Pass Waste-Related EPA Inspections

At Enviro Care, we’re proud to be your reliable, go-to outlet when it comes to environmental services and hazardous waste disposal services. We can help with everything from collection and transportation to the cleaning of various tanks and other excavation services, with solutions that public safety agencies are experienced with and know they can trust.

In addition to these areas, we can also provide consulting in the realm of waste compliance. One of the primary formats here is an EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) inspection, which will ensure that all regulations and health standards are being followed. Our pros are happy to assist you with all the areas you’ll need to have in order for these inspections, making sure you’re both compliant and environmentally friendly. Here are a few of the key points you should consider before an inspection as any laboratory or company that deals with hazardous waste.

Emergency Contact Information

It may sound unusual, but often one of the first things an EPA inspector asks about when visiting your facility is whether emergency contact information has been recently updated and is current. Safety and the ability to manage emergencies is a huge priority for the EPA here, and another area that will be asked of you is testing the primary and secondary methods of acquiring an MSDS if an emergency does take place.

For instance, many facilities will acquire an MSDS on the internet these days. But you have to be sure you have an alternative method available here, such as calling the emergency hotline, in case some incident prevents this online format from being available when an emergency takes place.

Facility Maintenance and Records

A few basic points to think about in terms of your facility’s maintenance and training records for staff:

  • It’s likely that at least some of your staff will be interviewed by the inspector, with questions directed toward waste management areas, safety procedures, and any relevant chemical compatibility issues in the way you store your products.
  • No unusable, out-of-date or excessive amounts of chemicals should ever be stored in the lab, and this will raise a red flag to inspectors if found. These are viewed as negative lab practices and will not reflect well on your report.
  • All lab training records and SOPs should be made readily available.

Main Accumulation Area and Inspection Log

  • In the main accumulation area (MAA), proper maintenance is vital. This is an area that requires weekly internal inspections, and this plus all related areas of the MAA will be heavily scrutinized by the EPA inspector. The space should be clean and organized, with emergency contact info posted prominently and a phone nearby in case of emergencies.
  • Weekly logs for internal inspections should go back at least three full years, with no gaps whatsoever. Holiday and weekend schedules should be noted.

For more help with EPA inspections for your business, or to learn about any of our environmental services or emergency response offerings, speak to the pros at Enviro Care today.