ESOHCAMP begins: week-long assessment of environmental, safety and occupational health compliance Published July 30, 2008 3rd Civil Engineer Squadron ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- Beginning Aug. 11, more than 20 assessors from Team Elmendorf will comb the base to ensure compliance with all environmental, safety and occupational health regulations and laws. It's all part of the base's internal Environmental, Safety, and Occupational Health Compliance Assessment Management Program, or as it's commonly referred to, ESOHCAMP, scheduled Aug. 11-15. The base self-assessment is designed to help commanders assess the status of their programs and find solutions to problems discovered during the assessment. "We all have a responsibility to the nation to be good stewards of the environment and to ensure our operations remain compliant with environmental laws," said Danny Barnett, 3rd Wing Base Civil Engineer. "One of the ways we validate our performance, and seek areas of improvement for the future, is through the ESOHCAMP." A team of military and civilian environmental experts has been assembled from various units to visit shops all over Elmendorf. "Assessors will be checking units for both good and bad practices in safety and occupational health practices, as well as the environmental protocols such as hazardous waste and material handling," said Jon Scudder, 3rd CES ESOHCAMP team coordinator. "Hazardous material and waste management programs received the majority of the negative environmental findings during the last external ESOHCAMP in 2007," said Mr. Scudder. He added that the team will be looking hard at these areas, which will include contractor ESOH programs as well as military shops. He said the easiest way to exceed the environmental requirements of the ESOHCAMP is to refer to 3rd Wing Operations Plan 19-3, Environmental Management found on Topcover. "All the requirements for managing these programs are outlined in the checklists in Appendix B of the plan," said Mr. Scudder. If a shop receives a negative finding during the assessment, the shop supervisor will be required to submit a management action plan. This is a detailed description of the work that will be done to fix the problem and close the finding. The 3 CES environmental flight will then use the data to look at the big picture and try to identify trends and prevent bad practices on base. Besides helping to ensure the base is in compliance with federal laws, the annual ESOHCAMP assessment also prepares the base for recurring assessments by Pacific Air Forces. The next PACAF visit is scheduled for June 15-23, 2009. For last-minute ESOHCAMP help, call Mr. Scudder at 552-9677.