EMS Primer - Gap Analyses

Before a facility can fully implement an EMS, it should conduct a self-assessment, program inventory, or "gap analysis" to evaluate its current environmental program, or in most cases, programs. A program inventory is intended to evaluate what is present at a facility, not what is missing (the "gap"). Environmental program inventories can help an installation learn what existing programs and activities can serve as the best foundation for improved environmental performance for the entire organization. Many federal facilities will find that they are already performing many of the EMS elements, and they must only "fill in the gaps" between what they are already doing and what needs to be done for their site-specific EMS. There will be no need to build an environmental program from scratch. The primary purpose of an EMS is to bind together existing programs and activities so that efficiency, effectiveness, performance and cost-effectiveness for the entire facility can be improved. Building on existing programs becomes even more important when agencies are faced with diminishing resources and being asked to "do more with less."

A gap analysis is designed to answer the following questions:

How well are the organization and its environmental programs performing?
What standards of environmental performance does the organization hope to achieve?
What are the gaps between objectives and performance?
What existing programs and activities can serve as the best foundation for improved environmental performance?

Program inventories can be done at any time during the EMS Implementation Process, and they can be done as often as deemed necessary by the EMS Manager or the EMS Team. The entire EMS Implementation Process is installation-specific, and gap analyses are part of that process. The timing of, and the need for multiple analyses, is dependent upon the needs of the installation. A well-planned and executed gap analysis is a useful tool that provides critical information about the status of EMS implementation and can be used to highlight progress and successes throughout the process.

Once an EMS is implemented, many facilities are likely to eventually realize a high return on their EMS investment through an improved "risk profile" that reduces the costs associated with regulatory compliance, health and safety, incident response, and cleanup of contaminated sites. Nonmonetary benefits, such as improved public opinion and employee satisfaction, can also be achieved.