The USC Department of Environmental Health and Safety has received another favorable review of its Environmental Management System (EMS). The review came in a report describing the system as "well organized with excellent objectives."

The management system provides guidelines for the University's adherence to an international set of standards for monitoring USC's environmental aspects and impacts, such as hazardous waste and pollution and prevention measures.

American Quality Assessors (AQA), an international company that acts as a third-party auditor for the International Standards Organization in reviewing its quality standards, conducts the review and recertification. AQA's Robert Danhauser said the state of USC's system warranted special thanks to Environmental Health and Safety staff members Brian Hann, Allen Boyd, Buddy Harley, and Tom Syfert "for their continual support of this process."

Syfert, director of environmental health and safety, said the system has seen continual improvement over the last few years.

"We've added a lot of objectives and targets from the University into the system and it's really coming together," he said. "We were the second university in the nation to get an EMS and were the first to have one which wasn't mandated. Our system was voluntary, and has continued to improve each time we've been reviewed twice a year. We've done really well as far as organizing our overall program and it's a great system."

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