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NEWS | March 31, 2021

Safety, environmental programs earn high audit scores

By Ms. Erica Carrescia

Earlier this year, Tobyhanna Army Depot’s safety and environmental programs excelled at separate International Organization for Standardization (ISO) audits.

Inspectors performed an ISO 14001 recertification audit for the Environmental Branch and an ISO 45001 surveillance audit for the Safety and Occupational Health Office’s safety management system. Tobyhanna was the first organization within the Department of Defense to obtain the ISO 45001 accreditation in 2019.

ISO recertification audits are conducted every three years and surveillance audits are done annually at a minimum. Surveillance audits ensure systems are in place and the organization is in compliance with standards.

The environmental team is assigned to the USA Garrison-Tobyhanna’s Risk Management Division, while the safety office reports directly to the depot’s office of the commander.

“Surveillance audits help ensure the organization is maintaining conformance to ISO standards and prepare for the recertification audit, which is typically twice the length of a surveillance audit.” said Noah Stagliano, safety and occupational health manager at Tobyhanna.

The depot’s environmental management system was recertified ISO 14001 compliant a few weeks ago. During the recertification audit, inspectors highlighted the installation’s management support and recycling program.

“The more items we can recycle, the less impact we have on the environment,” said Paula Mesaris, U.S. Army Garrison-Tobyhanna’s Environmental Branch chief. “Inspectors also provided us with several opportunities for improvement, including making our corrective action program more robust.”

Mesaris praised the environmental team for their hard work and innovative ideas to reduce waste, conserve energy and eliminate potential environmental pollutants. Based on the auditors recommendations for improvement Team Tobyhanna will be implementing changes to some processes. Environmental programs are directly aligned with the depot’s long-range strategic plan, Toby 2028, specifically the Invest in Our People line of effort.

“This team is committed to making the environmental management system even stronger and more beneficial to the workforce,” she said.

Tobyhanna Army Depot, a major subordinate of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna’s corporate philosophy, dedicated workforce and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C5ISR provider of choice for all branches of the armed forces and our industry partners. Tobyhanna’s unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, post production software support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales and global field support to our joint warfighters. Tobyhanna Army Depot’s continued focus on workplace safety and environmental stewardship allowed the organization to easily pass recent external audits.