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Environmental Health & Safety

Criterion’s field staff provides professional Environmental Health and Safety services, including Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs). We ensure your site is compliant with environmental standards and requirements by interpreting and implementing federal, state, and local environmental regulations, including NESHAP, RCRA, CERCLA, TSCA, and the Clean Air and Water Acts.
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Certification

Certified Industrial Hygienists (CIH) – CIH-CP 12678 and CIH-CP 12923

Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs)

Our Environmental Site Assessments provide you with a thorough understanding of a site’s environmental condition, history, and potential liabilities.

Our services include:

  • Technical Research and Report Writing: We conduct detailed research to uncover the history of operations and ownership at potentially or known contaminated sites. Our reports are clear, concise, and adhere to ASTM Standards for both Phase I and Phase II ESAs, providing proof of your due diligence.

  • Field Oversight and Cleanup Support: We offer hands-on oversight at contaminated sites, managing administrative records, conducting field assessments, and providing subject-matter expertise throughout the cleanup process.

Phase I ESA

A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is a non-invasive review of a commercial or industrial property to identify recognized environmental conditions, commonly called RECs. Our Phase I Environmental Site Assessment identifies potential environmental contamination risks by reviewing historical records, site usage, and conducting visual inspections. This assessment helps determine whether further investigation is needed.

Phase II ESA:

If Phase I findings suggest potential contamination, Phase II involves a more detailed investigation, including sampling and laboratory analysis of soil, groundwater, and surface water to assess the extent of contamination.

Additional Environmental Field Services

Criterion Labs offers a full range of environmental field services to support your environmental management needs:

  • Environmental Education and Training: We provide training programs to enhance your understanding of environmental regulations and best practices.

  • Environmental Field Sampling and Analysis: Our team conducts comprehensive sampling and analysis of petroleum and hazardous waste, groundwater, surface water, and soil.

  • Environmental Sampling and Monitoring: We offer ongoing monitoring services to track environmental conditions and ensure compliance with regulations.

Occupational Health and Safety

Our expertise extends to occupational health and safety, where we develop and implement safety programs. We serve as a valuable resource for managing safety programs and ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. Our services include:

  • Safety Audits: We conduct audits of facilities, work sites, equipment, and safety practices.

  • Safety Documentation and Training: We assist with safety documentation and provide both remote and on-site training as needed.

Examples of Safety and Environmental Services:

  • Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plans: Development and implementation of plans to prevent and manage spills.

  • Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act: Tier I/Tier II and Title III inventory and reporting.

  • Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Plans: Strategies for managing hazardous materials and waste.

  • Risk Management Plans: Including plans for substances like chlorine or ammonia.

  • Environmental Compliance Records Management: Maintaining and managing records related to environmental compliance.

  • Environmental Management System (EMS): Implementation of ISO 14001 standards. 

  • Administrative Records and Database Solutions: Developing solutions for managing administrative records.

  • OSHA Compliance: Ensuring adherence to OSHA 29 CFR 1910 and 29 CFR 1926 standards and developing safety manuals and plans.

Criterion’s Environmental Health & Safety services are supported by Certified Industrial Hygienists, including CIH-CP 12678 and CIH-CP 12923.

FAQ

What is the difference between a routine safety inspection and a comprehensive EHS audit?

The difference lies in the depth of regulatory liability and programmatic scope:

  • Routine Safety Inspection: A basic, localized visual walk-through designed to catch active, immediate physical safety violations (like blocked fire exits or missing machine guards).
  • Comprehensive EHS Audit: A deep, systematic review of your entire organizational compliance framework. Criterion’s credentialed consultants evaluate physical hazards, verify documentation logs (such as OSHA 300 logs), check EPA universal waste disposal manifests, and audit hazardous communication programs to ensure total alignment with municipal, state, and federal laws.

Universal Waste is a specific category of widely generated hazardous waste materials that are subject to streamlined EPA management regulations but still carry severe fines if discarded in standard commercial trash. Criterion Labs helps facilities audit, catalog, and manage disposal frameworks for:

  • Mercury-Containing Equipment: Fluorescent light tubes, high-intensity discharge lamps, and older commercial thermostats.
  • Electronic Waste & PCBs: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found in older electrical ballasts, transformer oils, and outdated circuitry.
  • Refrigerants: Freon and specialized cooling agents requiring certified recovery tracking.

Yes. Under OSHA general industry and construction mandates, generic “templated” safety manuals are legally insufficient and frequently trigger non-compliance fines.

Criterion’s EHS professionals author, implement, and track customized, site-specific safety programs, including:

  • Respiratory Protection Programs: Writing formal oversight guidelines and conducting mandatory on-site OSHA respirator fit-testing for workers.
  • Hazard Communication (HazCom): Mapping and indexing Safety Data Sheets (SDS) and building compliant chemical labeling strategies.
  • Lockout/Tagout (LOTO): Engineering energy-control procedures to protect employees servicing heavy industrial machinery.

During commercial real estate acquisitions or massive facility redevelopments, Criterion acts as your primary environmental due diligence partner. We provide comprehensive pre-construction environmental site assessments:

  • Hazardous Material Pre-Demolition Surveys: Cataloging all structural
  • Liabilities- from universal wastes to hidden asbestos and lead loops – before construction crews break ground.
  • Fungal & Moisture Remediation Work Plans: If a building has sat vacant or suffered a historical moisture event, we author highly specific, legally defensible remediation protocols that third-party contractors must execute to guarantee a clean, healthy building handover.