Assessment garners snapshot of base’s health Published April 3, 2012 By Staff Sgt. Daryl Knee 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany -- A base-level environmental and safety audit takes place here April 16-20. The Environmental, Safety and Occupational Health Compliance Assessment Management Program is an assessment of a base's policies, directives and successes in managing issues that could adversely affect the environment or the health and safety of its people. The entire process includes three tiers. The first tier determines if an installation is abiding by local and Air Force regulations in regards to environment and occupation safety. The second tier is a base self-inspection held once per year. The third tier is the actual four-day ESOHCAMP. "The main point of the assessment is to make sure we're being good stewards of the environment and taking care of our people," said Col. (Dr.) Blake Edinger, 52nd Dental Squadron commander and ESOHCAMP self-inspection team chairman. "This is more than your average assessment -- it's about us doing the right thing to protect our resources." The ESOHCAMP is not an inspection; rather, it's a way for the inspectors to garner a snapshot of the base's overall health, said Doris Sims, 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron ESOHCAMP coordinator. During the assessment, 15 inspectors from U.S. Air Forces in Europe will review Spangdahlem's 13 environmental and nine occupational programs. These programs affect all base members. "It could be the shop or program manager's primary duty, but it really is down to everyone's effort," she said. For example, one of the assessment areas is the trash and recycle bins, she continued. The lids of the dumpsters should remain closed at all times. The program managers normally ensure this happens, but it only takes one person throwing away trash to lapse in their environmental duties to leave a lid open. Spangdahlem is no longer in compliance with environmental standards when that happens. It may seem like leaving a dumpster lid open is a minimal problem, Edinger said. But he cautioned the base community to think of the far-reaching effects of every environmental lapse. When it rains, the water can soak into the garbage, he explained. Rainwater can absorb harmful or hazardous chemicals from the trash and then leak out onto the ground. There, it will follow the water flow into the drainage system of the base, eventually working its way into water depositories. The base has hundreds of waste containers, and it only takes one to transfer waste into the environment. That is only one of the many concerns addressed in the four-day assessment. "But this isn't something that you just do at work," he said of being environmentally safe year round. "This transcends what you do in the workplace. These are rules to live by, so we can preserve the future of the world for our [children.]" Edinger and Sims advocate five things all base members can do to become more environmentally minded: - Turn the lights off when leaving a room. - Set the thermostat to a moderate temperature, especially during time away from workcenters. - Sort trash and recycle properly. - Close lids on base dumpsters. - Complete the Environmental Management System General Awareness Training on the Air Force's Advanced Distributed Learning Service, which provides an overview of environmental concerns. "As Airmen, we have an obligation to be environmentally friendly," Edinger said. "It falls in line with our Air Force core values of integrity, service and excellence. Environmental and personal safety are huge programs, and [they're] everyone's responsibility."