Original Date: 02/23/1998
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Northrop Grumman has an extensive internal Environmental Inspection Program designed to ensure 100% compliance with all regulatory requirements, and reduce emissions and environmental hazards. The company’s inspection teams make regular periodic inspections of all work areas and facilities.

Northrop Grumman has an extensive internal Environmental Inspection Program designed to ensure 100% compliance with all regulatory requirements, and reduce emissions and environmental hazards. Inspection teams make regular periodic inspections of all work areas and facilities. A re-inspection is conducted ten days after every inspection to ensure that discrepancies noted on the initial inspection were corrected. These follow-up inspections are conducted even if no discrepancies were observed on the initial inspection, and serve as a double check for the company.

Northrop Grumman has five inspection teams consisting of one inspector per team. Since a small number of people must cover a large number of work areas and facilities, the company automated many aspects of the inspection process to speed up the procedure and eliminate paperwork. Inspectors complete checklists via personal workstations, and the inspection reports are then generated automatically. More time can be devoted to inspecting and correcting discrepancies rather than writing them up. The automated checklists also serve as an effective way to prompt inspectors, ensuring a thorough, complete, and consistent inspection every time. Most discrepancies are easy to correct, and are typically corrected when noted.

For 1998, Northrop Grumman set a maximum threshold goal of 0.5 for major environmental deficiencies per inspection. It is important to keep this threshold as low as possible because each deficiency represents a potential fine of $50,000 or more per deficiency per day. Since the Environmental Inspection Program as been in effect, the average number of major deficiencies per inspection has been reduced each year. This program has been highly effective in ensuring that Northrop Grumman avoids non-compliance costs, and also helps to keep the company in high regard by the regulatory enforcement personnel.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.