Regular internal environmental assessments are recommended for most industrial facilities and in some cases required. Usually conducted annually or more often, these reviews of a facility’s compliance with air, water and waste permit requirements help to identify problems in advance of an official regulatory agency or corporate assessment. At Cornerstone, our environmental experts provide this service to our clients. When the shutdowns, slowdowns, and visitor/contractor restrictions due to COVID-19 were put in place at client sites, some scheduled assessments were postponed or cancelled. As our clients are now reopening, our staff has been working to complete makeup assessments for them, either in-person or virtually. Last week, Andrea Swanson-Loop conducted her first virtual assessment at a manufacturing facility in Michigan. Virtual Assessment in Michigan “They have their corporate ISO audit next month,” Swanson-Loop said. “We had postponed their annual air permit assessment a few months ago due to Covid. We had been planning to do this makeup review in person, but Michigan has put more restrictions in place, so we made it virtual.” Swanson-Loop said that she used Microsoft Teams to share a screen with the Plant Manager while they reviewed the plan documents. Then the client carried an iPad around the facility as they chatted discussing and reviewing waste storage tanks and accumulation areas, air emission units, and changes with facility operations. “I have worked with this facility for several years.” said Swanson-Loop. “That’s really what made it possible for this process to be effective. I already knew every nook and cranny of the operations and their air emissions, so seeing it virtually was not confusing. Both the client and I thought the visit went extremely well.” Technology Upgrades Cornerstone’s Information Technology Director, Tom Walsh, is exploring many ways to automate this virtual assessment process.  He is reviewing how to use technology such as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, 360-degree cameras, and state-of-the-art software to make the process even better in the future.  By combining our staff’s expertise with the latest technology, he expects to make virtual assessments even more efficient for us and our customers. “For example, we just purchased a 360-degree camera,” Walsh said. “With it, our assessor will have the option to send the camera to our clients and combine it with a tablet and communication software to get a full 3D review of each part of the facility while having a live discussion with the EHS Manager.” In addition, with the new camera, Cornerstone will have the ability to create a virtual, 3D map of our clients’ buildings and equipment to keep on record. This would be useful in online assessments to highlight any changes since the map was originally created.