Initial Safety Assessments for Auto Dealers: Here's Where to Start

When building an effective EHS program, you need to start with a clear understanding of where you are before determining where you need to go. That’s where initial assessments come in – they lay the essential groundwork for your entire EHS program.

It’s unreasonable to think you can establish a safety team and immediately have everything figured out perfectly. You need to know exactly what you’re working with through comprehensive initial assessments to create a realistic implementation roadmap for your dealership.

Risk Assessment & Prioritization

A thorough initial assessment helps your safety team identify and categorize risks across your operation. During this process, we evaluate:

High-risk areas requiring immediate attention
Low-risk concerns that need monitoring
“Low-hanging fruit” that can be quickly addressed
Areas requiring significant capital investment

For example, during an initial assessment, we might uncover that your facility has single-wall tanks that need to be upgraded to double-wall containment or require a berm. This type of finding needs to be factored into your planning – both for long-term upgrades and immediate stop-gap measures to prevent catastrophic spills.

4 Key Areas to Assess

When conducting initial assessments, we focus on several crucial areas:

Regulatory Compliance

First, we determine which OSHA and EPA standards apply to your specific operation based on your industry and the types of work performed. This helps identify any gaps in your current compliance status.

Training Needs

After determining what programs apply, start working on a training matrix. Define who needs to be trained on what and how you will administer that training.

Critical Programs

As part of your initial assessment evaluate whether you have adequate programs in place for:

Responding to injuries and near misses
Responding to emergencies
Communicating chemical hazards to employees
Identifying and addressing workplace hazards
Proper signage and hazard notifications

Equipment & Machinery

Another critical component is reviewing all machinery and equipment in your shop. This can include :

Vehicle lifts
Tire equipment
Air compressors
Jacks, stands, and other supplemental tools

Then verify that all equipment is on appropriate inspection schedules to ensure the safety of end users. These inspections are crucial for preventing accidents and maintaining compliance. Ask your teams, do we have the right tools for the job?

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Building Your Framework for Action

The results of these initial assessments provide the framework for how your safety team will respond to identified issues. They help you:

Prioritize immediate concerns
Develop realistic implementation timelines
Establish necessary stop-gap measures
Create actionable plans for long-term improvements

Remember, you can’t improve what you haven’t measured. Initial assessments give you the baseline measurements needed to build an effective, compliant safety program that protects both your employees and your business.

Complete Dealership Compliance from KPA

Keep your dealership safe from environmental factors that impact your workers’ and customers’ safety. KPA helps auto dealers maintain cultures of safety, streamline operations, and manage risk through a robust set of tools that includes a combination of consulting, training, and regulatory content.

Next Week, Let’s Look at Written Programs and Policies

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