Harold Jones
General Manager
GE Aviation Lean Six Sigma & Environmental, Health and Safety

When GE Aviation considers acquiring a new business entity, our EHS team is one of the first to arrive, and one of the last to leave. GE’s EHS acquisition assessment and integration process is proactive, rigorous and extensive — a collaboration between GE business and corporate EHS that begins before the deal is signed and continues for several years after a new business is acquired.

Compliance and understanding EHS risk is very much on our minds from the first look at a proposed deal. As soon as a potential acquisition is identified, the EHS team begins researching publicly available information and analyzing any information that is available on the quality of programs, regulatory history and physical site conditions. If there are no materially concerning issues at this stage, a Memorandum of Understanding may be signed or the transaction moves to the next stage, and the EHS team broadens its scope of due diligence and begins a more detailed evaluation.

The next round of evaluation involves creating a “data room” that centralizes documents about the potential acquisition, including permits, injury logs, notices of violation, environmental assessments, chemicals used, any known remedial or litigation issues, EHS policies and process regulations. Committed to the highest EHS standards, and subject to the confidentiality of the particular deal, we conduct on-site physical assessments of regulatory compliance and underlying programs. All of the elements of due diligence are used to establish an EHS risk profile, including estimated costs to address issues, which is then folded into the overall business evaluation.

If and when a deal is finalized, we begin to tackle the highest-priority issues discovered during the pre-acquisition evaluation, while continuing in-depth compliance assessments with top business experts as well as outside consultants who perform independent reviews. The ultimate goal of these activities is to assess the state of compliance, identify defects, determine critical issues and develop and implement corrective actions as soon as possible — to keep people safe and healthy on the job, and to comply with all regulations.

In addition to addressing deficiencies, the EHS integration process kicks into full swing during the first six months after GE takes ownership. From daily pulse meetings to fast-track plant and services manager training, GE’s EHS leadership team moves quickly to define expectations. On-site action plans are created, schedules and timelines are determined, audits are conducted and needs assessments confirmed.

Once the site formally adopts and institutionalizes GE policies, tools and frameworks, the team works with acquisition employees to communicate GE’s EHS cultural expectations and the full spirit and letter of GE compliance requirements. We provide training and tools specifically designed for each employee and supplier audience, in the areas of, for example, safety, health, environment, hazardous-materials transportation and emergency response.

Critical to the acquisition process are the efforts to address unique statutes and regulations from local, county, state and national governments. Together, all of these elements define an EHS program for the long term. The new program is communicated to all stakeholders, and executed using GE Lean Six Sigma and New Product Introduction approaches.

GE is committed to 100 percent EHS compliance worldwide. Executing our world-class EHS integration processes and operational tools from beginning to end allows each new site to develop the sustainable systems required to meet the highest of expectations.