Reference no: EM133198172

Question: Write about the 'Evaluation and Auditing Standard'

At Exxon-Valdez, we strive to achieve excellence in all facets of our company. The Code of Conduct and compliance plan is mandatory for all employees and officers of the company. Upon hiring, the employee must review and sign this statement, followed by an annual review and commitment to abide by its guidelines.

Standard 1: Risk Assessment & Oversight
A critical feature for the success of Exxon-Valdez is risk-management and oversight, which we are committed to improve. It is vital that we have better supervision over our employees, particularly ones in such important roles as captains and crewmembers. We need to ensure that they are following all regulations which will keep all personnel and the environment safe. We also need to have better oversight with regards to our partners in important positions, including Alyeska, the pipeline service company in charge of oil spill cleanups in Alaska. In order to assist in improving Exxon Valdez's compliance standards, we recommend the following guidelines:

Prior to their next voyage, captains will be required to view a video presentation on risk assessment guidelines in order to help them be more aware of how to make better leadership decisions while they are commanding a ship in order to prevent risky situations.

Implement harsher penalties for ship captains breaking regulations, including an automatic termination of position if a captain breaks a set of the most important regulations, e.g drinking while on the job.

In response to the uncovering that ships were understaffed and crew members are being overworked, we recommend that an ADP digital timecard log is to be present on each station in every ship. Crew members will be required to clock in before each voyage begins and then clock in and out for each one of their shifts. This system will be connected to our corporate offices and will allow us to ensure that before each voyage, the crew members present on board are at or above the regulation amount, as well as allowing us to monitor that they do not go over their hours and get the proper rest required.

With regards to Alyeska, we have decided to implement an oversight standard in which we will request the status of Alyeska's booms and other containment equipment on a bi-weekly basis to monitor that they have the equipment they need to contain an oil spill on hand. This can help us prevent repeating the disastrous situation we've experienced.

In order to assist us in supervising these new guidelines, we are now requiring that a compliance officer be sent aboard for the duration of each voyage.