7.4 Communications with Regulatory Agencies

Effective communication with regulatory agencies is a critical component of implementing the EHS-MS. The Management System is designed to accommodate and facilitate two-way communications between MIT EHS personnel and local, state, and federal regulatory authorities. Open and clear channels of communication are important to convey information on compliance-related issues, good practices, and regulatory questions and interpretations.

Because timely and effective communication with regulators is crucial for effective EHS performance, standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been developed and documented to guide the MIT community during these activities and described in Section 3.9, Establishing and Updating Targets, Objectives, and Action Plans. The SOPs aim to clarify roles and responsibilities, and thresholds for contacting regulatory authorities. In addition, to enhance the effectiveness of regulators contacting MIT personnel, SOPs have been developed to ensure that regulators who call on MIT are quickly and efficiently routed to the appropriate personnel or resources. More detailed information on managing communications with regulators can be found in EHS Communications to External Parties SOP.