Page 44 - Port of Baltimore March April 2013

[42] The Port of Baltimore ■ March/April 2013 To subscribe or renew, visitwww.marylandports.com
For 19 years with the Maryland
Port Administration (MPA),
Barbara McMahon has been a
guiding force regarding safety,
environment and risk manage-
ment. She came from a safety engineering
background in the steel industry, back
when a woman with such a degree was a
rarity. Thanks to her subsequent work, she
was honored as the Port’s Woman of the
Year in 2009.
Things have changed since she came
onboard in 1994. Over that time, the world
has acknowledged the urgency of taking
environmental responsibility, and the Port
of Baltimore has become a leader in it.
McMahon manages a team working on
a multitude of safety and environmental
issues. The team is the Safety, Environment
& Risk Management (SERM) department
staff, which meets regularly to discuss
current issues and develop corrective
actions.
“We are also proactive, meaning we look
for areas of improvement,” McMahon said.
“We set objectives and targets for safety
and environmental impacts that we want
to improve.”
The SERM department continues to
maintain its Environmental Management
System (EMS), which is ISO 14001:2004
certified. This requires ongoing review of
the EMS and MPA’s environmental impacts
to ensure compliance. The reviews are
conducted by internal auditors, as well as
an external auditor.
“Some of our major environmental
initiatives include air emission reduction
strategies, improving MPA’s recycling rates,
and TMDL [Total Maximum Daily Load]
and stormwater compliance planning,”
McMahon said. “We are also responsible
for the ongoing maintenance and inspection
of environmental-related structures.”
She added, “We continue to review and
improve our safety programs. In 2012, we
PORT PERSON
audited our lockout-tagout program, fall
protection procedures and conducted
safety training. A key component of our
safety program is the ongoing fire/life
safety inspections that we conduct on MPA
facilities.”
Alongside McMahon is Jamie Smith,
who graduated from McDaniel College
with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental
Policy and Science in 2009. She was hired
by Maryland Environmental Services
(MES) in August of the same year and
assigned to MPA SERM department. She
has since earned her master’s degree in
Environmental Management at University
of Maryland’s University College.
“On a daily basis, I may be found
completing inspections of MPA properties
and stormdrain systems, looking for
discharges or stormwater impacts that
have the potential to enter the nearby
waterways,” Smith said. “I am also
responsible for researching new best
management practices [BMPs] that can
be installed on Port properties to improve
water quality, as well as inspecting and
maintaining the current BMPs on Port
properties.”
Smith explained that, as a continual
improvement opportunity, the MPA has
started a Clean Port Initiative to reduce
the amount of litter and sediment that can
enter nearby waterways from its properties.
“Our team works very closely on all
environmental issues,” Smith said. “The
department is responsible for annual
reviews of all EMS procedures, standard
operating procedures (SOPs) and
objectives and targets to ensure continual
improvement.”
An upcoming challenge for the depart-
ment, according to Smith, is meeting new
TMDL regulations for the Chesapeake
Bay. “New regulations are requiring the
Making An Environmental Impact
Meet Three Members of MPA Safety,
Environment & Risk Management
BY MERRILL WIT T Y
Photography by Kathy Bergren Smith
Representing MPA Safety,
Environment & Risk Management
are, from left, Barbara McMahon,
Jamie Smith and Bill Richardson.