Environmental and Safety Solutions

What Environmental and Safety Solutions does

Environmental and Safety Solutions, Inc. (ESS) is a privately held, minority-owned (MBE-certified) environmental, health, and safety consulting firm headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, with a second Cincinnati office at 747 Waycross Road. Founded in 2002 by mechanical engineer Lonnie Grayson, ESS targets OSHA and EPA regulatory compliance as its two core service pillars, supplemented by an array of specialized offerings: mechanical power press education and guarding (with training pedigree from Rockwell experts), machine guarding analysis and custom guard design, job safety analysis, ergonomics, return-to-work program development, public sector safety, recycling/ISO 14001 compliance, COVID-19 on-site temperature screening, and contract safety personnel placement.

Revenue is generated entirely through professional services engagements — consulting mandates, instructor-led training programs, and on-site safety coordinator placement — priced via custom quotes rather than published rates. The firm sells directly to enterprise and mid-market buyers across manufacturing, automotive, construction, public utilities, healthcare, and government; named customers include Duke Energy, Toyota, General Electric, Graphic Packaging International, Turner Construction, Cincinnati Public Schools, Durobag Manufacturing, C&K Industrial Services, and the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati. Engagement scope ranges from multi-week gap analyses (GE Evendale VPP documentation) to long-duration full-time staffing (Miami Fort Station coal-steam power project with ~1,000 on-site contractors).

Distribution is direct and partnership-based with no channel intermediaries; marketing is concentrated on the company website and reputation-driven referrals. Leadership is founder-centric: Grayson (President/CEO) and Senior EHS Manager Michael Ely (CSP, former OSHA public-sector compliance officer) anchor the technical delivery. ESS has no disclosed funding rounds, parent company, or institutional ownership, and the operating geography is stated as nationwide despite a single-metro footprint.

Name

Environmental and Safety Solutions

Legal name

Environmental and Safety Solutions, Inc.

Website

https://theessinc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Environmental and Safety Solutions is a Cincinnati-based OSHA and EPA compliance consulting firm founded in 2002 that serves manufacturing, construction, public utilities, public sector, and healthcare clients — from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies — via regulatory consulting, training, machine hazard analysis, and on-site safety staffing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Consulting

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (541620), Management Consulting Services (54161), Engineering Services (54133), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (541690)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

EHS Auditing, Inspections & Assurance (BPAHAJAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Air Quality & Emissions Management (BPAHAJAI), EHS Management Systems & ISO Consulting (ISO 14001/45001) (BPAHAJAF)

Keywords

• OSHA compliance consulting
• EPA regulatory compliance
• Safety staffing services
• Environmental health and safety
• Workplace safety consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Cincinnati

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Compliance Consulting Services: Professional consulting services for OSHA and EPA regulatory compliance including compliance assistance, training, inspections and investigations support, and program development.
2. Personnel Placement and Safety Staffing: Recruiting and placing highly qualified safety professionals in many industries. Provides full-time safety managers and coordinators for client sites.
3. Environmental Compliance Services: SPCC Plans, Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans, Hazardous Waste Management, Air Quality Management, and Hazardous Chemical Management and Reporting services.
4. Safety Training Programs: Instructor-led training programs covering OSHA compliance requirements including confined space, lockout/tagout, hazard communication, respiratory protection, and many other safety topics.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Environmental and Safety Solutions (ESS) is a minority-owned consulting firm that provides OSHA and EPA regulatory compliance consulting along with safety-related personnel placement and staffing services. The firm serves clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies across industries including manufacturing, construction, public sector, and healthcare.

Product overview

Environmental and Safety Solutions (ESS) is a consulting company offering a portfolio of compliance and safety services organized around two core pillars: OSHA Compliance Services and EPA Compliance Services. The company provides instructor-led training programs and specialized services including Mechanical Power Press Education and Guarding, Machine Guarding Analysis and Guard Design, Job Safety Analysis and Job Design, Ergonomics, Return to Work Programs, Public Sector Safety, and Recycling Compliance Services. Additional offerings include COVID-19 temperature screening and personnel placement/staffing. The company was founded in 2002 and serves automotive, chemical, construction, healthcare, manufacturing, and public utility industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• OSHA and EPA Regulatory Compliance Consulting Advisory and consulting engagements that help organizations meet Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory requirements across manufacturing, construction, public sector, and healthcare environments.
• Safety Personnel Placement and Staffing Placement of safety, environmental, and EHS personnel into client organizations to support ongoing safety programs, project-based needs, and compliance functions.

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Goldman SachscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Lonnie Grayson graduated from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program at Babson College, providing business education and network access.
• National Urban LeagueminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2011ESS was featured in a Time Magazine advertorial by the National Urban League, providing visibility for the company as a minority-owned business.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Apex Systems: Apex Systems is a large staffing and professional services firm; while not an EHS specialist, it competes with ESS's personnel placement arm for placing safety and compliance professionals at industrial client sites.
• Safety Management Services (SMS): SMS offers OSHA compliance consulting, construction safety staffing, machine guarding, and instructor-led safety training — a similarly sized mid-market EHS consultancy directly competing with ESS on the same core service set.

Emerging players

• ComplianceQuest EHS: ComplianceQuest is a cloud-based EHS management platform — represents the technology-enabled direction the EHS consulting market is heading; partially comparable as a complement to (or potential disruptor of) ESS's traditional consulting model.

Broad incumbents

• Montrose Environmental Group: Montrose provides environmental testing, advisory, and EHS compliance services — comparable to ESS on environmental regulatory compliance and air/water quality management for industrial and public-sector clients.
• Antea Group: Antea Group is a global environmental and safety consultancy offering EHS compliance, risk management, and permitting services — overlapping with ESS on environmental compliance programs (SPCC, SWPPP) and safety program development.
• Trinity Consultants: Trinity Consultants provides EHS regulatory compliance, air quality permitting, and safety consulting to industrial facilities — directly competing with ESS on air quality management, SPCC plans, and OSHA compliance, with deeper nationwide coverage.
• Bureau Veritas North America: Bureau Veritas is a global testing, inspection, and certification (TIC) firm offering workplace safety audits, environmental compliance, and training — competing with ESS across the audit, inspection, and training lines with global reach.
• ERM (Environmental Resources Management): ERM is a global EHS and sustainability consulting firm offering environmental impact assessment, compliance, and occupational safety services to industrial clients — directly comparable to ESS's OSHA/EPA compliance, machine guarding, and personnel placement offerings but at vastly larger scale.
• GHD (engineering consultancy): GHD is a global engineering, environmental, and construction services consultancy offering EHS, water, and industrial safety services — directly comparable to ESS's environmental compliance and industrial safety offerings with significant scale advantage.

Others

• Insight Global: Insight Global is a large national staffing firm; while not EHS-specific, it competes with ESS in placing temporary and contract safety professionals into industrial client sites, a line of ESS's service mix.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/THEESSINC
• Facebookfacebook.com/GuardianStaffingSolutionsLLC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/environmental-and-safety-solutions-inc-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Environmental and Safety Solutions