Integrated Reporting is a new but rapidly growing trend in business financial reporting.  More and more companies are realizing financial value from their non-financial activities.  They are finding ways to measure the value of their intangible assets and then integrating these values into one financial report.  

This is significant in that non-financial activities or intangible assets include things like Environmental, Health, Safety and Security, all of which contribute to a company's Corporate Sustainability Statement.  

As a world leader for nearly 20 years in Environmental, Health, Safety, and Security compliance management solutions, Citation Technologies is well positioned to assist a business engaged in the development of Corporate Sustainability statements and Integrated Reporting.

Introduction

Sustainability is a term that was introduced back in the 1980's, but recently has seen exponential growth as indicated by the term's use in periodicals. Charting a term's use in periodicals over time is a trustworthy indicator on the general direction of business trends. Over the past ten years, the use of the term Sustainability has doubled every two years.  Beginning at less than 20,000 noted citations in 2002, the use of the term has grown to over 200,000 citations in periodicals per year.  That equates to a doubling in its use every two years.

According to the Integrated Reporting Committee of South Africa, an integrated report tells the overall story of the organization. It is a report to stakeholders on the strategy, performance and activities of the organization in a manner that allows stakeholders to assess the ability of the business to create and sustain value, or the sustainability of the business.

An effective integrated report reflects an appreciation that the organization's ability to create and sustain value is based on financial, social, economic and yes, environmental, health, safety and security systems. Integrated reporting combines the most material elements of information currently reported in separate reporting strands in a coherent whole.

This series of articles over the next couple of months will identify some key concepts of integrated reporting. Other areas to explore will include how the data, content and tools available through Citation Technologies can be used to assist our clients with the non-financial components used in their sustainability statements and their one financial report.

Please feel free to engage in this discussion.

March 25, 2012, marks the 101st anniversary of New York City’s deadliest industrial accident, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

In less than 20 minutes, 146 workers burned, or jumped or fell to their deaths while trying to escape the flames at the factory.

The Fire Safety Commission at the time reported that over 95% of New York shops had defective safety conditions. Many lacked usable fire escapes and adequate exits.  A common management practice at the time was to lock employees inside the crowded and cluttered sweatshops during work hours to discourage breaks and stealing.

Soon-to-retire NYC Fire Chief Edward F. Croker had cited Triangle’s location (the Brown Building, fka, the Asch Building at 23-29 Washington Place) multiple times for lack of fire escapes, the last only a week before the fire.

Property owners and their representatives resisted, claiming sprinklers were “cumbersome and costly” and that such enforced regulations would “wipe out industry in the state.”

Individual witnesses and survivors of the Triangle fire agreed on numerous circumstances that contributed to the high number of deaths (several of which were preventable):

• The fire was likely started by a match or cigarette butt tossed into a scrap bin on the 8th floor of the 10-story building.

• Factory environment: long work tables difficult to get around, crowded rooms cluttered with flammable materials, oily floors from leaking machinery.
• Boxes (of work materials) blocked the exit.
• The door leading to the stairwell was locked from the outside.
• The building had no sprinkler system, only water pails – many of which were empty.
• The sole fire escape, many years rusted, collapsed.
• Firemen’s hoses lacked enough pressure to reach the fire.
• Firemen’s ladders reached only the 6th floor.

• Firemen’s nets all split upon impact.

In a report following the Triangle fire, the Commission quoted NYC Fire Chief John Kenlon as stating, “Had an automatic sprinkler system been installed in the Triangle Waist Company building, he believed that not a single life would have been lost.”

Dr. David Weissman, Director of the Respiratory Disease Studies Division for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and Max Kiefer, Director of the NIOSH Western States Office, have recommended protection for workers who may be exposed to erionite, a naturally occurring mineral found in volcanic ash altered by weathering and ground water.

In its fibrous form, erionite can be problematic when it is disturbed and becomes airborne. Erionite fibers pose an inhalation hazard, which research has shown to be 100 to 800 times more lethal than asbestos.

Residents of Cappadocian villages in Turkey use erionite-containing rock to construct homes. The inhabitants have been found to have a very high risk of developing malignant mesothelioma. Erionite is also quite prevalent in the sedimentary rocks of the Western United States.

Until recently, erionite was not considered a hazard in North America, because little risk for exposure was foreseen; however, evidence linking exposure to erionite with serious adverse health effects suggests that some workers have a greater potential for exposure than previously recognized.

The first North American case of erionite-related lung disease was observed in 1981. The victim was a Utah construction worker who lived in an area rich in zeolite deposits. He had extensive parenchymal and pleural fibrosis, and a lung biopsy revealed the presence of fibrous and nonfibrous particles that had compositions consistent with erionite.

Erionite-related disease has most often been reported in road construction and maintenance workers who have occupational exposures to erionite-containing gravel used in road surfacing.

Erionite has been designated a known human carcinogen and the US Geological Survey found that erionite fibers from Turkey, North Dakota, and Oregon were chemically and morphologically similar.

Precautions to protect workers by limiting the generation and inhalation of erionite-contaminated dust should be in place, yet there are neither regulatory or consensus standards, nor occupational exposure limits for airborne erionite fibers. The 14 steps recommended by NIOSH below are nonobligatory, but represent a sensible preliminary step in addressing the hazards of erionite exposure.

A good approach to protecting workers would be to utilize the precautions described in OSHA's guidance for working with asbestos (29 CFR 1910.1001). Weissman and Kiefer have also made the following risk-reduction recommendations in an attempt to limit exposure to gravel or soil that may contain erionite:

1. Train workers about the hazards of erionite and control methods for reducing exposure.
2. Know where erionite containing material may be encountered prior to beginning work.
3. Avoid the use of erionite containing aggregate whenever possible.
4. Use wet methods to reduce dust generation for road and other work where erionite is present; use machinery with dust collection systems.
5. Limit the number of workers who will be engaged in work with erionite.
6. Establish decontamination protocols including changes of clothing, showering before leaving the worksite, and appropriate cleaning and disposal of personal protective equipment.
7. Ensure that work clothing is not washed at home to prevent erionite fibers from being brought home on clothes and footwear.
8. Prohibit dry sweeping, the use of leaf blowers or compressed air for cleaning.
9. Protect employees with personal protective equipment, including respiratory protection.
10. Prohibit eating, drinking, or smoking in dusty work areas where erionite fibers may be airborne. Workers should move away from the work area for breaks and wash their hands and face before eating, drinking, or smoking.
11. Establish protocols for vehicle use on erionite-containing roads (drive slowly, vents closed, windows up).
12. Wet-wash equipment and vehicle exteriors, and wet-clean using High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter vacuuming of vehicle interiors.
13. Follow the EPA procedures for proper disposal of waste and debris containing erionite.
14. Prevent visitors and workers from standing in work areas where erionite fibers may become airborne.

Two derelict social media sites still display final messages from those who knew the account owners: "RIP, we will miss you."

The sites belonged to two teenagers who lost their lives while working in an Illinois corn bin owned by Haasbach LLC. The cause of death was described as "traumatic asphyxiation".

On July 28, 2010, Wyatt Whitebread, 14, Alex Pacas, 19, and Will Piper, 20, were working on a pile of corn 30-feet deep while the bin’s unloading system was in operation. The workers were "walking down the corn," breaking up clumps of damp grain to make it flow onto a conveyor.

Whitebread began to sink into the pile as Piper and Pacas attempted to rescue him. Within seconds, Whitebread was completely engulfed in the corn, followed by Pacas. Piper was able to keep his head above the corn and was rescued as another worker, age 15, escaped the bin and went for help.

On December 7, 2011, the Department of Labor (DOL) reached an agreement with Haasbach LLC in Mount Carroll, IL, resolving 25 citations issued by the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In addition, the Department's Wage and Hour Division assessed civil monetary penalties for child labor violations.

OSHA cited Haasbach for 12 willful, 12 serious and 1 other-than-serious violation of the agency's grain standards. Following the December 7th agreement, the company must pay $200,000 in penalties, an amount reduced from the original fines of $550,000, based on Haasbach's size and assets.

The company failed to provide the workers with proper equipment, precautions and training. In addition, the workers should not have been in the bin while machinery was running.

A separate investigation by the DOL's Wage and Hour Division found that Haasbach violated the Fair Labor Standards Act's child labor provisions by employing workers under age 18 to perform hazardous jobs. Under the agreement, Haasbach will pay $68,125. Haasbach employed at least 4 underage workers at the time of the accident.

The company also faces two wrongful death lawsuits from the families of the deceased, as well as a personal injury suit by Piper. All three suits seek damages in excess of $50,000.

Haasbach, previously owned by three large farming families in Warren, IL, is no longer in business and has sold its Mount Carroll property to another grain storage operation. Its officials have neither issued any public apology nor sent a message of condolence to the families or community.

Citation's Software Compliance Tool Boasts New Functionality

 Citation built the original versions of ART from the ground up with the customer in mind, providing a simple and effective solution for complying with regulatory requirements.

"We are impressed by the intuitive nature of ART, and how its conditions-based questions will enable our customers to better manage their risk through a more comprehensive understanding of applicable regulations and laws," said Laura Mixon-Gould from CH2M HILL, a Citation partner. "ART is a good fit within our suites of services."

And it was with that mindset that Citation asked for feedback from customers. It was largely this feedback that eventually led to the improvements and new features within ART 3.0, which is being released to customers today.

By incorporating both Detailed Requirement screening and Tasking into ART 3.0, the software tool simplifies the compliance process into fewer steps for the user.

Clients can also add their own Detailed Requirements to address local plant requirements, and these supplemental requirements can now be defined at the company level.

Citation also took efforts to streamline the review process by implementing high-level applicability questions to significantly reduce the total number of questions that need to be answered. Additionally, users can more easily see how far along they are in the process and jump from step to step if needed.

Improvements to security include allowing companies to manage their own security and set-up, expanding role-based security functions, and improving password strength requirements for new users. And users now have the ability to use Internet Explorer 7, 8 and 9, along with Firefox, Chrome, or Safari.

How ART Notifications Work

 The US EPA warned in August of upcoming changes to the way it collects information from commercial chemical manufacturers, adding the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule. Published in the Federal Register on August 16 as 40 CFR 711, the new rule went into effect on September 15.

The CDR rule, which replaced the Inventory Update Reporting rule, enables the EPA to collect and publish information on the manufacturing, processing and use of commercial chemicals on the Toxic Substances Control Act's (TSCA) Chemical Substance Inventory. The main points of the CDR include more frequent reporting, reduced reporting thresholds for specific chemicals, new exemptions, and new reporting requirements.

Under TSCA, failure to maintain required records or to report the required information can result in civil penalties of up to $25,000 a day as well as criminal fines and imprisonment. Users of Citation's CyberRegs could have found the new CFR material the day it was released, and might have even received email notification that 40 CFR 711 had changed. But unless they were following closely, they might have missed the specific changes pertaining to their practices and procedures.

ART users not only received an automatic email notification that relevant changes were made in the company's ART Review, but they were given specific changes in eight Detailed Requirements. They would have not only known that previously written compliance tasks for the replaced Inventory Update Reporting rule were outdated, but they would have realized immediately how they needed to alter their reporting thresholds or frequency, or if they received a new exemption.

Citation's regulatory analysts would have done the leg work for them, providing them specific citations to the material that contained the necessary compliance actions. For example, the Detailed Requirement for 40 CFR 711.20 tells users they must "File reports during applicable submission periods" and 40 CFR 711.35 tells users to "Submit reports electronically pursuant to requirements."

The ART notifications contain the citation and full text of the rule that was changed. Users simply have to look up the citations and make the necessary changes within their compliance matrix. In this manner, the company will always be in compliance with the standards of the federal government.

By Randal Meske

Managing Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) compliance is not for the faint of heart. It is for intelligent, responsible, dedicated people who mean business.

Mismanagement of EHS compliance, or even just a little bad luck, can not only put whole companies at risk, it can destroy our precious environment and endanger or even kill the very workers that make employers successful.

As far as work is concerned, most people have to worry about sustaining revenue, managing and preventing customer satisfaction issues and keeping their bosses and coworkers happy. It is a very select few, such as soldiers, surgeons, law enforcement personnel, and EHS compliance officers, who bear the stress of 24/7/365 responsibility for people’s health and safety and environmental sustainability.

EHS compliance officers are special people. They aren’t really appreciated when things are running smoothly, yet they have targets on their backs when issues arise.

Compliance is a team effort, so the complexity of their roles is exacerbated given the decentralized nature of managing their functions on a global scale. Although more and more companies are funding their EHS compliance practices more aggressively, it is still often the case that these dire responsibilities lay on the backs of far too few people.

Technical knowledge is required to do the job well, yet people skills are paramount to success in order to solicit cooperation from dispersed and diverse personnel in varied disciplines who may or may not report to the EHS compliance person in charge.

So, these people manage complex operations amidst high risk with limited resources and challenging interpersonal dynamics. They are asked to do the impossible.

In short, EHS compliance officers are super heroes.

One would think that this complex set of circumstances would cause these people to be serious and lacking in humor. The pressure they bear is real, and I wouldn’t blame them one bit for being a little less fun than the rest of us.

That is why I was quite surprised to read the article entitled “If You Think Accountants Are Hilarious, Try These Guys – Search for America’s Funniest Compliance Officer Is Tough; a Whoop for Dodd-Frank” in the Wall Street Journal. Not only do these hyper-responsible people have senses of humor, some of them actually participate in competitions to determine which of them is the funniest. Go figure!

Perhaps good humor is the elixir that helps them survive their tension-filled days. Maybe as a result, they are actually more funny than the rest of us.

Whether your EHS compliance leaders are funny or not is quite irrelevant. What matters is if they are effective despite the vast challenges they face.

These are special people with critical responsibilities. If you haven’t done so lately, the next time you see your EHS compliance person, give them a great big hug and thank them profusely for what they do (If that person in your organization isn’t a hugger, I’m sure a hand shake will do).

Do you know any stellar EHS compliance professionals? Do you have any humorous stories about EHS compliance professionals, experiences, or incidents? Please respond with your stories in the comments below.

Today is Earth Day and many people are focused on what they can do to celebrate the day-- turn off a light, carpool, recycle their drink container.  But let’s take a step back and take a look at the bigger picture. 

Think about all of the laws and regulations that affect the earth every single day…emissions limits for industries, energy conservation requirements, waste disposal and recycling laws.  All of these things happen on a daily basis and are important in the broader sense of protecting environmental resources. 

Keeping yourself informed and up-to-date about the regulations in your industry is just as important as recycling that drink container or figuring out who to carpool with.

For example, 40 CFR 63 – “National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Source Categories” and 49 CFR 196 – “Transportation of Natural and Other Gas by Pipeline: Minimum Federal Safety Standards” were updated earlier this month. 

These are examples of federal regulations, but keep in mind that states update their regulations frequently, too. 

Environmental health and safety regulations at all levels of government (federal, state, county, city, etc.) are added to and amended all of the time.

So, do what you can to celebrate today…turn off that light, recycle that container.  But also keep current with the rules and regulations in your industry. 

Not only will that ensure you are in compliance with the latest regulations, but you will be doing your part to protect the earth and its resources, every day.  That’s something to feel good about!

Technorati Tags: Earth day, EHS, Regulations, Environment

Many of those who found themselves jobless in the national recession and chose to put their job search on hold in order to further their education are finding a new path holds the promise of future jobs-- “green degrees,” or Sustainable Practices Education.

In the past several years, these green programs have emerged at universities all over the United States, including Arizona.

Arizona State University opened the doors to their School of Sustainability in 2007, offering Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees in sustainability, as well as degrees in Business, Engineering or Law with a concentration in sustainability.

The School of Sustainability, which has been called "a model of sustainable education," uses a “transdisciplinary approach in its curriculum, addressing a broad spectrum of global challenges, including: energy, materials, and technology; water quality and scarcity; international development; ecosystems; social transformations; food and food systems; and policy and governance.”

Green degrees can also be found at various schools across the country, including North Carolina State University, University of Massachusetts, Old Dominion University and University of Phoenix online.

The question is, with all of these students graduating with green degrees, will there be enough jobs for them?  Those graduating from ASU’s School of Sustainability may not have to search far to find one. 

First Solar announced recently that they would invest about $300 million in a new U.S. manufacturing center for advanced thin-film photovoltaic modules in Mesa, Arizona. Construction of the factory is scheduled to begin in 2011 and, once completed, the factory will employ over 600 people.   

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) also has its eye on green jobs.  Starting in Fiscal Year 2010, BLS received funding to develop and implement the collection of new data on green jobs.

BLS has also undertaken the difficult job of defining “green jobs” and defines the term as follows:

• Jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources 
• Jobs in which workers’ duties involve making their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources

Do you think that those pursuing a green or sustainable degree will be better equipped for jobs in the future?  Would you consider a green or sustainable degree an asset for an applicant for a job in your company? 

How would you utilize the skills and information they have gained from a green or sustainable degree program?

This weeks post was written by guest blogger Chris Hinchcliffe, Senior Environmental, Health & Safety consultant for Delta Simons Environmental Consultants.

On 17 February 2011, Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings Ltd was fined £385K after being found guilty of corporate manslaughter under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. This was the first case in UK law under this Act. The court took into account that a greater fine would have tipped the company into insolvency and thus the judge allowed the business to pay the fine over a 10 year period. Charges against the sole director were dropped due to the worsening state of his health.

The company allowed an employee to work in a narrow 3.5 metre deep pit with no supported sides and it collapsed and killed him. The court findings were that they allowed employees to carry out such work knowingly and supplied no training, method statement, risk assessment or adequate information.

The Act applies across the UK and also extends to offshore installations covered by UK criminal law. The Act creates an offence whereby an organization will be guilty if the way in which its activities are managed or organised causes a person’s death and amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed to that person. This breach must lie mainly with the senior management team. The Act extends to companies and partnerships but not to individual directors.

A business can face an unlimited fine if convicted and ordered to publicize the conviction, which could have significant PR implications. Cotswold Geotechnical only has four employees currently and larger businesses should note that normal fines will seldom be less than £500K.

The outcome of the case should lead businesses to review their health and safety policies to ensure their management systems and work instructions are up-to-date. Staff should be fully aware of those policies and trained regularly on any important changes. Line management should supervise and audit work so that breaches are detected and corrected early.

Do you think that fault should lie with the corporation?  Do you think similar legislation would pass in the United States?