As announced in a press release on August 19th 2009, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has recently been established between two of the major players in the Canadian standards and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions industries. Leading Canadian standards-based solutions organization, CSA Standards, and the leading North American GHG registry, The Climate Registry, have come together through the MoU to more closely align the two organizations in regards to supporting a consistent GHG measurement and reporting culture in Canada. The partnership solidifies the collaboration between the two organizations to promote the voluntary reporting of GHG emissions to The Climate Registry as well as the adoption of The Climate Registry’s platform for mandatory reporting among Canadian jurisdictions. The MoU also strives to improve upon and create new training opportunities and capacity building programs related to The Climate Registry as well as for general GHG accounting, verification, reporting and tracking.

With over 340 members, The Climate Registry currently operates the foremost North American voluntary GHG registry holding a unique relationship with the 12 Canadian provinces and territories as well as the 41 states that all sit on their board of directors. The Climate Registry, by setting consistent and transparent standards for calculating, verifying and publicly reporting GHG emissions, plays an active role in supporting mandatory reporting schemes across North America. On the other side, CSA Standards serves industry, government, consumers and other interested parties in North America and the global marketplace and has been working with Canadian jurisdictions to build components that support GHG reporting, regional emissions trading systems, and program performance tracking.

Speaking on the newly established MoU, Suzanne Kiraly, president of CSA Standards commented, “This MoU highlights CSA Standards and The Climate Registry’s mutual purpose and common goal of building standardized methods for measuring and tracking GHG emissions. Continued collaboration between our two organizations will serve to further these efforts and, in turn, benefit various organizations, including government and industries.”  Alex Carr, Canadian Regional Director of The Climate Registry, also sees the benefit that the MoU will bring to both government and industry stating that, “By working together with CSA, we can better support Canadian governments and industry as climate policy continues to evolve and capturing high quality GHG emissions data becomes even more important – both to regulators and to companies wanting to manage their risks, improve energy efficiency, and demonstrate their leadership.” The establishment of this MoU is a positive sign that the standardization of GHG emissions reporting in Canada is moving closer to becoming a reality, ultimately creating a reporting climate where ingenuity and continuous improvement are held as key drivers.

Web-based Environmental Management Systems such as the one offered by Intelex provide a platform to track and report GHG emissions data across an entire organization in real-time, providing a 360 degree view of emissions performance fostering regulatory compliance as well as driving continual improvement.

With autumn just around the corner, back-to-school themes are everywhere – including Intelex! Join us for seven free training webinars beginning September 1st through November:

  · Building Advanced Scorecards | Sept. 1 at 2pm EDT 

  · Building Advanced Matrix Reports | Sept. 17 at 2pm EDT

  · Managing User Security | Sept. 29 at 2pm EDT

  · Introduction to Scorecards | Oct. 6 at 11am EDT

  · Introduction to Dashboards | Oct. 27 at 11am EDT

  · Introduction to iForms | Nov. 19 at 11am EST

  · You’ve Got Questions, We’ve Got Answers! | Nov. 24 at 2pm EST  

Thank you to all our clients who made suggestions for webinar topics. If your suggestion didn't make the autumn schedule, look for it in our winter one!

For more information about Intelex Webinars, or to submit questions for our Q & A webinar, You've Got Questions, We've Got Answers!, please contact Client Relations at 416.599.6009 ext. 282 today!

To register online, visit the Intelex-Exchange. If you don’t already have access to the Intelex-Exchange, submit a request online.

EHS Today Magazine’s 2009 National Safety Survey was recently conducted with nearly 1000 industry professionals taking part and providing some qualified insight on the topics of EHS programs, work environments, targeted injuries/illnesses, management support, job duties, OSHA performance and more. The results of the survey are discussed in a recent article entitled “National Safety Survey: Can We Still Afford To Be Safe?” penned by Laura Walter which was featured on EHS Today’s website. Walter outlines some of the trends that surfaced from the respondent’s answers and provides us with a look at the various views that were expressed on some of today’s popular EHS industry topics.

It is no surprise that an area receiving a particular amount of focus was the current economy and how it has reflected upon EHS programs and budgets. When respondents were asked about this topic, as Walter writes, “EHS professionals reported lower morale among employees, reduced or eliminated incentive programs, reduced travel opportunities, reduced training, layoffs, facility closures and fewer new equipment purchases. One respondent even claimed he had just lost his job and was preparing to file for unemployment.” EHS budget fluctuations were also reported with 10 percent of respondents indicating their budget was decreased more than 10 percent in 2009, 13 percent indicated a decrease of 1 to 10 percent, 47 percent reported their budget had remained the same, 11 percent reported an increase of 1 to 10 percent and a happy 4 percent reported a budget increase of more that 10 percent in 2009. Although some felt cuts to budgets to be threatening to their safety, several respondents indicated that their organizations had utilized layoffs as a means of eliminating inexperienced employees who commonly took risks and shortcuts which as a result improved their safety performance.

In one area of the survey, respondents were asked to rate President Obama’s approach so far to occupational health and safety. The responses to this particular question yielded a variety of opinions on the subject. With 16 percent rating Obama’s performance as good, 26 percent felt it was average, 13 percent rated it as fair, 15 percent felt is performance was poor and 27 percent indicated it was just too soon to tell. Another question dealt with OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the main federal agency charged with the enforcement of safety and health legislation in the US), asking what occupational safety and health challenge would you most like to see OSHA address during the Obama administration? This question also yielded a mixed bag of opinions with respondents expressing that OSHA focus on a range of issues such as ergonomics, workplace aggression, updating antiquated standards, the nomination of an OSHA administrator and spending more energy investigating the circumstances of violations before issuing out fines. Overall the 2009 National Safety Survey is a valuable tool for gaining insight into the current EHS landscape from the perspective of those who work directly within it. Surveys such as this one are important as they help to further understand the current trends and help to project where the industry is headed.

Achieving verifiable sustainability throughout the supply and demand chain can be a daunting task for any company, especially for those who have a substantial amount of partners involved from top to bottom. As global product manufacturers are now placing more emphasis on being competitive and environmentally conscious as a result of social, economic and regulatory factors, pressure has mounted for companies to apply a “lean and green” makeover to their product sourcing, logistics, transportation, distribution and operational practices. In order to address the challenges, issues and opportunities associated with this trend, The Business Performance Management (BPM) Forum in partnership with Global Renewable Energy and Environmental Network (GREEN) have developed The Acceleration of Eco-Operation initiative. A rich repository of resources and information compiled from industry experts and associations as well as a comprehensive industry survey, The Acceleration of Eco-Operation initiative is aimed at helping improve bottom lines through enhanced trading partner visibility, flexibility and sustainability across the entire global supply and demand spectrum.

The BPM Forum, a comprehensive online survey of supply chain, operations, finance and executive professionals representing multiple industries was conducted in Q2 of 2009. It was designed to gauge how companies are presently dealing with the challenges associated with current supply chain demands, costs and environmental concerns. One hundred and twenty five professionals from around the globe participated in the survey resulting in insights as to what are the common priorities, pitfalls and progresses that supply chain professionals are facing today. The results of this survey were paired in a report with the detailed insights from 20 corporate and faculty leadership committee members outlining best practices and viable solutions aimed at helping companies begin to implement efficient and environmental practices within their supply chains.

The survey revealed that “nearly 90 percent of the respondents said their management subscribes to the principles of Eco-Operation, and nearly half said their executives believe in this mantra to a large extent.” This is a promising indication of the level of acceptance and understanding by the participants as to the fundamentals of the Eco-Operation initiative. The corporate leadership committee members were also in agreement as to the cost, compliance and carbon reduction advantages associated with Eco-Operation implementation. Although a good understanding and belief in the principles of Eco-Operations was noted, the report indicated that most companies are substantially lacking the means, metrics and visibility into their entire supply chain to successfully execute any of them. Almost two thirds reported inadequate visibility across all the tiers and levels of their supply chains. This lack of transparency can have a substantially negative impact on performance. As stated in the report, “The lack of transparency into the operations of dynamic, multi-tiered supply chains may be severely hampering business performance. Survey respondents identified the top business benefits of greater visibility as cost savings, better customer support, and environmental compliance – three key elements in today’s business landscape.” Also, better standards and key performance indicators (KPI’s) was identified as a nearly universal need among supply chain professionals as a means of measuring the sustainability levels of supply chain partners.

The report notes one of the driving forces behind Eco-Operational strategies and practices as the advent of web-based management platforms as a means of “increasing collaboration, real-time insight and rapid adaptability across today’s high performance, multi-enterprise value networks.” Such platforms, like Intelex’s web-based Environmental and Quality Management Systems work to foster a greater level of transparency and sustainability across the entire supply chain. Being web-based allows for a highly collaborative approach to monitoring your entire value chain as each supplier can easily access and use the system across multiple sites allowing for real-time reports and dashboards to be generated at anytime, ultimately giving you a 360 degree view of your entire operations.  With the BMP Forum survey indicating only 20 percent of participants as using a single hosted platform to improve such visibility; organizations who have implemented them have substantially realized measurable improvements in business and sustainability performance.  By investing in a web-based management system like those offered by Intelex, your organization is taking a step forward towards fulfilling corporate responsibility duties while at the same time streamlining operations, reducing costs, increasing sustainability and ultimately lowering your bottom line.

Read the full report here: Acceleration of ECO-Operation: Achieving Success & Sustainability in the Supply Chain

There are many ways that an organization can go about retooling their operations and processes to produce a better end product or service. The fundamental challenge in achieving any improvements comes in finding ways to accomplish them while at the same time saving time and money. One such method of unlocking potential performance, while saving both time and money, is that of implementing operational change to your organization’s structures and procedures. “Beyond Headcount Reduction,” a recent article featured in Quality Magazine, written by Peter J. Sherman, lead instructor at Emory University’s Six Sigma Program in Atlanta GA, outlines the principals of operational change as well as the impact it can have on an organization’s output, level of service and ultimately their bottom line.

Sherman begins by first addressing the fact that the majority of businesses today are in an extremely defensive posture as a result of the recent decline of the economy. With many organizations having eliminated staff, froze salaries, cut hours, reduced overtime, and cut back services, the general solution to managing business during the recession has been to reduce workforce and freeze spending in order to cope and hopefully come out on top. Sherman believes that near-term solutions like these will ultimately have a negative impact in the long-term. He suggests that reducing costs and headcount will likely cause organizations to enter into an endless cycle of quality issues and declining revenues, while at the same time leading to future pressure to reduce costs again and again. A more effective solution, according to Sherman, is to implement operational change. As Sherman states, “Rather than solely focusing on reducing costs and headcount, operational change is needed to unlock performance and create real and sustainable value for an organization. Operational change means looking within to change and improve business processes in order to save money.” More basic than applying process improvement methodologies such as Six Sigma, lean or ISO 9000 standards, operational change is equally effective for both small businesses and large corporations regardless of industry. Operational change is essentially looking at your organization from the inside and identifying and improving core operational processes in order to obtain the same or an improved level of service or output with lest cost.

In order to achieve operational change, Sherman offers four management principles that when implemented will help to unlock performance within your organization. These principals cannot be applied overnight but rather must be implemented layer by layer systematically in order to benefit fully from them. Sherman’s four principals are as follows:

Layer 1 – STANDARDIZATION
Although standardization is sometimes viewed as a deterrent to innovation, it plays a critical role in streamlining operations and initializing the implementation of operational change. Seemingly an obvious principle, many large companies have just begun to apply standardization in order to foster a consistent customer experience and reduce operating costs. Standardization should be applied to areas of operation where there are inconsistencies within processes that directly increase cost.

Layer 2 – INTEGRATION
Integration is the second principal involved in executing operational change. Having systems and processes in place that can accommodate any new product, regulation change or new growth will ultimately lower costs and save time. Having to manage work-arounds and one-offs becomes tedious and costly. The ideal operation should consist of a seamlessly interlinked set of systems and processes to support the full customer life cycle from sales to billing to delivery to customer service.

Layer 3 – CENTRALIZATION
The third principal is centralization, which Sherman defines as removing redundancies and achieving economies of scale. More simply put, centralization implies organizations performing like functions in fewer locations with fewer suppliers or venders. Some typical operational functions that centralization can be applied to are advertising, accounting, purchasing, human resources, information technology and legal.

Layer 4 – OPTIMIZATION
Upon completion of implementing the processes of standardization, integration and centralization, your organization should have experienced some transformational challenges. At this point it is important to optimize performance in order to maximize value. To achieve sustainability, continually streamlining systems and processes is imperative and applying proven process improvement methodologies such as Six Sigma and lean can be effective at this point.

Implementing operational change through Sherman’s four management principles offers one approach to improving an organization’s level of service and output and ultimately increasing the quality of their products and customer experiences. A web-based Quality Management System like the one offered by Intelex Technologies in conjunction with the implementation of operational change will provide any organization a comprehensive and easy to implement solution for tracking, monitoring and reporting all quality issues throughout the transformation process and beyond.