This Saturday, hundreds of millions of people around the globe will observe Earth Hour by turning off their lights for one hour beginning at 8:30pm local time. Families, offices, businesses, and cities will join together to conserve energy and show their united support for environmental awareness and responsibility.

On March 27 at 5:30pm, Torontonians and friends will gather at Yonge-Dundas Square for an evening of fun-filled, family-friendly activities including arts & crafts, face painters, street performers, and more! There will be Earth Hour Wishing Trees, where people can share their personal wishes for the Earth and pledges for personal contributions to change. The event includes a free concert with performances by R&B artist Jarvis Church and singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk.

If joining thousands on the street isn't your thing, there are countless other ways to enjoy a technology-free evening with friends, family, or on your own. Maybe you'll simply turn off all but one lamp and flip though a magazine, or have some friends over to play board games. You might enjoy a candle-lit dinner with your partner or head to an area where you can view the city unplug from afar.

If, like so many others, you would love to make every hour Earth Hour, here are 10 easy ways you can start:

1. Leave the car at home 2. Eat local 3. Fly less 4. Be energy efficient 5. Use green power 6. Get a home energy audit - and act on it! 7. Hang dry your clothes 8. Work from home 9. Unplug unused appliances 10. Tell your local official Read more about making every hour Earth Hour.

Toronto's Skyline

In 2009 the city of Toronto saw a decrease of 15.1% of electricity during Earth Hour, up from 8.7% in 2008. I'm sure this year we'll see an even bigger decrease. Imagine if we did this more than once a year.

Join the movement and check out what events are happening in your city at www.earthhour.org.

For any company who deals with multiple manufacturers and suppliers in the production of their product, it can become problematic at times to ensure that the most recent and up-to-date versions of documents related product specifications and manufacturing processes are being used by these 3rd parties. This was one of the critical elements that WD-40 Company wanted to address when they were assembling their Quality Management System. It is for this reason that they selected Intelex to provide them with a solution to address their document management needs.

Leveraging Intelex's web-based platform and document control module, WD-40 Company was able to create a centralized online portal, accessible to everyone involved in their manufacturing process around the globe, where they can access the most recent design specification and process documents to build from.

To read more about how WD-40 Company utilized Intelex's web-based software solutions, read the article featured in Quality Magazine's recent "How To" issue here.

Compliance is not a sporadic, ad hoc responsibility. Instead it should be thought of as a religious commitment or a way of life.

Forget that the inspector may arrive at any time; the lives of your most important asset—your human capital—are on the line whenever your facility is up and running. Oh, and if it’s money that’s on your mind, potential six-figure fines for non-compliance will provide additional incentive to ensure all your ducks are in a row.

As a recent issue of Industrial Safety and Hygiene news reiterates, continual compliance is the order of the day when it comes to dealing with workplace spill, splash and blow particulate incidents.

“Manufacturers have come a long way in designing better and better ways of minimizing the collateral damage associated with in-plant injuries,” Casey Hayes writes in the informative article entitled “A checklist for compliance: Are you ready for an inspection?”

Part of the safety infrastructure required to respond to spill, splash and blow particulate incidents are emergency showers and eyewashes.

The go-to document for minimal requirements pertaining to emergency showers and eyewashes is ANSI standard Z358.1. And while it is important all facility managers refer to this document, last updated in 2004, regularly, ISHN has made things easy for facility managers by culling a convenient checklist from the document. Here’s a rundown:

• The 10-second rule: can your emergency showers and eyewashes be reached within 10 seconds of the hazards in question?
• Visibility: Are your emergency wash stations identified by large, clearly visible signage?
• Valves: Can wash stations be activated easily and within one second or less? Remember, in the event of an emergency, the user could be temporarily blinded.
• Protection: Are the spray nozzles protected from exposure to any contaminants? Note that the protective mechanism should be removed automatically as the wash station is activated.
• Water: Eye wash stations must eject clean, plumbed and self-contained water
• Flow: Face and eye washers must feature controlled flow at a minimal rate of 1.5 litres per minute. Eye washers must be equipped to flush both eyes simultaneously.
• Nozzles: Eyewash outlet nozzles must be at least six inches from walls or any other obstructions.
• Shower heads: Emergency shower wash heads must stand between 33” and 45” above the floor. Drench showers must eject water at 20 gpm, stand between 82” and 96” high, and feature flow patterns 20” wide at 60” above the floor.
• Obstructions: No barriers should exist within 16” of the centre of a drench shower or shower/eyewash combination.

Additionally, remember that combination shower/eyewash equipment is subject to the individual standards that apply to each component individually. Also, this equipment must be capable of performing both essential tasks simultaneously.

While manual monitoring of safety compliance is possible, large companies stand to benefit from Intelex Technologies Inc.’s innovative Safety Management System. The system features modules that save time and lives by ensuring sustained compliance with ANSI standards (and the similar OSHA standards many companies follow) through automated checklists and reminders.

For examples of how Intelex has helped clients implement standardized health and safety practices company-wide, review our client success stories at www.intelex.com/clients. For a complete list of minimal requirements, refer to ANSI Z358.1, an overview of which can be found here.

Greener World Media, Inc. (www.greenbiz.com) has published its annual State of Green Business report, which measures the environmental impacts of the green economy. The report provides a recap of 2009's top green stories and looks at 20 measures of environmental performance in the U.S. including carbon transparency, corporate reporting, energy efficiency, GHG commitments, green office space, cleantech investments, toxics in manufacturing, and green power. The 20 topics have been given one of three distinctions: swimming (where companies are making progress), treading (where they're standing still), and sinking (where they're falling behind).

In the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), some thought the slowing economy would have a negative effect on budgets, and therefore, corporate reporting but it seems the opposite holds true. According to the report, "the financial crisis created more pressure from stakeholders, customers and investors for companies to increase transparency and close the non-financial information disclosure gap." While this can be interpreted as somewhat of an achievement, overall, the report finds U.S. companies are at a standstill when it comes to corporate reporting.

Areas where U.S. companies are swimming - clean-energy patents, energy efficiency, green IT and office space, paper use and recycling, and water use.

Although green business may be progressing slowly, it is definitely moving forward. Organizations big and small are taking steps to ensure they are being environmentally responsible, not only in preparation for tougher legislation but also due to the growing consumer interest in corporate sustainability and social responsibility initiatives.

Are you looking for solutions to support your company's environmental initiatives? Learn more about how Intelex can help you with all of your environmental software needs.

To download the State of Green Business 2010 report, visit GreenBiz.com.

For the month of February, Intelex set out with a goal of raising $10,000 in support of the Canadian Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti. To get the initiative rolling, Intelex graciously donated an initial $5000 and pledged to match any additional contributions from our team of Intelexians above and beyond that $5000. With everyone digging into their pockets, the generosity of the Intelex team was in full force as we managed to raise another $5,385 which was matched by Intelex bringing our total to $15,770. With the Canadian Government matching all donations, Intelex was able to contribute an impressive $31,540 towards this deserving cause.

Thank You to everyone who donated for your generosity!