Though the company has fully implemented the Intelex Quality Management System (QMS) and iForms® System, Mission Foods is always thinking of new ways to improve processes and scale up with new initiatives.

Intelex Training Specialist Purdal Mya and iForm® Expert Augustine Chan recently spent three days with Mission Foods Corporate Headquarters in Irving, Texas, to lead system training for a group of 17 Intelex users (seen in photo). The training focused on basic and advanced iForms®, as well as reporting and dashboards.

When I called Carmen Olson, Corporate TQ Manager at Mission Foods, to ask how the training went, she said, “Having Purdal lead the training along with Augustine’s expertise on building iForms was the right combination. Everyone was fully engaged in the class, lots of questions, ideas and some fun too!”

Mission Foods/GRUMA S.A. is the world's largest producer of Maseca corn flour and tortilla products, with production facilities across the Americas, the UK, Holland, Italy and Asia. Its operations and sales extend to the US, Canada, throughout Central America (through Gruma Centro America), and into England, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

See more Intelex Clients or request a demo to learn more about Intelex’s iForms® System and other solutions.

If you have a U.S. government contract and don't track your air emissions, get ready for a wake-up call: The Obama administration is set to kill deals with any

 contractors that don't track their emissions.

This is pretty huge. The federal government relies on well over half a million contractors across the country. According to a Federal Times report, fewer than 400 of those organizations (less than one per cent) report on GHG emissions in any form. 

Though this new requirement is not set to take effect till 2011 or 2012, the feds are already starting to take stock of who is reporting and who is not. Companies that already report (or immediately start to report) GHG emissions will have a much better chance of landing government contracts. Further, if you track your emissions throughout your entire supply chain and across third-party vendors, you will boost your chances of getting the attention of the federal government. 

Daunted? Don't be. Tracking emissions statistics can be a relatively straightforward process. However, if you want to get noticed and increase your chances of landing lucrative contracts, now's the time to start implementing software solutions to track emissions across your entire organization and supply chain. Alternatively, take your commitment to environment responsibility a step further by implementing a complete sustainability management program by tracking sustainability metrics and communicating sustainability performance to stakeholders.

As a leading vegetation management and emergency restoration service, ABC Tree works in one of the most dangerous industries in the U.S. When a storm hits, for example, and a fallen tree disrupts electrical utility service, ABC Tree is on the job.

Since the work is so dangerous, accidents are an unfortunate yet sometimes inevitable reality of the job. But by implementing Intelex software, ABC Tree has shown steady decreases of the incidence of accidents and safety violations and is on their way to a safer—and eventually accident-free—future.

Head over to our press room to learn how ABC Tree has actually mitigated the impact of fines associated with OSHA penalties, and how the company is working to make penalties a thing of the past.

Mine safety legislation across the States is poised to get a new set of teeth.

Democrats are prepared to reveal the framework of a new bill to tighten mine safety and increase penalties for mines with a record of repeated safety violations after U.S. lawmakers reconvene on July 9. 

The bill follows the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in April when 29 miners were killed after an explosion at the West Virginia coal mine. The accident was the worst mining tragedy in the U.S. in four decades. The exact cause of the disaster is unknown, but the mine had a poor safety record and was cited for a number of safety infractions in the previous month. Last year, the mine was fined nearly $400,000 for serious safety violations relating mainly to ventilation and equipment, as well as poor execution of its safety plan. 

The Upper Big Branch disaster is not the only recent coal mining catastrophe in West Virginia. Only four years ago, 13 miners were trapped underground for two days following an explosion at the Sago coal mine. Only one miner survived. Multiple state and federal investigations failed to reveal the exact cause of the explosion, but—as with Upper Big Branch—the mine had a poor safety record and was cited for 208 violations by the Mine Safety and Health Administration in the previous year. 

With any luck, the forthcoming legislation will make mining tragedies a thing of the past by shutting the doors of mines that show a poor track record of safety compliance. It is also expected the bill will boost protection for whistleblowers who identify serious safety risks.

Democrats hope to have the bill passed by the end of the year and, in light of April’s tragedy—and in spite of some early criticisms by Republicans—it is unlikely the bill will receive much opposition. As a result, now is the time for mining companies across the U.S. to implement comprehensive, safety management systems to ensure ongoing compliance with safety requirements, avoid costs associated with safety violations and—most importantly—save lives.

As most of you know, Intelex has finally rolled out its powerful new 5.1 release.

With amazing platform enhancements, a suite of new Power Tools, new modules and much, much more, Intelex 5.1 is the most configurable, versatile version of Intelex’s pioneering software yet.

Check out the official press release in our Press Room, or head over to Intelex-Exchange, our client portal, for more details. And don't forget to download the colourful Intelex 5.1 Wallpaper for your desktop!

Here's an update from the ASSE Safety Conference...

Live from the ASSE Safety 2010 conference in Baltimore, MD!  Intelex has been having a great time at the show meeting many new people and connecting with the numerous Intelex clients who are attending. 

We had a fantastic time hosting a little after-show meet and greet on Monday night, attended by a number of potential and current clients.  We tried some local brews, chatted about the software and got to know each other a little better. 

The show continues through the end of June 15th, so feel free to swing by the Intelex booth and meet with Jason Fitzpatrick and Kyle Dodsworth.

To find out more about Intelex's solutions for Safety Management have a look through our products pages or give us a call at 1-877-932-3747.

In yesterday's weekly update EHS Today announced their list of the 50 most influential leaders in EHS.

The list is an interesting cross section of executives from government leaders to researchers and academics with a mini-bio of each of the appointees. Do you think anyone is missing from list? There is definitely a contingent of senior people with a wide breadth of expertise.

I was particularly struck by the impact that several of these leaders have made to the field and the interesting projects they are currently part of.

For a detailed description of the products that Intelex offers in EHS be sure to visit our product pages for Environment or Health & Safety. Or call us at 1-877-932-3747 for more information.

Only 4 days to go until Intelex is onsite at the annual ASSE Safety exposition. This is Intelex’s second consecutive year attending. Account Managers Jason Fitzpatrick and Kyle Dodsworth couldn’t be more excited to showcase Intelex’s environment, health and safety (EHS) software solutions at the conference.

The show runs from June 13 to 16 in Baltimore, Maryland. With more than 400 exhibitors and 4,000 EHS professionals in attendance, this is the must-attend safety conference of the year. Don’t miss out!

Come by booth 2557 to say hello!

For more information go to: http://www.asse.org/education/expo10/

In case you missed it we just posted an article over in the Intelex Press Room called "Compromised Training Programs Can Sabotage Quality". It ran today in Quality Digest Daily which is an electronic publication from Quality Digest magazine (www.qualitydigest.com).

Written by Intelex's Content Specialist (and blogger), Paul Leavoy - this article offers a wealth of information on the fall-out from neglected training programs in both product quality and service. If you like what you read be sure to have a look at some of Paul's other insightful writing - his newly published whitepaper on purchasing safety management software is also a must read.