Along with our Middle Eastern partner Barik IT Solutions, Intelex is pleased to announce two new additions to our client roster, Majan Electricity Company and Daleel Petroleum both located in Oman, have selected Intelex Technologies to provide them with an EHS Management System.

Both companies are key players in Oman’s energy industry with Majan Electricity being a leader in electricity distribution and supply and Daleel Petroleum a top oil and gas operator. Majan Electricity selected the Intelex EHS Management System as a means of automating all of their Environmental, Health & Safety processes into one unified system, working to effectively manage and track such core business components as Audits Management, EHS Training, Incident Reporting, Permit Management, Document Control, Environmental Management and Risk Assessments. Daleel Petroleum selected Intelex’s Safety Management System as a means of automating and tracking their EHS activities across all of their operating sites. Both companies will be leveraging the web-based Intelex platform to foster real-time reporting and generating a complete 360-degree view into their EHS business processes and performances.

To learn more about how an Intelex solution can help you improve your organization's EHS performance, request a free demo here.

Intelex recently attended two conferences that took place in the Middle East, both with a focus on addressing growing HSE challenges in the workplace. John Phyper, Intelex's EVP of Sales, Marketing and Alliances travelled to Doha Qatar first to participate in the 5th Annual HSE Forum in Oil, Gas & Petrochemicals. Taking place over 4 days, the Forum followed in the footsteps of the outstandingly successful 4th Annual HSE Meeting in 2008 and had over 150 regional and international senior level HSE professionals gathered to share their opinions and insights with their industry peers. This series of HSE Forums has proven itself to be the focal point for discussion on the best practices, innovative solutions and creative ideas on successful HSE compliance in the oil and gas industry. John also attended "Managing HSE in the Construction Industry," hosted by the Oman Society of Contractors which took place in Oman and specifically looked at recently introduced health and safety legislation as well as health and safety standards in the construction industry. Intelex's Middle Eastern partners, the Barik Group, were also in attendance at both events.

The conferences both addressed the shifting culture of safety in the workplace and the importance of implementing and maintaining a HSE Management System to have a pro-active and re-active solution to workplace safety. "There is a significant shift by companies to put in place robust systems to ensure their workers and contractors mitigate environmental damage and practice safety in the workplace," commented Phyper on the emerging industry trends.

Intelex's web-based HSE Management solutions provide a single, organization-wide platform for all safety data, policies, objectives and initiatives. Find out how an Intelex Safety Management Solution or Environmental Management Solution can help your organization save time, money and resources.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently proposed a new GHG emissions program designed to further regulate the amount of greenhouse gas produced in the US. The proposed Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule would require large facilities to obtain operating permits for their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Large facilities are defined as those emitting more than 25,000 tons per year CO2e. According to the EPA these large facilities make up nearly 70% of US GHG emissions. Additionally newly constructed facilities and significantly modified facilities would be required to use the best available control technology to minimize GHG emissions under the proposed rule.

Under Title V, the EPA is proposing an applicability threshold of 25,000 tons per year (tpy) CO2e for existing facilities. Facilities with emissions of less than 25,000 tpy CO2e would not be required to obtain an operating permit.

Under Prevention of Significant Deterioration, a program designed to minimize emissions from new or modified sources, the major stationary source threshold is 25,000 tpy CO2e. This is the threshold used to determine if a new facility or a major modification to an existing facility would require a PSD permit. The significance threshold is set at 10,000 to 25,000 tpy CO2e.  A PSD permit would be required if an existing facility makes modifications that increase emissions inside the range set.

The proposed rule includes the six main greenhouse gases; carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).  If the proposed rule is adopted, the rule would take effect in the spring of 2010. 

*Jonna McConaughy is Intelex's Air Emissions Specialist and is based out of Intelex's satellite location in Pittsburgh PA

The Envinronmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced its new mandatory GHG reporting program will commence on January 1st 2010 with reports being due in 2011. The new mandatory GHG rule from the EPA brings some changes from the originally proposed rule.   Some of the changes are outlined below.

INDUSTRIES INCLUDED
Excluded from reporting are the following industries:

Electronics manufacturing Ethanol production Fluorinated GHG production Food processing Industrial landfills Magnesium production Oil and natural gas systems SF6 from electrical equipment Underground coal mines Wastewater treatment Suppliers of coal

Industries required to report include those facilities emitting more than 25,000 metric tons CO2e per year.  These industries may include fossil fuel and natural gas suppliers, vehicle and engine makers (excluding light duty vehicles/engines), cement manufacturers, paper manufacturers, chemical manufacturers and others.

MONITORING OR BEST AVAILABLE DATA
Best available data may be used for Q1 2010 in lieu of required monitoring. Extensions for use of best available data may be requested within the year 2010 but not beyond this time.

QUALITY ASSURANCE
Calibration requirements for flow meters and monitors were added.  Accuracy to 5% is specified.

REPORT SUBMITTALS
The mandatory rule specifies reports are to be submitted to the EPA. Data collection was not delegated to the states.
The EPA is working to update the consolidated emissions reporting schema (CERS), the data schema used in submittals of Emission Inventories, to include GHG data.  This standardized data format will assist in data exchange between federal, state, and local agencies as well as other GHG registries and protocols.
Reports may be submitted in an XML format via web based system that is currently under construction.

DATA RETENTION
Records must be kept for 3 years under the mandatory rule.  This is down from 5 years in the proposed rule.

END OF REPORTING
Should a facility reduce their GHG emissions under the 25,000 tons CO2e per year limit for 5 consecutive years, they may cease annual GHG reporting to the EPA.  Should a facility reduce their GHG emissions under 15,000 metric tons CO2e per year for 3 consecutive years, they may cease to report GHG emissions.  Should a facility cease GHG emitting activities or shut down completely, reporting is not required.

 *Jonna McConaughy is Intelex's Air Emissions Specialist and is based out of Intelex's satellite location in Pittsburgh PA

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.

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

As we move more and more towards an increasingly eco-conscious and environmentally friendly society, progressively steps are being taken by governments, officials and regulatory bodies to help facilitate this transition at a national level both efficiently and effectively. One such area that has received particular attention is the industrial sector; this is ultimately due to the amounts of emissions released into our atmosphere from industrial and manufacturing sites which can be linked to the effects of global warming. Mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions by organizations operating in the industrial sector is an initiative that has already been explored and adopted in Canada and in the state of California, but a recent article posted on environmental-expert.com reveals the details of a newly proposed national emissions reporting system in the US that if passed will prove to be a large step forward for the green movement.

The article, entitled “EPA Releases Proposed Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule,” outlines how the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a comprehensive national system for reporting greenhouse gas emissions under the authority of the Clean Air Act. Originally published in the Federal Register (the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations in the US), the new rule would require industrial facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of carbon dioxide equivalent (C02e) to submit an annual emissions report to the EPA beginning in 2011 for the year 2010. Smaller businesses that generate less than 25,000 tons of C02e annually will not be required to submit a report. With the main goal of this new initiative to harvest accurate and comprehensive data, the EPA plans to use the figures generated to inform future policy decisions. Although this newly proposed rule would see many US organizations having to generate emissions reports for the first time, in Canada and the state of California this is nothing new. Canada’s Turning the Corner, a regulatory framework for industrial greenhouse gas emissions announced in April of 2007, requires Canadian industrial companies to submit annual reports with the goal of reducing emissions 18% from their 2006 levels by the year 2010. In California, 2009 marks the first year of required emissions reporting under California’s groundbreaking Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32), part of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The Act’s goal is an emissions reduction of 25% over the 30 year period from 1990 to 2020, and then in 2050 a reduction to 80% below 1990 levels. This newly proposed rule is keeping with the recent trend of creating a culture of corporate transparency, in which the barriers restricting access to once undisclosed information are being brought down to increase visibility into organizations operations  and encourage a higher level of corporate social responsibility.

One particular challenge that comes along with emissions reporting is tracking and recording an accurate set of data. As the article mentions, “Verification will be an important element of the requirements. The reporting organization will self-certify the emissions data and other specified activity data and submit the inventory report to the EPA for quality assurance verification.” The EPA has estimated the average cost of reporting emissions under the newly proposed rule to be approximately $0.04 per metric ton. With organizations responsible for self-certifying their own emissions data, a cost friendly and effective reporting system is crucial to finding success within these new regulations. Web based emissions tracking solutions like the one offered by Intelex Technologies have been implemented by many organizations to handle their emissions reporting due to their cost-effectiveness , ability to track across multiple locations and their overall ease of use and implementation. With more and more green initiatives being proposed and passed it is clear that the future of the industrial sector will no doubt continue to follow the trend of corporate transparency, ultimately fostering sustainability and industry growth in a period of economic downturn.

A recent article published on Business News America's website addresses Intelex Technologies growing presence into the South American market. During an interview with journalist Renzo Dasso, Intelex Account Manager Jason Fitzpatrick explained how an increased awareness surrounding environmental considerations has been a motivating factor for many organizations to begin implementing web-based environmental management systems, despite the current economic climate, "We have done quite well in spite of the global financial crisis. The environment industry is developing rapidly and companies are becoming more aware of these issues, which for us is an advantage."

Visit the Business News America website to read the complete article.

Intelex Technologies has released its latest software innovation, the Intelex OpenPass API, a revolutionary application programming interface that will enable its users to sync and report data between multiple business management systems.

The Intelex OpenPass API functions as a conduit for seamlessly feeding data between multiple software programs. This means that Intelex’s environment, quality, and health & safety, and business management Software can now share data with pre-existing business software applications; thereby, saving time and resources while maintaining a degree of accuracy that’s difficult to achieve when data is transmitted manually.

The City of Calgary and St. Gobain are the first Intelex clients to take advantage of the OpenPass API.  The City of Calgary used our OpenPass API to import employee and location data from their pre-existing HR system into their Intelex System. They also used the OpenPass API to export employee injury data (i.e., incident number with date and time stamp) from Intelex’s Master Incidents Module into their HR program.

St. Gobain used the OpenPass API to import training courses, employee lists, and employee workgroup data from Lotus Notes into the Intelex System and Training Management Module. By using the OpenPass API St. Gobain was able to quickly populate their new Intelex System with historical data that will be a key factor in reporting accuracy and trending.

If you think that your organization could use the Intelex OpenPass API to import, export, and sync data between a pre-existing management program and your Intelex System, send an email to client.relations@intelex.com or call 416.599.6009 for more details.

Free Environmental Aspects, Management Review, Monitoring and Measurement, and Quality Nonconformance content is now available on the Intelex-Exchange! Click here for instructions on how to upload them directly into your Intelex System.

SCORECARDS
Environmental Aspects - Activities, Products or Services This Year by Type
Monitoring and Measurement - Upcoming by Month This Year
Monitoring and Measurement - Overdue Counts
Monitoring and Measurement - This Year by Type
Monitoring and Measurement - Scheduled vs. Completed This Year
Monitoring and Measurement - Activities This Year by Equipment
Monitoring and Measurement - By Location

DASHBOARDS
Monitoring and Measurement

REPORTS
Environmental Aspects - List of Activities, Products or Services by Location
Environmental Aspects - Upcoming Activities, Products or Services in the next 30 Days
Environmental Aspects - Overdue Activities, Products or Services
Environmental Aspects - Activities, Products or Services and Related Inputs
Environmental Aspects - By Condition and Location
Management Review - Related Standard Nonconformances
Management Review - Related Corrective and Preventive Actions for SNCR
Management Review - Related Quality Nonconformances
Management Review - Related QNCR Corrective and Preventive Actions
Monitoring and Measurement - Upcoming Activities in the next 30 Days
Monitoring and Measurement - Overdue Activities
Monitoring and Measurement - Activities by Type
Monitoring and Measurement - Activities by Equipment
Monitoring and Measurement - Activity History
Quality Nonconformance - Average Cost by Customers and Location
Quality Nonconformance - Cost by Product and Location
Quality Nonconformance - Total Cost by Customers and Location