Tag Archives: business

Barik IT Services snatches first annual ‘Partner of the Year’ Award as Intelex expands its global partner network

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As we grow internationally, Intelex is seeking to partner with regional organizations that have an intimate knowledge of their markets and a superior EHS experience. In late 2009, Intelex and Barik IT Services entered a partnership agreement designed to expand Intelex’s presence in Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  Nearly three years and 23 clients later, Intelex’s brand identity in this region has been significantly accentuated as the result of the work of ur esteemed partners. Barik team is led by Mr. Rahamathulla, an EHS expert with an intimate knowledge of Oman and UAE markets. What started as a one-man show has turned into an 10-person-strong, Intelex-only team that provides business development and implementation services across the region.    

Year over year, the Barik team has managed to meet our clients’ needs and provide services that conform to Intelex standards. A common denominator during our regular market visits … Read more...

Get back to the meaning of Quality with 9001: A Quality Odyssey

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Think quality is boring? That can only be attributable to human error. 

Sure: bolt sizes, calibrations, documents, procedures, work instructions…yeah, there’s nothing particularly compelling about all that, on the surface, anyway. Dig a little deeper, however, and you’ll be surprised what you find. 

If you missed our exclusive webinar, 9001: A Quality Odyssey, check it out whenever you like by heading over to our on-demand webinar library. This decidedly un-boring special presentation will open the pod bay doors of your mind by getting back to the meaning of quality management and turning to the very roots of standardization.

Far from a boring history lesson, A Quality Odyssey will link the quality standards of today to the very need for standardization and measurement in the first place, and look at the evolution of quality systems throughout the ages and what they mean for businesses today. 

Sign up today to learn how … Read more...

Common pitfalls of the business proposal

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Trying to justify the purchase of a software purchase you know will help you do your job better? As we all know, getting approval from those that hold the purse strings can be a tough proposition, regardless of how great the proposed solution is.

Building your case, what you need to know is that your business proposal can make or break you chances of landing that coveted solution.

Since EHS and quality personnel are typically preoccupied with different day-to-day concerns than your average director, CEO or CFO, it is important to maintain a strong sense of the bottom line as the business proposal is created. Here’s a few critical tips and pitfalls often encountered in the composition and presentation of a business proposal:

  • A focus on software over ROI: While the particular advantages of the software solution under consideration are worth mentioning in the business proposal, it is fundamentally important software details do not distract from the most
… Read more...

To integrate, or not to integrate… Part 2

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A consideration of the relative advantages and disadvantages of an IMS is a sound starting point to evaluate whether the time has come to integrate management platforms, or whether integration would generate no immediate or long-term payoff.

  • Cost efficiency: The aforementioned standards share several common requirements, including document control, auditing and training. An obvious cost-reduction arises when a business addresses each of these areas with shared software and processes. Also, registrars tend to provide discounts when they are able to audit two or more management systems together, as opposed to one at a time.
  • Time efficiency: While the logistics of implementing an IMS may be complicated at the onset, the relative simplicity of managing EHSQ systems together on an ongoing basis will ultimately save time and frustration.
  • Corporate Brand: Most Businesses understand that a negative EHSQ ‘event’ (for example, a spill, a product recall or an employee
… Read more...

To integrate, or not to integrate…

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Though environment, health, safety (EHS) and quality management issues are often handled by individual management systems, the guiding principles behind each of these areas share a common link — W. Edwards Deming. The American quality guru is most commonly associated with the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle, an iterative problem-solving process used to resolve quality issues and improve business performance. But it is important to remember the foremost EHS and quality management standards — including ISO14001 (environment), OSHAS 18000 (health and safety) and ISO 9001 (quality) — are all rooted in the PDCA or Deming Cycle.

Businesses that encounter regular overlap between these areas ought to consider the potential benefits of an Integrated Management System (IMS). An IMS coordinates all of an organization’s procedures, systems and processes within one complete framework and, in an ideal scenario, allows the organization to operate as a seamless whole, with unified objectives across all departments.

But a … Read more...

OSHA reopens MSD column debate for public comment

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Here one minute, gone the next. Now it’s back again. The controversial musculoskeletal disorder (MSDs) column is once again on the table as the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) considers making it a mandatory component of OSHA 300 logs.

If the MSD column is restored, businesses would be required to record details on all work-related MSDs, injuries that tend to develop over time and affect joints, tendons, ligaments, nerves and muscles.

The MSD column used to be a mainstay of the OSHA 300 log, until it was removed in 2003 (though then-OSHA head John Henshaw maintained employers still needed to lump MSDs in with the “injury” or “all other illness” categories). The administration signaled earlier this year it would restore the column to the log, before withdrawing it and indicating it would reach out to small businesses first.

Well, that time is now. Beginning today, OSHA is reopening the … Read more...

OSHA offers teleconferences to small business on proposed changes to 300 Log

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The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is looking for your feedback on plans to alter the 300 Log, a form containing details on workplace injuries and illnesses that must be completed by most U.S. businesses on a regular basis.

OSHA wants to restore a column to the log that would require employers to enter details on work-related muscoskeletal disorders (MSD).

Some opponents of the proposal to restore the column have complained that it is actually an attempt to revive an ergonomics standard that was repealed a decade ago. Before then, OSHA’s injury and illness log contained one column that lumped MSDs together with hearing. OSHA had planned on separating the two into separate columns, but the MSD column was removed altogether by 2003. Opponents also claim the new column might place an unnecessary burden on small businesses.

OSHA head Dr. David Michaels has insisted most small businesses won’t need … Read more...