Regulatory Compliance Articles

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Thomas Pretty @ Friday, 16th May 2008 @ 2:34 AM

The acronym PASMA refers to the Prefabricated Access Suppliers and Manufacturers Association. Its purpose is to strive for the safe usage of scaffolds and towers in the construction industry. PASMA as a body has been in existence since the seventies working towards a safer operating environment for workers at height. As the body has worked so vehemently towards introducing safety measures, today the PASMA certificate stands as the industry standard for those working at height. This has b... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Tristan Andrews @ Saturday, 26th April 2008 @ 10:25 PM

When you are dealing with collection agencies the first thing to understand is that not all of them are like the ones you see in the debt counseling commercials. Some are respectful of your rights under the law. Others however are the polar opposite and they will use illegal tactics to get you to pay. Basically, these tactics are the use of threats and harassment. A good collector from your viewpoint is one that asks if you have the means to pay your debt in a nice manner. This colle... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Tristan Andrews @ Thursday, 24th April 2008 @ 1:08 PM

Collectors have to study and pass tests with their companies in many cases before they become collectors. They know the laws that they legally must adhere to as collectors and they can actually be fined for breaking the law. But they don't always follow it. Some companies and individual collectors obey the law and some don't. By law they are required to supply you with all information in regards to your original debt. They have to supply you with the information within 30 days o... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Tristan Andrews @ Thursday, 24th April 2008 @ 12:57 PM

When the collector calls you an excessive amount of time per day that is one form of harassment. This harassment can be stopped. You have protection under the law against certain abusive tactics that some collection agencies employ. In the state of Texas, business solicitation calls can not be placed before 8 am or after 8 pm your time. That means that if a collection agency calls you before or after those hours, its harassment. You have the legal right to hang up under this condition.more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Thomas Pretty @ Wednesday, 9th April 2008 @ 5:57 PM

Regulations are now in abundance concerned with fire safety and efficient training procedures to ensure the wellbeing of staff members in the event of fire. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 came into effect around two years ago and ensures that those who own and run a business must put in place efficient fire safety procedures and make provisions for effective training schemes for members of staff. One of the regulations involves extensive fire risk assessments being carrie... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Thomas Pretty @ Friday, 4th April 2008 @ 5:38 AM

Hotels present unique fire safety issues due to their cross section of occupants and wide variety of building types. Research by the Fire Protection Association (FPA) has revealed many problems with hotel fire safety, particularly in alerting occupants in the event of a fire and in the provision of adequate escape routes. Many of these problems are associated with small and medium sized hotels rather than those forming part of large chains. It is critical that, if a fire occurs, the occup... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Thomas Pretty @ Thursday, 3rd April 2008 @ 2:19 PM

Most workers in the building trade will happily claim themselves competent in all manner of fields. Years of experience working in the industry tends to make many individuals consider themselves experts when in fact their expertise are not recognised by any official body. In terms of scaffold training, the issue of competency become vitally important as in most countries it is now the case that when using a scaffold, a competent person must be on site to overview the work and working con... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Thomas Pretty @ Thursday, 27th March 2008 @ 10:14 PM

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, it is a legal requirement that all businesses provide 'adequate fire safety training' to all staff. Precisely what 'adequate' means depends on the nature of each business and the fire hazards contained in its buildings. Importantly, the training provided must take account of the findings of the fire risk assessment and the fire safety consultant. In 2004, Fire Brigades attended over 33,400 fires in commercial premis... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Thomas Pretty @ Thursday, 13th March 2008 @ 1:21 PM

Fire poses a major threat to all businesses and should be of prime importance to any managing director or boss. The consequences of a fire can be far reaching and can even leave a business in the same state as the burnt out premises; ruined. If operating in a single premises the effects can be even more devastating, hence the importance of fire risk assessment procedures are an essential component of any health and safety protocol. For companies who house supplies and other integral busi... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Eli Kantor @ Saturday, 8th March 2008 @ 1:40 PM

On February 22, 2008, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey announced higher civil fines against employers who violate federal immigration laws. The new rule will become effective as of March 27, 2008. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, employers may be fined for knowingly employing unauthorized aliens, for failing to comply with the requirements relating to employment eligibility verification forms, for wrongful discrimination on the basis of nationality or citizenship, and for im... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Eli Kantor @ Monday, 21st January 2008 @ 2:13 AM

Attention California Employers: On January 1, 2008, the Minimum Wage rises to $8 per hour from $7.50. So, you will need to make appropriate adjustments to your payroll systems. Further, many employers also are raising their employee's wages that are above the minimum wage in order to retain them. Other big changes effecting California Employers in 2008 are: New I-9 Forms, employment verification forms will be required effective December 26, 2007, for all new hires. Expect an i... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Eli Kantor @ Saturday, 29th December 2007 @ 7:20 PM

Attention small business owners. Recently, Immigration has dramatically increased workplace enforcement of Immigration law, after the failure of Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. The latest tool that they are using is working together with the Social Security Administration to ferret out unauthorized aliens in the work place. For years the Social Security Administration ("SSA") has been sending employers so called "mismatch letters" when the name and soci... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Monday, 3rd December 2007 @ 12:43 AM

Industries using hazardous chemicals ("Dangerous Products" in European parlance) in their processes are especially vulnerable to accidents. These substances include the possibility of unforeseen and even catastrophic release of toxic or inflammable liquids and gases. Catastrophic release is defined as a major uncontrolled emission, fire, or explosion, involving one or more highly hazardous chemicals, that presents serious danger to employees in the workplace. Recognizing these vul... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Tuesday, 27th November 2007 @ 3:40 PM

One of the occupational hazards of living in the modern industrial age is noise exposure, both in and away from the workplace. Acoustic noise can be defined as unwanted sound and sounds louder than 80 decibels (dB) are considered potentially dangerous. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), more than 30 million Americans are regularly exposed to hazardous sound levels. According to the EPA the number of people exposed to work induced noise dama... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Monday, 26th November 2007 @ 12:49 AM

The RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC is often referred to as the Lead-free RoHS, even though it covers five other hazardous materials. The reason for this nick-name may be the ubiquitous nature of lead in electronic equipment and the potential health hazards associated with lead contamination. As per the directive, a product has to be below a threshold limit of 1000 parts per million (ppm) of lead on a homogeneous (any single substance that cannot be separated mechanically) material basis. The ... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Joe Bella @ Tuesday, 20th November 2007 @ 3:08 PM

It's hard to see why would want to be chief executive of Horn Nut Inc., retailer of vitamins and health food with problems galore. Since the death last September of founder David B. Shakarian, nutrition search in the company has been consumed by a power struggle between his son-in-law, David Lucas, and his handpicked successor as chief executive, Gary A. Daum. Last November a federal grand jury indicted five employees for allegedly making false nutrition search claims about vening P... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Monday, 19th November 2007 @ 12:32 AM

The primary responsibility of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is to develop and enforce health and safety standards that protect workers in the workplace. It has mandatory power to audit organizations for compliance of health and safety standards. OSHA conducts workplace inspections to make certain that employers are complying with the standards and providing a safe and healthful workplace. OSHA inspectors, called compliance and safety officers, carry out these in... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Monday, 19th November 2007 @ 12:32 AM

The RoHs directive restricts the use of lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), hexavalent chromium (Hex-Cr), poly-brominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) to maximum 1000 parts per million and cadmium to 100 ppm. The restrictions are on a homogeneous material basis, which means that they apply to any single substance that could (theoretically) be separated mechanically. The restricted substances have traditionally found extensive usage in Industrial control switches because... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Thursday, 15th November 2007 @ 9:32 PM

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Union aims at minimization of the impact of e-waste (discarded or end-of-life electrical or electronic equipment [EEE]), on the environment by increasing re-use and recycling and reducing the amount of WEEE going to landfills. It is closely linked to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive 2002/95/EC which seeks to limit the presence of six hazardous materials in electrical and electronic e... more...

Legal » Regulatory Compliance | By Sandra Noble @ Monday, 12th November 2007 @ 3:33 PM

Directive 2002/95/EC, effective July 1, 2006, is not an EU law. Individual member states are to have their own regulations in line with the directive. The resultant variations from state to state, (including differences in verification and penalty clauses), pose difficulties for suppliers of electrical and electronic goods in developing compliance programs. For compliance suppliers have to guarantee that the entire unit is free (within threshold limit) of the six hazardous materials specified. T... more...