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EST Solutions, Inc. is a consulting
firm supplying ergonomic, safety and
training services to a diverse range
of nationally prominent businesses and
organizations, including Waste Management,
IBM, Exxon-Mobil, Fisher Scientific
and the Environmental Industries Association.
Founder and president Susan Eppes, a
Certified Safety Professional and Associate
in Risk Management, has 20 years of
experience in workplace safety and health
issues. She has a thorough understanding
of both sides of these issues—the
health and safety challenges facing
businesses, as well as the goals and
requirements of the regulatory community. |
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Two
major factors are continuing to place
enormous pressure on regulatory compliance:
business competitiveness and the increasing
sophistication of regulatory agencies.
“In today’s marketplace,
no major manufacturer can afford the
costs—whether loss of sales
or damaged reputation— associated
with adverse regulatory actions,”
says Eppes. “And make
no mistake, regulatory bodies have
gotten a lot smarter about discovering
information. They have better access,
better tools and better awareness.”
For
most organizations, training is key,
but to make it count, it must be verified
and tracked. “If you have
more than 10 employees, manual tracking
is impossible,” notes Eppes.
“Most people expect managers
to do everything these days. I’ve
seen sizable plants that have a single
safety person responsible for more
than 1,000 employees.” A
similar situation exists in companies
with a number of locations, in which
a single manager may be responsible
for health and safety across multiple
facilities, locations and types of
operations. In these scenarios, businesses
need more than tracking; they need
an easy-to-use system that continuously
allows them to determine what they
need to do, for whom, and by what
date.
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“I recommend TrueNorth and
their Navigator System to any company
that does not have a well-defined and
well-supported internal tracking program,”
says Eppes. “The benefits
are significant: first, the approach
is simple for the company to use. Basically,
all a company needs to do is conduct
the training, and fax the records to
TrueNorth.” The Navigator
system provides for verification of
incoming data, and provides continuous
access to the most current database
through the Internet. “Second,
you can respond to an incident or a
request much more promptly,”
continues Eppes, “because
you always have access to the latest
data. If you get a call that an accident
has occurred halfway across the country,
you can check training records immediately
to assess potential liability. Not only
does this give the company better information
on which to base decisions, but the
kind of responsiveness it permits builds
credibility with agencies, substantiating
the company’s safety efforts and
commitment. In addition, because of
its reliability and functionality, the
service permits effective management
of health and safety issues without
requiring the presence of ESH professionals
at every site. It’s ideal for
companies with many employees and many
locations.” |
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Companies using TrueNorth’s
services can expect better knowledge
and control over their compliance
activities. “The system
is simple and convenient to use, so
businesses can get more productivity
from those responsible for compliance,”
according to Eppes. “Because
of the expertise of TrueNorth’s
staff and the intelligence built into
the system, the data are of very high
quality. The database is available
continuously online, providing immediate
access to authorized individuals,
so evaluation and planning can be
done more efficiently. And finally,
clients receive the benefits of TrueNorth’s
extraordinary technical expertise
in a very broad range of health and
safety regulations."
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TrueNorth’s
Navigator online service enables organizations
to capture, record and report safety, health,
training and environmental data for more
effective management of compliance efforts.
For more information, call 713.466.0829.
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