Too few business and organisations provide the right equipment to dispose of substances properly or how to handle spills. As a result, even small spills plague businesses, schools, hospitals and other institutions. By Isaac Rudik at Compliance Solutions Canada – A Nimonik Affiliate

An Ontario laboratory, known for poor storage and handling of caustic and acidic substances, was fined numerous times by Ministry of Labour for not cleaning up its act. Even after several such actions, a worker was using “aqua regia” – a toxic mix of concentrated hydrochloric and nitric acid which forms a powerful oxidizing medium for cleaning tubes – and failed to follow standard safety procedures for cleaning up. When he finished, he simply poured about 60ml of residue in a waste bottle. The worker capped it securely and placed the bottle in a flammable storage cabinet.
Not surprisingly, what could go wrong did go wrong.

The bottle burst roughly an hour after it was placed in the cabinet, breaking an adjacent bottle of pyridine, which leaked onto the floor. Fortunately, nothing caught fire or exploded but the spill dissolved tiles while creating a lingering foul odour that lasted for days.
When questioned by his supervisors and ministry investigators the morning after the incident, the man shrugged his shoulders and said he’d never been given the proper equipment needed to store the chemical after he finished using it, or what to do if it spilled. He thought he’d done the right thing: He poured it into a safety bottle, tightened the cap and put it in a cabinet he thought was safe.

The fact is that while nearly every worker is carefully shown how to use toxic and hazardous materials, not nearly enough effort is put into providing the right equipment to dispose of substances properly or how to handle a spill. As a result, toxic spills – occasionally large but most often small – plague businesses, universities, schools, hospitals and other institutions. Keep Reading.

In the depths of recession, it’s tough for companies to think about something as removed from the bottom line as being a good corporate citizen. Yet doing so actually improves P&L. – By Isaac Rudik from Compliance Solutions Canada

A sure sign that the world is changing comes from a study done by the Centre for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College. Nearly one-third of companies surveyed said good “corporate citizenship” is a key component in recruiting and retaining quality employees. Yet just five years earlier, less than 10% of companies in a similar study said it was important.

Moreover, other surveys of customers, investors or lenders, and other stakeholders show that a plurality of them prefer doing business with responsible companies. Indeed, an increasingly common question in consumer market research asks if respondents avoid companies that don’t reflect their values and, consistently, more than half say they do.

Admittedly, in the depths of a strangling recession, it’s tough for companies to think about something as seemingly ethereal and removed from the bottom line as being a good corporate citizen. Yet doing so actually shows up on the P&L statement, either because loyal customers who like a company are more likely buy from them again, or – and this is just as likely – because an irresponsible company can end up paying hefty fines for a cavalier attitude. Keep Reading.

A growing number of savvy businesses and governments recognise that diligent recycling coupled with buying and using products coming out the other end of the recycling loop can save money and helps the environment. By Isaac Rudik at Compliance Solutions Canada - A Nimonik Affiliate

For most people, thoughts of recycling start and stop with wheeling a bin full of crumpled cans, empty bottles and disgusting old pizza cartons to the curb. Once the city truck collects the contents, recycling is pretty much out of sight and out of mind until the next pick-up. Few wonder or give any notice to what happens to the discards after the truck rumbles around the corner.

Yet a growing number of savvy businesses, government agencies and other organisations are starting to pay attention. They recognise that diligent recycling of industrial wastes coupled with buying and using products coming out the other end of the recycling loop saves serious money as well as seriously helps the environment.

Indeed, it’s amazing how a little recycling can have a major impact:

• One recycled can saves enough energy to power a TV set for three hours, about how long the average household watches the tube every day.
• One recycled plastic bottle saves enough energy to light a 60-watt bulb for three hours – maybe a lamp in the room where the TV is on for those three hours.
• One recycled glass bottle saves enough energy to run a computer 25 minutes.
• Roughly 70% less energy is required to recycle paper compared to making it new.

Crucially for anybody concerned about holding down costs, recycling can be a real money saver. If anyone knows how to control expenses, it’s Wal-Mart. By instituting a rigorous recycling programme, Wal-Mart is eliminating the need for the equivalent of 22,000 garbage trucks. Continue reading here.

About a month ago, Isaac Rudik, from Compliance Solutions Canada, and I spoke about environmental management systems, green plans and other items of interest. Here is the edited video, please let us know what you think.

A bill moving through Parliament in Ottawa will push fines for not recycling up steeply, a lot of money to pay for not recycling a $1 newspaper. By Isaac Rudik at Compliance Solutions Canada – a Nimonik affiliate

Blue bins and boxes are so common around workplaces that people don’t even notice them anymore; they’re part of the industrial landscape. But while most employees may be in the habit of tossing a soda can or old newspaper in the container, not as many businesses are as diligent about recycling.

That may be about to change because the price for not recycling is set to skyrocket.

A bill moving through the House of Commons in Ottawa will push fines up to as much as a whopping $6-million for a corporation found guilty of violating recycling provisions of environmental laws – and a biting $1-million for company officers. Even employees can be held liable, although the fines would be somewhat less.

That’s a lot of money to pay for not recycling a $1 newspaper. Keep Reading here.