As a living system, a company’s risk profile is continually shifting. The growing attention on sustainability and corporate responsibility (CSR) has stretched companies as they wrestle with ways to characterize and manage their sustainability and CSR risks.
Integrated EHS, sustainability, and CSR management systems provide a robust structure to manage risks. A key concept in an integrated management system is “the management of change” (MOC), which focuses on identifying and managing risks as operations or the operating environment change. MOC procedures and process typically kick-in when new equipment or manufacturing lines are installed, during mergers & acquisitions, or during internal re-organizations. On the corporate responsibility front, forward-thinking companies include the monitoring of third-party monitoring criteria in their MOC process.
Strong MOC processes are part of a company’s front line defense for risk reduction. The MOC process should pick up most risks that arise in between formal risk assessments. Read More
With the increasing need to address Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues, organizations are faced with several options on how to proceed in developing their internal capabilities. Beyond their sustainability and CSR strategy, there are nuts-and-bolts issues to consider, such as who will lead the effort and how to build the team or department.
McKinsey & Company recently published findings from its February 2010 survey on 
It is common knowledge that sustainability is a big deal. It is a multidimensional issue that impacts all sectors of society. Companies wrestle with how they are going to respond beyond the obvious of energy conservation and waste reduction, when sustainability begins to blur with corporate social responsibility (CSR).
A recent publication from the 
The issues and challenges presented in Green to Gold and suggested in REACH and the nanotechnology areas raise several issues. The first relates to an organization’s Management of Change structures and functions. The second relates to the EHS function’s capacity to manage and guide the organization in these areas.
Advances in material science have taken us into the age of nanotechnology. Nanotech issues and ideas metaphorically presented in the movie The Fantastic Voyage in 1963 are here. Nano engineered materials are being incorporated into everyday products such as materials to make them stain or bacteria resistant, tennis rackets to make them stronger and lighter, sunscreens to make them more effective, and drug delivery vehicles for super precise delivery of a drug at a desired site. The promise of nano materials appears to be wide, impacting many industries and products.