The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to expand and refine environmental compliance requirements, including those related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In particular, facilities and organizations subject to EPA's mandatory GHG emission reporting rules should be preparing to submit reports covering calendar year 2012. Even an entity that reported 2010 or 2011 emissions will still have to adjust its data collection and information reporting efforts. Although reports typically are due March 31, that’s a Sunday this year so April 1 is the date.
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Tags:
Environmental risks,
Environmental,
EHS,
EPA,
ghg,
fracking,
climate change
If you’re responsible for hospital training requirements, and/or have responsibility for planning and carrying out a training program for your staff, you should know that OSHA regulations—such as the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS)—have been revised to conform to the UN’s Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals.
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Tags:
Corporate Governance,
Employer Best Practices,
Health & Safety,
OSHA,
Training,
EHS,
Hazcom
This is my third and final blog article on my thoughts on developments that may occur in 2013 in “Accounting Land” in the United States. I cover the activities at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Public Company Oversight Board (PCAOB), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and, finally, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).
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Tags:
Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
SEC,
Accounting & Tax,
Accountants,
US GAAP,
GAAP,
IFRS
Everyone has relationships in the workplace. Many relationships are purely professional, while some add personal elements, and one or more may even be very personal. Anti-discrimination laws may impose scrutiny on any relationship where at least one person is a manager or supervisor, or the owner of a small enterprise. In the U.S. these include laws (including Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, and comparable state laws), regulations and enforcement guidelines (from by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state equivalents), and court cases applying these standards. In Canada these include comparable human rights and occupational health and safety regimes.
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Tags:
Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
Employer Best Practices,
Employee Rights,
Workplace violence,
EEOC,
NLRB
This is the second of three blog articles on my thoughts on developments that may occur in 2013 in “Accounting Land” in the United States. In this article I discuss the joint projects that the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and its international counterpart, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), are working on. In my third blog article, I will cover the major activities at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Public Company Oversight Board (PCAOB), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and, finally, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).
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Tags:
SEC,
Accounting & Tax,
Lease Accounting,
Accountants,
IFRS
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to prepare and maintain records of occupational injuries and illnesses (I&I Logs) as they occur. OSHA also requires employers to post an annual I&I Summary in each “establishment” within their workplace by February 1, summarizing that workplace’s I&Is during the previous calendar year. In states that administer federal standards within state-run programs, employers follow the comparable state requirements. Because of this posting requirement, January is the time to confirm that your facility has maintained an adequate I&I Log during the year, and to prepare your summary for each workplace.
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Tags:
Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
Employer Best Practices,
Health & Safety,
Workplace violence
My last two blog postings discussed what happened in “Accounting Land” in the United States in 2012. But that’s history. What about the future? Let’s dust off the crystal ball and I’ll share with you my thoughts on developments that may occur in 2013, in a series of three blog articles.
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Tags:
SEC,
Accounting & Tax,
Lease Accounting,
Accountants,
US GAAP
If your facility handles sufficient quantities of hazardous materials (“hazmat”), then federal laws and regulations—specifically the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA)—requires you to compile and submit an annual inventory of qualifying hazmats to state and local agencies. Although EPCRA allows for abbreviated reporting (“Tier 1”) and full reporting (“Tier 2”), all states presently require Tier 2 reporting. Most agencies require facilities to use EPA’s “Tier 2” reporting forms and/or “Tier2/Submit” software, but some states have promulgated their own variants. Inventory reports are due on March 1 for the preceding calendar year, so January is a great time to confirm that your facility has collected and stored the appropriate data.
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Tags:
Health & Safety,
Environmental risks,
Environmental,
EHS,
EPA,
Hazcom
As part of the year in review series, insurance expert Barry Zalma identifies his three most significant insurance law cases of 2012. Here is his second selection:
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Tags:
Business & Legal,
Health & Safety,
Insurance,
Insurance Claims
SEC activities during 2012 have been dominated by its efforts to issue rules required by two major pieces of recent legislation:
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Tags:
Corporate Governance,
SEC,
Audit Standards,
JOBS Act
