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OSHA
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Feeds
If you feel
you are constantly checking the OSHA website for topics that
affect your business, or would simply like to hear about
specific regulatory changes without searching for them
yourself, you may be interested in OSHA’s new use of the
Really Simply Syndication (RSS) system. Basically RSS will
regularly scan the OSHA website (or others) for changes and
send a linked headline to you each time new information
becomes available. All you need to do to get started is
download and RSS reader (some browsers may already have
readers installed) and choose a feed, such as the OSHA
website’s “OSHA News Releases Feed.” The benefits of using
RSS include not having to constantly search/scan websites for
new content as well as the ability to subscribe to multiple
feeds from multiple organizations!
If you would
like to learn more about OSHA’s implementation of RSS feeds
just visit the OSHA website at
http://www.osha.gov and click on the “RSS Feeds” link in
the upper left corner of the web page.
OSHA’s
Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program (NEP)
Recently there have been a
number of occupational incidents involving the hazards of
combustible dust. This has caused the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) to reissue its Combustible Dust
National Emphasis Program (NEP).
The term “combustible dust”
refers to fine dusts such as metals, wood dust, carbon dusts
(coal, etc), plastic dust, bio-solids, and many others that
can very easily form highly ignitable mixtures in air, which
if exposed to an ignition source, can cause fires, explosions,
and ultimately employee injuries and property damage. With
seemingly harmless and easily overlooked presence, it is all
too easy for an excess of combustible dust build up to be the
cause of occupational incidents.
OSHA’s NEP
will focus on facility inspections of specific industry groups
including Agriculture, Food Products, Chemicals, Textiles,
Forest and Furniture Products, Metal Processing, Tire and
Rubber Manufacturing, Paper Products, Wastewater Treatment,
Recycling Operations, and Coal dust and coal handling.
Although the focus of OSHA’s NEP will be specific, this is not
an issue that is confined to one industry. With many materials
being capable of ignition in fine particulate form, it is very
important to maintain good awareness about the hazards of
combustible dust and take precautions to protect workers. At a
minimum, this should start with good housekeeping, proper
ventilation, and periodic inspections. To learn more about
combustible dust hazards or OSHA’s national emphasis program
visit the OSHA website at
http://www.osha.gov.
OSHA Publishes Final Rule on employer payment
of PPE and Semi-Annual Regulatory Agenda
OSHA recently
published a final rule in the federal register changing
employer provided Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
requirements. The final rule requires that PPE be provided at
no cost to employees whenever required in the workplace. There
are a few very specific exceptions to this rule which include
protective equipment like safety-toe shoes and prescription
safety glasses, because these items are considered to be very
personal in nature. The rule becomes effective on February 13,
2008 and must be implemented by May 15, 2008.
OSHA also
published their Semi-Annual Regulatory Agenda in the federal
register this past month. The agenda is a good way to keep
track of upcoming occupational safety and health regulatory
changes and includes descriptions and the status of proposed
regulations in four stages; Pre-rule, Proposed rule, Final
Rule, and Completed Actions. Some of the topics on the current
agenda include: Occupational Exposure to Beryllium,
Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica, Electric Power
Transmission and Distribution; Electrical Protective
Equipment, etc.
For more
information on the Semi-Annual Regulatory agenda and upcoming
regulatory changes visit the OSHA website at
http://www.osha.gov.
New ISO standards to improve
quality of water services to consumers
Recent ISO
standards have been put in place to manage limited water
resources so as to allow for safe drinking water for the
world’s population. Three new standards came into effect and
provide guidelines for service activities relating to
wastewater sewerage systems and water supply systems. These
standards were put in place in order to help achieve a level
of quality of water that promotes sustainable development.
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1100
ISO standards highlighted at Bali
conference as essential to voluntary and regulatory efforts to
fight climate change
At this
year’s United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
meeting, the issue of climate change was discussed with
respect to the ISO process. The ISO process has proved to be
an effective tool for developing and maintaining international
consensus amongst countries. It has become clear that the need
to act for the sake of future generations has never been more
urgent, and ISO may be the tool to unite countries in slowing
the effects of climate change.
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1099
New edition of ISO's quality management
specification for international oil and gas industries
ISO
recently released an updated version of the specification
ISO/TS 29001, which ensures secure and dependable equipment
and serves throughout the international gas and oil industries
by providing a unique document with requirements for quality
management. ISO/TS 29001:2007 has been expanded, with 23
modifications made to the standard. It has been developed to
better meet the needs of the oil and gas industry, as well as
government and regulatory agencies, as the entity for
qualification of the quality management systems of service
suppliers and equipment manufacturers.
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1098
ISO, WRI, and WBCSD announce
cooperation on greenhouse gas accounting and verification
Three
organizations have recently announced that they will
collaborate to promote their greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting
and reporting standards. ISO (International Organization for
Standardization), WRI (World Resources Institute) and WBCSD
(World Business Council for Sustainable Development) have
signed a memorandum to mutually promote the ISO 14064
standards, as well as the WRI and WBCSD GHG Protocol
standards. This collaboration is in response to concerns that
the two standards may not be consistent, and the three
organizations seek to prove that they can be used effectively
and in a complementary manner.
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1093
ISO publishes international
benchmark for incident preparedness and operational continuity
management
ISO
technical committee Societal Security has released the
first internationally recognized benchmark document which
addresses incident preparedness and continuity management.
ISO/PAS 22399:2007, Societal Security – Guideline for
incident preparedness and operational continuity management
recognizes that natural disasters, technology-related
accidents, acts of terror and environmental incidents have
demonstrated that neither public nor private sectors are
invulnerable from catastrophe. This has led to an
international awareness that organizations must know how to
prepare for and respond to crises.
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1094
Latest issue of The ISO Survey shows
16% rise in ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications
The ISO
Survey – 2006 found that certification to both ISO 9001 and to
ISO 14001 increased in 2006 by 16%. Certification to more
recent ISO management system standards for both the medical
device sector and the automotive sector increased by over 60%.
These findings illustrate the extent to which ISO’s management
system standards are becoming integrated within the global
economy in which they function.
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1089
Record participation for 5th
meeting of ISO Working Group on Social Responsibility
The fifth
plenary meeting of the ISO Working Group on Social
Responsibility was attended by 400 experts representing the
six participating stakeholder groups: : industry; government;
labor; consumers; nongovernmental organizations; and service,
support, research and others. The meeting was in regard to the
future ISO 26000 standard, which gives guidance on social
responsibility. ISO 26000 is intended for use by all
organizations, and will contain guidance, not requirements. It
will not be used as a certification standard and is not a
management system.
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1090
New ISO standard encourages
sustainability in building construction
“ISO
21930:2007,
Sustainability in building
construction – Environmental declaration of building products",
is the new ISO standard which will prove to be a very helpful
tool for the construction sector. The building construction
industry is recognized as a major employer, but also as a
sector that is accountable for generating a great quantity of
waste and pollution. The standard is hoped to cause a major
improvement in lowering waste in the building industry.
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1087
International Standards are key
for promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy sources
The WEC
(World Energy Council) released an overview of the chief role
that International Standards play in supporting the expansion
and promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy
sources. International Standards of this type were recognized
as beneficial in that they avoid unnecessary technical
barriers to trade, create global markets for energy efficient
technologies, and provide common metrics for defining and
measuring energy performance.
For
more information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1088
NORA
- National Occupational Research Agenda Draft Update
NORA is a
sector based research agenda that considers high priority
Safety and Health research topics for improvement in the
following eight sectors:
-
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
-
Construction
-
Healthcare
and Social Assistance
-
Manufacturing
-
Mining
-
Services
-
Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities
-
Wholesale
and Retail Trade
A draft
strategic plan is being developed for each sector and is
expected to be available next spring. To learn more and view
some of the topics of the strategic plans visit NORA at the
CDC website here:
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora/
NSC
- The National Safety Council Announces Results of Annual
Consumer Perception Survey
The NSC
survey incorporated input from 1,614 randomly selected adults
and concluded that nearly 1 in 3 Americans believe nothing
can be done to prevent accidental injuries. This indicates a
large paradigm shift from these Americans believing they have
no control over their personal safety and health may be needed
in order to continue to improve injury and illness rates. The
poll did show most Americans are concerned about accidental
injuries, 46% of those interviewed ranked them as the number 1
risk to their health and well being and the majority also
showed that they do have some faith in their employer’s
occupational safety and health programs. To read more about
the survey visit the National Safety Council website here:
http://www.nsc.org/news/pessimist.htm.
OSHA
Request for Information on new Emergency Response Standard
OSHA has
recently indicated they are aware that current emergency
response regulations do not reflect the most up-to-date
practices and improvements in this area of occupational safety
and health. In light of this, they have published a Request
for Information (RFI) in the public register to give the
public and those more familiar with current ER practices and
recent improvements a chance to give their thoughts on what
should be changed or added (if anything) to the current
emergency response OSHA standards. The RFI is open for comment
until December 10, 2007. For more information and submission
of comments, visit the
Federal Register.
Justices: EPA can control car emissions
In a 5-4 decision,
the Supreme Court said the Clean Air Act gives the
Environmental Protection Agency the authority to regulate the
emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from
cars. Greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the landmark
environmental law, Justice John Paul Stevens said in his
majority opinion.
Click here for more information
Future
ISO 26000 standard on social responsibility reaches positive
turning point
The development of the future
ISO 26000 standard giving guidance on social responsibility
has reached a positive "turning point" in terms of consensus
and trust among the broad base of participating stakeholders.
For more information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1049
ISO
and UN Global Compact Reinforce Cooperation on Social
Responsibility Standard
ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and the
United Nations Global Compact Office (UNGCO) have signed a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance their cooperation
on the development of the future
ISO
26000 standard giving guidance on social responsibility
(SR).
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1039
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Lean Today, Here Tomorrow - Simple
Tools and Common Sense Can Keep You in Business
This article presents a roadmap
to help any manager make an informed decision about where to
invest precious resources. Like any good manager, you must
have a plan--the simpler the better. To help you decide on the
best process improvement system for your company, ask the
following four questions about your prospective choice. If all
of them can be answered in the affirmative, you have a winner.
For more information:
http://www.qualitydigest.com/currentmag/articles/04_article.shtml
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A New Business
Tool to Help Organizations Communicate Their Environmental
Performance
A new
standard in the ISO 14000 series of standards is expected to
help users increase business support and shareholder
confidence and, at the same time, promote their environmental
credentials, achievements and performance. The new
ISO 14063:2006,
Environmental management –
Environmental communication – Guidelines and examples,
will assist organizations to communicate their views and
present and explain the environmental implications of their
activities, products and services…. It advises them to listen
to interested parties and incorporate their views and
requests.
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1023
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ISO Standard Will Help Purchasers by Clarifying Environmental
Labels
In order to
address this problem, ISO has published
ISO 14025:2006,
Environmental labels and declarations – Type III environmental
declarations – Principles and procedures,
which will benefit business to business communication, by
enabling purchasers to make comparisons between products
fulfilling the same function, and encourage improvement of
environmental performance.
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1020
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How to Recycle Practically Anything - Old Myths Are Shattering
and New Options Come Online
Don’t throw
away those exercise videos and ubiquitous AOL CDs. Jim
Williams wants you to mail old videotapes and CDs to him, so
that more than 40 disabled staffers at his ACT Recycling in
Columbia, Missouri can recycle them. And, oh, don’t toss out
those used Fed-Ex envelopes or broken smoke detectors; their
manufacturers take them back for recycling
For more
information:
http://www.emagazine.com/view/?3172
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UN's Climate Change Chief Praises New ISO 14064 Standards
ISO is
making an important contribution to climate protection," says
Richard Kinley, Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in an
exclusive interview in the June issue of ISO Focus (http://www.iso.org/isofocus),
the magazine of the International Organization for
Standardization.
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1013
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New ISO 14064 Standards Provide Tools for Assessing and
Supporting Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Emissions Trading
The ISO 14064 standards for greenhouse
gas accounting and verification published on 1 March 2006 by
ISO provide government and industry with an integrated set
of tools for programs aimed at reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, as well as for emissions trading.
For more information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref994
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EU Low Voltage Directive (LVD) - Updated Standards List
The Commission of the European Union
(EU) has published an updated list of standards that can be
applied to demonstrate conformity with the essential
requirements of the EU’s Low Voltage Directive.
For More Information:
Directive 73-23-EEC Amendment 2005-C 284-01.pdf
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Don't let your company go to waste: Find an environmentally
safe and cost effective method of disposal
Often businesses don't think twice about throwing away
used fluorescent lamps (light bulbs) and other office and
facility waste that they have accumulated, but they should.
Fluorescent lamps, batteries. computers, PCB containing
ballasts and mercury containing devices are hazardous waste
regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA )
under the Universal Waste Rule (UWR). The risks of
improperly disposing of universal waste are not just
environmental –
they’re financial.
For more information::
http://www.nlrlamp.com/pdfs/waste.pdf
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ISO 14064 standard on greenhouse gases in wings of UN's
Climate Change Conference
Targeted for release in mid-March 2006, the three-part ISO
14064 is being developed as a practical tool to enable
government and business to measure and manage greenhouse gas
emissions and reduction activities. Use of the ISO standard
should support the development of GHG reduction programs and
emissions trading markets by providing an auditable,
standardized process for GHG quantification and verification.
The draft standard is already being incorporated in
governmental GHG mechanisms in Australia and Canada.
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref983
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New Edition of Basic Standard for Electromedical Equipment
The basic standard covering electrical equipment used in
medicine is designed to satisfy for at least 10 years
manufacturers' and users' needs as they relate to safety and
essential performance. It is designed to give manufacturers an
approach that is simultaneously efficient and comprehensive
while also meeting regulatory authorities' requirements for
thoroughness, testability and safety. For the other
requirements not covered in the basic standard, the IEC
intends to develop specific product standards...
For more
information:
http://www.ansi.org/news_publications/news_story.aspx?menuid=7&articleid=1106
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ISO publishes WorldSID: the world's smartest crash test dummy
to improve vehicle design and increase passenger safety
A new suite of ISO standards is now available to provide the
automotive industry with the most advanced human crash test
dummy for improving vehicle design and increasing passenger
safety. .. The new crash test dummy, known as WorldSID (for
World Side Impact Dummy), was developed to allow a single,
universally-accepted test device to be used for side impact
testing in any regulation around the world...
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref984
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ISO launches work on nanotechnology standards
The new ISO technical committee established to develop
International Standards for nanotechnologies has got off to a
flying start with a productive first meeting at which it
defined the scope of its future tasks and agreed on the
initial structure for the work.
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref980
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RoHS
Amendment 2005/747/EC Released: Updated Seven Exemptions
The European Union Commission Released 2005/747/EC Amendment
to the 2002/95/EC Restrictions of Hazardous Substances (RoHS)
Directive.
for the
purposes of adapting to technical progress the Annex to the
RoHS Directive (RoHS Exemptions) of the European Parliament
and of the Council on the restriction of the use of certain
hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment
For more
information:
http://www.capaccio.com/Services/Consulting/SvcPgs/SVC_WEEE.htm
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ISO/EC
17025:2005 Cuts Through The Confusion
ISO/IEC
17025:2005--"General requirements for the competence of
testing and calibration laboratories" was recently issued as
an update of ISO/IEC 17025:1999, some concern was to be
expected. However, the updated standard, which better serves
users and aligns more closely with widely used standards such
as ISO 9001, created much more confusion than was warranted by
the relatively modest changes made to its content. What is
the root cause to so much distress? This article will answer
that question in the hopes of allaying some of the concern and
enabling a smoother transition between the older standard and
its updated edition.
For more information:
http://www.qualitydigest.com/currentmag/articles/05_article.shtml
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Pharmaceutical: Tuning in to New Solvents
Tunable
solvents, including supercritical fluids and ionic liquids,
may not be in your stockroom — yet — but they offer
significant environmental and manufacturing benefits… The
general public first heard about tunable solvents, although
they didn’t know it, when supercritical CO2 (scCO2) was first
used commercially in caffeine extraction. The food industry
now routinely uses scCO2 and other supercritical fluids to
extract valuable chemicals from plants [1], and the solvents
are being applied in nutraceutical production.
For more
information:
http://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/articles/2005/351.html
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ISO
9000:2005 – the ‘A to Z’ of quality management systems updated
ISO has
published a new edition of the standard in the ISO 9000 family
that defines the vocabulary and describes the fundamentals of
quality management systems… The Standard introduces no
changes to the descriptions of the fundamentals of quality
management systems (QMS), as presented in the previous edition
published in 2000. However, some definitions have been added
and explanatory notes expanded or added to take account of
more recent documents in the ISO 9000 family…
For more
information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref975
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ISO 14001
Survey of Small and Medium Enterprises Results
This online survey was
carried out by ISO to gather feedback and experience of small
businesses in relation to environmental management providing
information on how to make it easier for SME’s to benefit from
ISO 14001.
The results are
available in the following documents:
-
Survey Executive Report
-
Survey Annex, Survey Analysis
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Responsible
Care 14001: Integrating Performance Improvement With Business
Value
The American Chemistry
Council's member companies and Responsible Care partners
developed the RC14001 technical specification as a tool to
better integrate EHSS activities within their business
operations while also meeting commercial and other stakeholder
demands for improved performance. RC14001 uses the ISO 14001
environmental management system (EMS) standard as a platform,
adding health and safety and security issues to the management
system's scope.
For more information:
http://www.qualitydigest.com/currentmag/articles/04_article.shtml
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Materials
Composition Standard Gets Workover
The IPC standard for
exchanging data on lead-free material composition is being
revised by the iNEMI’s Materials Composition Data Exchange
committee. The standard was released for industry review on
June 10, 2005. The amount of feedback on the standard
surprised executives at IPC because the standard is up for
industry review, users were asked for feedback on the
standard. IPC received over 400 comments. The committee is
required to respond to each and every comment.
For more information
http://www.designnews.com/article/CA6252591.html
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Automotive
Wiring Gets an Environmentally Friendly Coating
Unravel all the wiring from a typical
luxury car, and it would stretch more than a mile and half.
Just about every inch of that wire would be covered with
coatings that haven't changed much in three decades. The
dominant coating material, PVC, has the distinction of being
both cheap and effective in about 60 percent of automotive
wiring applications. And for those wires that can't use PVC,
mostly those that see high heat in the engine compartment,
crosslinked polyethylene works just fine. PVC and crosslinked
polyethylene each have environmental drawbacks that have now
opened the door for a new kind of wire insulation from Delphi
and GE Advanced Materials. Based on an alloy of GE's
polyphenylene oxide (PPO) and an olefin, this new Flexible
Noryl wire coating lacks the halogens and potential for dioxin
release that have given PVC a bad name....
For more information:
http://www.designnews.com/article/CA625538.html
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ISO 14001:2004
Revision
Knowing
the changes will help keep your organization ahead of the
environmental curve. The General perspective of the
changes: The dual goals of clarification and alignment
required revisions and additions to the existing formal
definitions. Sixteen of the resultant 20 definitions are new
or changed.
For more
information:
http://www.qualitydigest.com/mar05/articles/04_article.shtml
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The WEEE MAN -
Raising Awareness and Changing Behaviors
The WEEE man project's main objectives
are to transform public perception of waste from "out of
sight, out of mind" to visible; bring thought provoking and
behavior changing ; to encourage the public, retailers and
manufacturers to think carefully about waste reduction; to
raise the profile of the recycling industry; to educate
people on ethical consumer choice and sustainable resource
management; and to raise support among designers and
manufacturers for environmentally friendly designs?.
For more information:
http://www.weeeman.org
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ISO Primed for
Development of International Standard on Social Responsibility
A Working Group of the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) met in Brazil at the beginning of
March to launch a new work item that will provide guiding
principles on social responsibility (SR).... “Our ambition
is to develop guiding principles with global relevance that
will be useful to organizations worldwide in establishing,
implementing, maintaining and improving the way they address
social responsibility,” said Working Group vice chair
Catarina Munck af Rosenschöld.
For more information:
http://www.ansi.org/news_publications/news_story.aspx?menuid=7&articleid=908
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NEW IEC TC 111:
Environmental Standardization for Electrical and Electronic
Products and Systems
Technical Committee of the
IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) has been
formed - IEC TC 111: Environmental Standardization for
electrical and electronic products and systems - and has
released the first two proposals for new work programs:
- Procedures for the
Determination of Levels of Regulated Substances in
Electrotechnical Products
- Environmental Conscious
Design for Electrical and Electronic Products and Systems.
Click Here for more information.
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IAF Releases
the Transition Plan for Accredited EMS Certification from ISO 14001:1996 to ISO 14001:2004
The IAF Transition Plan for
Accredited EMS Certification from ISO 14001:1996 to ISO
14001:2004, has been published as IAF GD 4:2004.
For more information, visit:
www.iaf.nu
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ISO Prepares
to Launch the Development of a Standard on Social
Responsibility
The first meeting of the
ISO group that is to develop an International Standard
giving guidelines on social responsibility has been
scheduled for 7-11 March 2005 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
ISO expects that developing the standard will take three
years, with publication in early 2008.
ISO
launched a new web site at
www.iso.org/sr
for supporting international social responsibility.
For more information:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref947
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ISO Publishes
improved versions of ISO 14000 Environmental Management System Standards
ISO published a revised and
improved version of it's ISO 14001 and ISO 14004 standards on
November 15, 2004. ISO expects the standards to put the
benefits of implementing an Environmental Management System
(EMS) within the reach of an even greater number and variety
of organizations worldwide.
Click here for more information.
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