ACWI | Volume 3, Issue 23 | November 30, 2015
A recent survey of all the companies impacted by Globally Harmonized System of chemical classification and labeling regulations, found only 45% were able to meet the June 1, 2015 deadline for compliance, and 65% need at least another 6-12 months before they will be ready to comply.
The labeling solutions company Loftware
Inc., which conducted the research, told ACWI Advance that 90% of the 150 companies surveyed were located in the United States.
The survey indicates the widespread compliance failure is largely due to a lack of awareness regarding the specific requirements, with more than 43% of respondents citing this as a major obstacle in meeting GHS labeling requirements.
“With GHS, companies face more regulations in chemical labeling than ever before and it seems clear that the majority of companies still don’t have the correct labeling systems in place to accommodate this new level of complexity,” stated Loftware Industry Manager Deborah Grant.
The company said 59% of respondents said they are still not able to meet all six of the necessary elements of a GHS label. The damage to their business resulting from non-compliance is considerable. Of those surveyed, 72% believe the inability to meet these standards may result in loss of customers, regulatory and customer fines, disruptions to their business and delays in the supply chain.
Dealing With Religion in the Workplace
In our increasingly confusing multi-cultural society it’s all too easy for employers to step over the line without realizing it by trying to do the right thing and find they are on the losing side of a lawsuit.
Earlier this year the Supreme Court held that Abercrombie & Fitch had engaged in religious discrimination by not hiring a Muslim woman whose headscarf was deemed inconsistent with the retailer’s “Look Policy” for employees. (AA, 6-30-15, P. 3)
In 2008 then 17-year-old Samantha Elauf, a practicing Muslim, wore a headscarf to her interview, during which neither she nor her interviewer discussed it or her religion.
Public Sees Trucking As Safe and Essential
A national poll conducted by American Trucking Associations found the public continues to believe professional truck drivers are among the safest drivers on the road and that trucking is essential to the American economy.
“Our industry invests more than $7 billion each year in safety tools, technologies and practices, and this poll tells us those investments are working,” said ATA President Bill Graves.
“Americans believe trucks move the most freight and that our drivers are safe and getting safer,” he added. “Those facts beliefs are not just correct, they are important to keep in mind when debating important safety issues.”
An overwhelming majority of those polled, 63%, believe trucks move most of the nation’s goods – a three-point increase from 2014.
Sixty percent of respondents said they have a favorable view of the trucking industry, the highest among transportation modes.