LEARN HOW WE HELPED THIS SMALL MANUFACTURER ACHIEVE FULL ENVIRONMENTAL, HEALTH AND SAFETY COMPLIANCE IN LESS THAN 1 YEAR (AT A FRACTION OF THE COST OF HIRING A FULL TIME EHS MANAGER)
Below is a transcript of our case study video. Click Here to gain instant access to the video.
Introduction:
Hello everyone. Russell Carr here, founder of Bird Compliance Solutions, and in this case study video I’m going to explain to you how we helped a small Texas manufacturer in the semiconductor industry literally go from zero to full compliance with all applicable OSHA EPA and two TCEQ regulations in less than a year. I’m going to walk you through that process, what it looked like, all the positive outcomes and results and how we help them do this at a fraction of the cost of hiring full-time staff.
Risks & Liabilities for Failing to Manage EHS Compliance
So before getting into the actual case study, I want to run through with you some of the major risks and liabilities facing your company if you’re currently out of compliance, because it’s really important to understand what’s at stake and what can happen if you don’t take action.
- So first off, failed OSHA and or TCEQ inspections that can literally add up to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
- Even worse, serious employee injuries or even fatalities,
- Public relations nightmares and reputation damage for your company when these things happen.
- Lost business opportunities.
- Also very serious legal problems that can come up on the civil and sometimes even criminal side if things go wrong.
So again, an important reminder to understand what’s at stake so you can take action, stop worrying about these things and focus on growing your company.
Alright, so let’s go ahead and jump into the case study.
Manufacturers’ Situation
So here was their situation prior to contacting us. The company manufacturs specialty parts for the semiconductor industry, their operations triggered a wide range of OSHA, EPA and TCEQ rules and regulations. The working environment was very dangerous with exposures to open chemical baths containing toxic and corrosive chemicals, as well as exposures to chemical fumes, loud noises, and much more very hazardous working environment.
As a result, they were very concerned about the potential for serious injuries, chemical spills and so forth, and really didn’t know what to do about it.
Manufacturers EHS Compliance Challenges
Some of the challenges surrounding this, there were rapidly growing and company leadership and management wore multiple hats. As a result. They lacked the internal expertise, time and resources needed to not only keep up with these regulations but understand the regulatory compliance requirements and fix those problems that I described and their worries and concerns around them.
So finally the company leadership grew tired of constantly worrying about safety and finally realized that they needed outside help.
Our Solution
Alright, now let’s begin to talk about the solution, how we stepped in to help them solve all these problems. So the company contacted us and they enrolled in our Assured Compliance service. This is our partnership compliance service that we’ve been using and improving for over 11 years now to help small manufacturers of all kinds in Texas to achieve and manage environmental health and safety compliance and issues.
And with Assured Compliance, we essentially become the environmental health and safety department for our clients, but at a fraction of the cost of staffing full-time employees. And as I walk you through this case study, you’ll see how the service works and why this is true.
Alright, so now I’m going to walk you through what the ASSURED Compliance process looks like from a very high level and how we helped this company navigate all these issues and come to a positive outcome.
Month one is all about completing gap assessments. Again, the company triggered a wide range of environmental health and safety regulations. So we started off by, we completed an OSHA health and safety compliance gap assessment that included a site visit, spent a day out there walking through the shop floor identifying all the different health and safety hazards that existed at that company.
We reviewed all the written programs, all their training records, OSHA 300 logs, all were pretty deficient, which is very common when we start working with a company. Then we returned later that same week to complete an EPA and TCEQ environmental compliance gap assessment. Didn’t want to overwhelm the company and tried to do it in all one day in a single day. We did this over two days in the first week. Then we returned within two weeks and at that point we had drafted and then we presented the gap assessment reports to company leadership and their management team. And the major benefit there was that the entire company understood exactly where they stood. They had an executive summary, they had fine liability estimates, and then they had a narrative explanation as to all the different regulations that applied to their company and also a prioritized action plan to achieve full compliance.
EHS Program Implementation Process
All this happened literally within the first month. So major progress in month one. Then at the start of month two and from months two through 12, we began building and implementing the program. Implementation began with the kickoff meeting with company leadership and their safety committee where we explained to them, walk them through what the ASSURED Compliance process looks like at a very detailed level, what we needed from them, what we would handle versus what we needed their help handling. Again, explaining that this is really a partnership service. We can’t operate in a vacuum or in a silo. We have to work in partnership with the client. And we made that perfectly clear how all that works because they wanted accelerated implementation and had so many regulatory requirements.
We assigned two consultants to their staff, one safety expert, the other one was an environmental expert. We presented our 11 month prioritized action plan to implement to build and implement these programs. So again, it’s one thing to build the environmental health and safety programs, all the written programs, all the training and so forth. But you’ll also have to begin implementing the programs, because you can have all the documentation and everything in the world, but until you start actually implementing all the management requirements of those programs, they really don’t mean much. So we did both simultaneously during that initial 11 months to get them into full compliance.
We also disposed of all their hazardous waste. So we helped them on that front too. We also met with them on a monthly basis with their safety committee and company leadership and provided monthly status updates so the company understood exactly where they stood, where the gaps were, what we completed the previous month, and what our plan of attack was for the following month.
EHS Service Results & Outcomes
Alright, so now let’s get to the good stuff. Let’s talk about some of the positive outcomes and results that we achieved together.
So first off, they achieved full OSHA health and safety compliance in eight months, which was well ahead of schedule and that was due to the company’s top-down management commitment to the process, following our guidance, following our recommendation, sticking to the schedule, sticking to the process, and really looking at this as a partnership solution, which is critical not only for the client but also for us to be able to deliver on the results that we promise on the EPA and TCEQ environmental and hazardous materials front.
They achieved full compliance even quicker in six months, again ahead of schedule due to their commitment to the process.
We also helped them help the company reduce some high injury rates that they were experiencing. Also, we assisted with some OSHA enforcement issues that came up. They had an employee complaint. Employee complaints are one of the top triggers of OSHA inspections. Helped them through that process from start to finish at no additional cost with no fines or penalties.
So after year one, the client ended up renewing the ASSURED Compliance contract for several years because at that point in time they understood that managing EHS compliance is literally a never ending process. In other words, it’s one thing to build and implement a program and achieve compliance, but it’s another thing entirely to move into maintenance and management mode forever, which is exactly what we help them to do with assured compliance.
They also understood the central role that EHS played in the long-term growth, success, and sustainability of the company, especially in the semiconductor industry.
We ended up continuing working with them until they ended up getting acquired by another company.
How We Can Help Your Company Achieve Full EHS Compliance Too
Alright, so now that we talked about how we helped this company, let’s talk about how we can help your company too. So in other words, if you found this video online and you’ve made it this far into the case study, you’re probably looking for help. So let me talk about how we can do that.
And in doing that, let me explain an important update that happened in 2024. So we ended up rebranding our ASSURED Compliance service to Factory Safe. And the reason we did that is that we decided to focus all of our resources, attention and services and marketing and so forth towards helping small manufacturers. And the reason we did that is because small manufacturers have the same regulatory obligation and burden that much larger manufacturers do, but again, are often least equipped to deal with that because of a lack of internal expertise, time and resources. That dilemma ends up putting the company in a perpetual state of non-compliance and therefore elevated risk for all those liabilities that I talked about before. So that’s what we’re all about. We’re all about helping small manufacturers and we do it under factory safe.
Let me go ahead and explain what Factory Safe looks like. Before getting into too much detail here, let me say that it’s based on the same proven and predictable process that we’ve been using and improving for 11 years under the assured compliance umbrella. But we’ve significantly updated and improved the process to meet the needs of small manufacturers.
So here are our brand promises to you if you come and work with us:
- Number one, full OSHA health and safety compliance in less than a year.
- Number two, full EPA and TC EQ compliance in less than a year.
It’s also important to point out that you don’t have to opt for both. You can focus on safety or environmental or again, both.
- We include hazardous waste, transportation and disposal and the service if you need that.
- We also include full OSHA/EPA/TCEQ enforcement assistance at no additional cost.
Our clients want to know if OSHA shows up in the lobby, are you going to come here and help us? And the answer is absolutely yes. We’re going to drop everything. We’re going to help you from start to finish, even defend and push back against citations and get citations and fines and penalties thrown out.
We have a lot of experience dealing with enforcement and working with regulators to make all that happen.
- We also give our clients unlimited access to our team of experts, unlimited phone, email, text access, including our regular visits.
- And finally, we offer everything at an affordable mix, excuse me, fixed monthly fee that we tell you on the front end. There are no surprise added costs, I promise you that’s the way it works. Fixed monthly fee every month, no surprise costs.
And again, just like with ASSURED Compliance, the easiest way to think about it, it’s like having your own environmental health and safety department, but at a fraction of the cost of staffing full-time employees. And better yet, this is really important to understand. We actually guarantee your compliance. And what that means is if after year one and you continue to work with us, if you end up getting inspected and cited for something that we missed or caused, we’re actually on the hook to help pay for fines and penalties. So that’s a very unique performance compliance guarantee in our industry. If you’re shopping around, I strongly recommend that you ask the other companies that you’re talking to if they offer that. And I’m guessing the answer is going to be no.
Alright, so let me begin to wrap up with simple thought and a simple offer. If you’re tired of worrying about safety, you’re tired of worrying about the possibility of serious injuries, OSHA showing up in the front lobby, big fines and penalties and all the rest of it, then maybe it’s time to take action and get the peace of mind you deserve. Knowing that you’re doing everything possible to help protect your employees, the environment and your company from harm and doing so is much easier than you might think.
During that call, we’ll discuss:
- Your operations, your needs, and your company goals.
- I’ll explain which regulations apply to your company at no cost. I’ll do my research prior to the call, get clarification during the call, and I’ll tell you what applies to your company.
- Then I’m going to give you a prioritized action plan to achieve full compliance and risk reduction.
- And I’m going to include a cost estimate. It’s a bottom line world that we live in. We don’t have time to waste. I’m going to come prepared to give you a full cost estimate. If it looks good, we can send you a proposal and get started.
- And I’ll also include time for questions and answers, a free consultation, whatever you want to call it. I can answer any questions that you have about regulations, about enforcement or anything else.
Act now before it’s too late, before one of these terrible liabilities rears its ugly head. I talk about this a lot, but it’s important to understand that I’ve seen these scenarios play out over and over again throughout my 30 year career working with manufacturers.
It’s one of the main reasons that I started this consulting company. Another thing that’s important to understand is that the majority of the companies that contact us, they are already in trouble in one of these areas, but of course it doesn’t have to be that way. You can be proactive and be preventative and prevent this from happening at your company.
But again, you want to schedule your free, no obligation, a hundred percent confidential safety strategy call today by clicking here. I look forward to hearing from you, getting you and your company on the road towards compliance.
And before ending off, I want to share this client testimonial. This is from one of the senior leaders at this company and the case study that we talked about had to say about our company. I’m not going to read it, but you can hit pause and read more about her experiences, what she thinks about our company, what it was like to work with us. Thanks again for watching and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Margaret Ballinger, Controller, at Heraeus Quartz America, LLC:
“Berg Compliance Solutions has been a great partner. They have worked with us on all aspects of environmental, health and safety. They have both established and enhanced our programs to ensure we are in compliance with all the of the various regulatory agencies. They have provided the expertise we needed for compliance and offered suggestions on how we could improve. We are very pleased with their support!”
