3rd Annual EHS Compliance Seminar

Environmental, Health & Safety Compliance Seminar for Texas Manufacturers

In Conjunction With Austin Regional Manufacturers Association

Join us February 20th for a seminar facilitated by representatives from OSHA, TCEQ, Berg Compliance Solutions, LLC and 2 Local Law Firms. The seminar will cover environmental, health & safety laws that apply to Texas Manufacturers, how to manage them, and the significant liabilities companies face when failing to do so.

Click Here to Get Event Registration Information

Speakers:

Austin area Office of Occupational Health & Safety (OSHA) Representative:
- Joann Natarajan: Compliance Assistance Specialist
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Representative:
- Michael De La Cruz, Section Manager in Office of Compliance & Enforcement
Berg Compliance Solutions, LLC:
- Bradley Prais: Senior Environmental, Health & Safety Consulting Manager
- Elizabeth Frisch: Environmental Consulting Specialist
Birch, Becker & Moorman, LLP
- Erich M. Birch
Beveridge & Diamond:
- Michael F. Vitris, Associate

Agenda

OSHA:

Speaker: Joann Natarajan: Compliance Assistance Specialist

2, 50 Minute Presentations
Presentations: OSHA Regulations & Enforcement for Texas Manufacturers

Presentation #1 (50 minutes):

- New Regulations Update: (50 minutes)
  - Silica rule changes
  - Record Keeping changes (this will be a great topic)
  - Walking & Working Surfaces
- Enforcement Update: (50 minutes) (Confirmed)
  - 78% fine increases + 2% Added in 2018
  - How the inspection process works
  - How companies are selected for inspection/what triggers inspections
  - Top 10 General Industry/Manufacturing Violations from 2016 (Confirmed)

TCEQ:

Speaker: Michael De La Cruz, Section Manager in Office of Compliance & Enforcement

Presentation: Texas Environmental, Health & Safety Audit Privilege Act

- Discussion of this environmental compliance incentive program which offers fine and penalty immunity to companies who are out of compliance, but voluntarily self-audit, disclose violations, and commit to implementing corrective violations

Birch, Becker & Moorman, LLP

Speaker: Erich Birch

Environmental Compliance: Fairy Tales, Scary Stories & Environmental Compliance

Topics:

Compliance is good business: the unrecognized costs of noncompliance
Regulatory agencies using new approaches to find environmental violators
Factors that result in otherwise good people being cited for criminal violations
Insight on responding to regulatory notices of violation and enforcement
The often overlooked benefits and value of an environmental audit
Practical suggestions for meeting environmental regulatory obligations
Entertaining discussion of enforcement and compliance, with examples

Berg Compliance Solutions, LLC: 2 Presentations

Speaker: Bradley Prais: Senior Environmental, Health & Safety Consulting Manager

Presentation #1: OSHA’s In The Lobby – How to Manage an OSHA Inspection &

Myth Busters: Common Health & Safety Compliance Misconceptions Topics:

What Can Trigger an OSHA Inspection: Employee Complaints, Targeted Inspections
Austin area OSHA inspection statistics
How to Survive an OSHA inspection
Common Violations: Written Programs, Training, Health Testing
The Aftermath: Corrective Actions, Contesting Citations & Informal Conference
Myth Busters: Common Health & Safety Compliance Misconceptions: No, Your Insurance Company Can’t Manage Your OSHA Compliance & Other Misconceptions

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly – Staying Out of Trouble & In Compliance in Texas

Speaker: Elizabeth Frisch, Senior Environmental Compliance Consultant

Topics:

The new improved RCRA hazardous waste regulation – Are you compliant yet? ·
The cheap, not so cheap and very expensive options for permitting air emissions.
Got oil? Better have evaluated SPCC.· The ins and outs of storing chemicals and oils – Regulations you must meet to keep them onsite
How are you shipping that hazardous material? DOT Cares
Spills in Texas – Who, how, when, were and what do you report?
The down and dirty of stormwater – keeping the $2,500 per event penalties away

Beveridge & Diamond:

Speaker: Michael F. Vitris, Associate at Beveridge & Diamond, P.C.

OSHA: 2017 Look Back/What To Expect in 2018/Criminal Liabilities for Employers

Topics:

This presentation will take a look back at OSHA rulemaking and enforcement developments from 2017 and look forward to what employers might expect in 2018. Participants can expect to learn about the status of OSHA’s leadership, the fate of several OSHA rules that were issued at the close of the Obama administration, rulemaking activity that is anticipated in 2018, OSHA enforcement and civil penalty trends, and recent OSHA guidance and policy developments.

Potential criminal liabilities for employers.

Click Here to Get Event Registration Information

By Russell Carr|2018-01-31T15:13:01-05:00January 15th, 2017|Good To Know|Comments Off

About the Author: Russell Carr

How A Sales Guy Transformed Into An Environmental, Health & Safety Expert & Advocate For Small Businesses

I've spent my entire 30+ year career working within the manufacturing and “industrial services” sectors.

The first 15 years of my career focused on sales of hazardous materials related products and services to the manufacturing sector, then for the last 16+ years transitioned into entrepreneurship, founding 3 small industrial services related contracting businesses. As you’ll see below, running these companies eventually lead me to found yet a 4th business, but more on that in a minute….

Here’s a brief description of the first 3 companies:

Berg Environmental Services, Inc.: hazardous waste disposal & transportation services, founded in August of 2003 3rd party wind energy operations & maintenance services provider to utility scale wind farms throughout the US, founded in September 2007 3rd party oil & gas exploration & production services provider, founded in August of 2011

Each of these companies operated in extremely dangerous working conditions and exposed my employees to a wide range of serious health & safety hazards on a daily basis.

To complicate matters, 2 of the companies also exposed the environment to significant potential harm.

In other words, I learned very early the critical importance of managing environmental, health and safety issues so as to ensure the safety of our employees and the environment, as well as minimizing related risks.

But I also learned how incredibly difficult and challenging this endeavor can be due to the wide range of complicated and continually changing environmental, health and safety rules and regulations that impacted the companies.

To summarize the challenges: First I had to determine which regulations applied to each company, then I had to build compliance programs to meet those regulations, and finally I had to ensure that the programs were being managed and followed by our staff on a daily basis.

All while trying to run and grow 3 profitable businesses….

It was overwhelming and I always struggled to keep up.

To make matters worse, throughout this time I also witnessed the devastating price that companies, management and ownership can pay for failing to manage EHS compliance.

This included seeing one of my hazardous waste management clients get sent to jail over environmental issues, another client’s management team threatened with jail time, a direct competitor get fined $378,000 by OSHA fine after an employee was nearly killed, and many others face major fines and penalties.

Full disclosure, one of my companies got fined by OSHA at one point, & another was cited by TCEQ, so I know how it feels.

In summary, I learned first hand how incredibly difficult it is for small companies to manage EHS compliance due to a common lack of the critical expertise, time and resources that are needed to keep up, and how this situation then ends up exposing them to these potentially catastrophic risks that can literally destroy lives and businesses.

This later inspired me to found my 4th company, Berg Compliance Solutions in 2012, which is dedicated to helping other small businesses, and business owners, to manage EHS compliance and risk.

Education

BA, Philosophy, University of Colorado, Boulder, December, 1990.

Summary of Professional Experience & Qualifications:

30+ years serving the manufacturing & industrial services sectors
30+ years of sales and marketing experience
16+ years as small business owner & entrepreneur: Founded and operated 4 small businesses since 2003.

Environmental, Health & Safety Compliance & Program Related:

19 plus years of hazardous waste management including EPA, TCEQ & RCRA regulations
8 years of DOT/FMCSA compliance experience, including hazardous materials transportation
8 years of combined experience implementing and managing OSHA health and safety compliance programs for 2 high risk energy services businesses
Successfully implemented and gained ISO 9001 Quality Management
Certification and OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health & Safety Advisory Service) Certification for wind energy maintenance business.

Regulatory Enforcement Related Experience:

Served as expert witness in criminal environmental compliance enforcement cases
Superfund-CERCLA
OSHA enforcement inspections, investigations and resolution in following industries: industrial services, manufacturing & construction.
TCEQ enforcement inspections, investigations and resolution in manufacturing.

3rd Annual EHS Compliance Seminar