This year has been another eventful one for the Environmental Health, Safety, and Sustainability space. 2021 saw a new administration in the US and we all continued to adapt in the ever-changing face of Covid-19. Here, we’ll be looking back at some of the trends we saw highlighted here at RegScan this year.
Six Pillars of an EHS Compliance Program
We kicked off this year continuing our Six Pillars of an EHS Compliance Program series. The Six Pillars represent the processes in place that are meant to hold companies and employees accountable to the requirements of increased environmental regulation at the global, national, and local levels.
RegScan Webinars in 2021
In addition to collaborating with our partners throughout the year, RegScan also hosted its own events in 2021. In the first quarter of this year, our Five EHS Trends to Watch in 2021 webinar showcased our trend predictions for the year. Looking back, we can reflect on how these trends impacted our work in 2021. Catch up on 2021 trends here and keep an eye out for upcoming 2022 trends soon.
In September, RegScan invited panelists from Intelex, Golder Associates, and Fidelity International for The Job of ESG webinar. The event covered how companies are navigating sustainability reporting and the challenges that come with it. You can listen to a recording of the event.
COVID and Working from Home
The pandemic has allowed for many employees to work remotely. With that change comes many benefits for both the employee and employer. Benefits include a reduction in overhead costs, flexible work schedules, and a protection for those that are considered high-risk during the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, there are also some down sides to working from home. Difficulty in defining the work-life balance can lead to burnout and lower activity. Workers can also experience isolation and lower social interaction from remote work. With working from home becoming the norm, it’s caused businesses to redefine corporate goals and strategy as this trend is here to stay.
Hot Topics: PFAS
In October of this year, the EPA released their PFAS Strategic Roadmap. This roadmap outlines the timeline for when the EPA plans to take specific actions regarding when the agency expects to release policies on PFAS while also holding polluters accountable. Here at RegScan, we saw PFAS regulatory action come through our system from a few states who have decided to take the regulation of this forever chemical into their own hands.
Sustainability/ESG
Companies are leading the way when it comes to sustainability reporting and best practices. With consumers and stakeholders demanding more from businesses, performance measures will continue to move beyond the bottom line. Earlier this year, RegScan added to its EHS Compliance services with new sustainability resources: assessment tools aligned to specific frameworks and a monitoring product which provides users with most current news, updates, global regulatory and framework changes.
Environmental, Social, Governance, or ESG, has been a framework trend that has been much more prevalent among businesses this year. This risk management practice considers the environmental, social, and governance issues that a company may be facing and assigns a weight to them, so they can be viewed as a more tangible risk value. This framework encourages a forward-thinking approach, allowing any potential threats to be handled efficiently.
We enjoyed looking back at some of the topics that we discussed with our clients and readers this year. Want to keep up with the latest updates from RegScan? Sign up for updates: https://www.regscan.com/about-us/email-newsletter/