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Five Ways a Legal Registry Benefits Business
Managing legal compliance for a diverse company group or operations across various locations is a complex task due to the varying applicable legal instruments and sections based on the nature and location of each operation. This complexity cannot be efficiently handled manually or through a non-centralized system. For businesses operating in multiple jurisdictions, a legal registry is indispensable.
Steps to Set Up a Legal Registry
1. Create an Initial Assessment of Legal and Compliance Needs and Obligations
In today's business environment, regulatory bodies enforce EHS regulations more strictly. Organizations are also expected to be transparent and accountable in their sustainability efforts. Identify all relevant EHS regulations for the organization, including national and local laws and internal guidelines. Examples can include:
- Governmental or relevant authority requirements, including permits
- International, national, and local laws and regulations
- Conditions in permits, licenses or authorizations
- Orders, rules or guidance from regulatory agencies
- Court or administrative tribunal judgments
- Agreements with community groups, NGOs or public authorities
- Customer agreements
- Internal policies and procedures
- Voluntary principles, codes of practice and standards
- Voluntary labeling or environmental commitments
- Contractual obligations
- Industry or organizational standards
2. Collect All Relevant Legal Documents and Regulations
Collect all relevant legal documents and regulations and prepare to add them to the legal registry. Regulatory requirements are typically those from acts, laws, regulations, directives, decrees, etc., often indicated by terms like "shall" or "must."
3. Create and Complete a Registry Template
After identifying which regulations apply to specific sites or operations within the organization, begin with creating and completing a legal registry template. This can involve categorizing the legal requirements by their sources, such as federal, state or local regulations, and their types, like environmental, health or safety laws.
4. Address Common Challenges to Registry Maintenance
EHS experts face the ongoing challenge of staying updated with local, national and global compliance rules. Prioritizing which are the most to least important compliance issues based upon impacts, return on investment, risk versus reward and other measures can help. Other more procedural issues such as resource levels, expertise and review can also be aided by seeking outside help from a legal or consulting organization.
This article originally appeared in the September 2024 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.