Check out our latest White Paper, “Connecting the Dots for Compliance at Ports, by Freer analyst Nick Lowe-Hale and featured in BC Shipping News! https://www.freerconsulting.com/business-services

Join Freer Consulting, Hal Calbom, and Sustainable Media Partners for our Town Halls on Best Practices and Integrated Compliance Systems on October 26 and 27. The October 26 Town Hall will be held at the Port of Morrow Riverfront Center in Boardman, OR. The October 27 Town Hall will be held at the Courtyard Richland Columbia Point in Richland, WA.

If your business uses Microsoft Excel to manage and process data, you could be incurring risks such as inaccurate financial statements, client overcharges, and nonconformance to standards. These risks often go undetected and can ultimately harm your business. To find out how Freer Consulting can help you improve your risk management, download our White Paper, “Mitigating Excel Risk via an

The Washington State Department of Ecology has issued a revised Phase I Municipal Stormwater Permit that will go into effect on August 19, 2016. Developed as part of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), the Phase I permit regulates stormwater discharges from municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) in incorporated cities with populations of over 100,000 and in unincorporated

Increasingly, businesses are implementing a quality management system (QMS) that meets the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard, since potential customers often require certification in ISO 9001. If your business has a QMS, it’s worth considering a shift in focus from maintaining a QMS to developing a business management system (BMS). Doing so doesn’t require you to change your business

Construction activities can have a significant impact on stormwater discharges. Stormwater flows through construction zones pick up sediment, oil and grease, heavy metals and other pollutants, which are ultimately deposited into receiving waters. In order to limit pollutants in stormwater, construction that disturbs one or more acres of land requires permit coverage, either under the Construction General Permit (CGP) administered

If your business stores oil on site, you may be subject to the EPA’s Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Rule. The intent of this rule, established in 1973, is to prevent oil spills from reaching navigable waters and nearby shorelines, as well as to mitigate any direct spills in water and shoreline areas. A facility is subject to the

Internal audits, while necessary, are often dreaded by companies that conduct or receive them for a few reasons: • The auditor’s responsibilities are time consuming—they schedule, conduct, and provide a detailed report of each audit to management. • The auditees often feel interrogated by the auditor. • It can be difficult to find a qualified and objective auditor. Internal audits

Many companies struggle with implementing ISO 9001 without upper management’s leadership. Businesses seeking certification in the latest revision of the ISO 9001 standard should understand the importance of top management being committed to the standard and maintaining compliance with it. Section 5.1 of ISO 9001:2015 stipulates the ways in which management should exhibit leadership with respect to their company’s quality

The Washington Department of Ecology has reissued the Construction Stormwater General Permit, which will take effect on January 1, 2016. If you’re a business engaged in construction activities like excavating or grading, your activities disturb one or more acres of land, and you discharge stormwater, you must be covered by the permit. In particular, construction site operators need to control