Construction Industry Trends
March 2005
Making the Connection Between ESH Regulations and Standards
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Staying on top of all the environmental, safety, and health (ESH) regulations and standards that affect construction activities just got easier. In January, IHS and Citation Publishing announced the release of the ESH Management Solution, an online regulatory management tool that streamlines access to compliance information and bridges the gap between regulations and standards. This solution allows IHS to provide a single point of access to the information construction professionals need, including ESH industry-related laws, regulations, and standards for the United States and individual U.S. states, Canada and most of the provinces, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, and Germany.
IHS has united two unique information management tools to create the ESH Management Solution. One of these tools is the IHS standards library, a comprehensive collection of ESH and design-related codes and standards. These documents come from a variety of sources, including ASTM International, the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), the Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL), the International Code Council (ICC), and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). All are available in collections that are automatically updated and searchable by document number, keyword, or organization.
The other tool in the ESH Management Solution is CyberRegs Connect, a new offering developed by Citation that provides users with access to full-text U.S. laws, Federal Register, and Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), and state ESH regulations. CyberRegs Connect electronically links ESH regulations directly to the standards they reference by creating hyperlinks that connect the standards mentioned in the document to the complete standard in the IHS library.
By creating a direct link between regulations and standards, the ESH Management Solution streamlines compliance management. Knowledge of both elements is vital, but also difficult, since a single regulation can reference a number of standards. For example, CFR Title 29, which offers federal regulations governing labor, includes 1,734 references to standards, nearly 400 of which are unique references. “If a regulation references a standard, you need to know both in order to stay in compliance,” says Bruce Regan, executive vice president for Citation. “A referenced standard carries the weight of law.”
CyberRegs Connect also offers a number of features, including the Change Tracking System, which allows users to access older versions of various regulatory documents and compare the changes made in newer releases; RegMatch, which enables the quick viewing of an entire list of regulatory documents related to the context of a CFR or U.S. state’s section; and the Early Warning Service, which sends a daily or weekly email based on a customer’s personal profile to alert when any law or regulation changes, or if a proposed change is in the works.
As part of the ESH Management Solution, CyberRegs Connect simplifies the search for critical information. “You can go to sites such as the EPA’s, and not only is it rare to find the most up-to-date information, but also it can be difficult to find specific documents quickly,” says Bruce. “CyberRegs Connect not only offers the most current regulations in daily updates, but also it provides features that enhance the user’s experience. It brings more maneuverability to the table.”
CyberRegs Connect is an upgraded version of Citation’s flagship product, CyberRegs. Over the years, CyberRegs has set the standard for simplifying access to ESH regulations — so much so that even some of the agencies responsible for creating and updating regulations subscribe to CyberRegs as well. Now, through its partnership with Citation, IHS is able to offer CyberRegs to its customers. This allows the company to provide users with a one-stop shop for all their information management needs.
Nik Mukhopadhyay, manager of compliance and permitting for Conestoga-Rovers & Associates, says he appreciates the ease of use CyberRegs offers, especially when compared with the difficulty of quickly finding information through agencies’ websites. “It’s very user-friendly,” he says. “You don’t have to go through a lot of hoops to find what you’re looking for.”
With the ESH Management Solution, construction professionals now have a single source they can rely on to find current and historical worldwide ESH and transportation laws, regulations, codes, and standards from federal, state, and international sources. For more information, visit http://aec.ihs.com/regulations/eshsolution.jsp.