Corporate policy

Public Policy Corporate governance and corporate accountability Toxics use reduction Sustainabiiity and sustainabie suppiy chains (e.g., the need for companies to consider a reduced environmentai footprint for the integrated product iife cycie), inciuding raw materiai suppiy, product manufacturing, shipment, use, and disposai... 

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), 1997b, Environment, Safety, and Health (ES H) Policy, Corporate Policy Statement No CPS400.1, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, June 2,1997 (SNL Internal Web). 

Amortization. Items of expense incurred before start-up can be accumulated and amortized during the first five or ten years of plant operations. The tax laws and corporate policy on w hat profit to show can influence the number of years for amortization. 

Although numerous cases have been documented where petroleum refineries have simultaneously reduced pollution outputs and operating costs through pollution prevention techniques, there are often barriers to their im-plementation. The primary barrier to most pollution prevention projects is cost. Many pollution prevention options simply do not pay for themselves, or the economics often appear marginal. Corporate investments typically must earn an adequate return on invested capital for the shareholders and some pollution prevention options at some facilities may not meet the requirements set by company policies. 

Similarly, the Site B contractor s SSAHP provided corporate policy and procedures for permit-required confined space entry but lacked the site-specific detail necessary to describe the application of the corporate policy to procedures at the site. For example, the SSAHP did not identify specific components of the thermal treatment unit that presented confined space hazards, nor did it describe the specific circumstances or procedures that would require employee entry into these areas. In addition, the plan stated that the contractor would maintain an onsite employee confined space rescue team, but did not identify the members of this team. The SSAHP for Site F also contained a generic confined space entry program but did not identify the specific location of confined space hazards present at the site. 

The audit includes a review of the process safety information, inspection of the physical facilities, and interviews with all levels of plant personnel. Using the procedures and checklist, the team systematically analyzes compliance with the PSM Rule and any other relevant corporate policies. The training program is reviewed for adequacy of content, frequency and effectiveness of training. Interviews determine employee knowledge and awareness ofthe safety procedures, duties, rules, and emergency response assignments. The team identifies deficiencies in the application of safety and health policies, procedures, and work authorization practices to determine live actions. 

Organizational and plant design policies, directed by senior management plant and corporate management, and implemented by line management affect conditions that influence error. 

ISO 8402 1994 defines quality policy as the overall quality intentions and direction of an organization with regard to quality, as formally expressed by top management it adds that the quality policy forms one element of corporate policy and is authorized by top management. The quality policy that is required to be defined is therefore the corporate quality policy and not lower-level policies. However, there are different types of policy and it is important that they are not confused so that a policy purporting to be a... 

Corporate policy, which applies to the business as a whole and may cover, for example ... 

In the context of ISO 9001, the quality policy referred to in clause 4.1.1 is one of the corporate policies. It is characterized by a single policy statement which declares the organization s commitment to quality and the strategy adopted to discharge this commitment. 

We will comply with NMLs policies and procedures for quality assurance activities. In addition we will develop our own ideas to improve upon NML requirements. We will set quality targets and objectives in line with corporate standards. In support of achieving customer satisfaction we will seek to achieve product conformity by carrying out quality assurance activities at all stages of vehicle manufacture - from planning through to vehicle sales. 

While these and many other contemporary quality policies would not need to be publicized 20 or so years ago, policy statements are not something new to the automobile industry. The General Motors of the 1920s under the direction of Alfred P Sloan used corporate policy as a means of coordinating the efforts of several divisions. GM s quality policy was to build quality products sold at fair prices and in setting up an Executive Gommittee Sloan wrote on the subject of quality, A carefully designed policy should be... 

There is no guidance in ISO 9000 1994 on the subject matter of corporate quality policies. However, in the Committee Drafts (CD) of ISO 9000 2000 there is now some useful information. It is recommended that the quality policy should be consistent with the overall policy and goals of the organization and should provide a framework for the setting of quality objectives and quality targets. For the first time in these standards, a link has been made between policy and objectives so that policies are not merely motherhood statements but intentions for action. By deriving objectives from the policy you initiate a process for bringing about compliance with policy. 

The quality system should be designed to implement the corporate quality policy and hence the operational policies need to be consistent with the corporate policy. Often the... 

The way many companies identify resource requirements is to solicit resource budgets from each department covering a 1 to 5 year period. However, before the managers can prepare budgets they need to know what requirements they will have to meet. They will need access to the corporate plans, sales forecasts, new product development plans, marketing plans, production plans, etc. as well as the quality policies, objectives, and procedures. 

Primarily, the designated person is the system designer for the quality system. This person may not produce the policies and procedures but operate as a system designer. He/she lays down the requirements needed to implement the corporate quality policy and verifies that they are being achieved. It is also necessary to have someone who can liaise with customers on quality issues, who can coordinate the assessment and subsequent surveillance visits, who can keep abreast of the state of the art in quality management. The person should be an adviser to the top management who can measure the overall performance of the company with respect to quality. 

Define, agree, and publish your corporate quality policy. 

In what document is your corporate policy for quality and your commitment to quality defined ... 

How do you ensure that the corporate quality policy is relevant to your organizational goals and the expectations and needs of your customers ... 

How do you ensure that your corporate policy for quality is understood at all levels in the organization ... 

The 1987 version of ISO 9001 required the quality policy and the quality system procedures and instructions to be documented, clearly identifying three levels of documents in practice, organizations produced an intermediate level between the quality policy statement and the procedures which addressed the requirements of the standard and cross-referenced the associated procedures. This intermediate level together with the quality policy statement was often referred to as the quality manual. However, some manuals merely paraphrased the requirements of the standard, some described the quality system, and others confined the manual to the organization s operational policies. The guidance given in clause 5.3.1 of ISO 9004-1 suggests that the quality system documentation consists of policies and procedures. Clearly these policies are of a somewhat lower level than the corporate quality policy addressed in Part 2 Chapter 1. 

A Policy Manual containing the corporate and operational quality policies... 

Corporate policy, covering the mission, vision, values, objectives, and quality policy... 

Corporate policy needs to be translated into practical terms which can be implemented through procedures. 

Determine the operational policies needed to implement the corporate quality policy and place these in a policy manual with the corporate quality policy. 

Corporate policies gooeming safety management must be reflected in a company s PSM program. 

Each of these criteria represents a level at which injuries can occur. In addition, some other criteria may be appropriate, for example where existing hazard calculations are in use, corporate policy defines different standards, or local regulation sets criteria. 

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