ABSTRACT

Companies that endeavor for long-term success must strive to operate legally, safely, ethically, and with integrity. They must also understand their own core values and beliefs and make sure these values and beliefs align at all levels of the organization where they can be exemplified, communicated, and enforced. These operating principles and core values serve as the backbone for sound environmental and health risk communication efforts.

Because the regulatory landscape for environmental, health, and safety issues is increasingly complex, operating legally is more resource intensive than ever before. Due to the public availability of compliance monitoring data, even small deficiencies are easily broadcast for public consumption by opposing interests. Moreover, deficiencies in preventive maintenance obligations are often only uncovered when the oversights culminate in an accident or release. Thus, investing in compliance support, even if in the form of occasional third-party audits, can help ensure an organization is as compliant as it believes and claims itself to be.

The most important factor that allows an organization to truly walk the talk, though, is one that cannot be aided with investment in consultants—integrity. If integrity does not lie at the core of a company's principles and actions, the jig will eventually be up.