REID-Resource Economics and Industrial …

1 ON THE GROUND IN SOUTH AFRICA REID-Resource Economics and Industrial development Newsletter 8 THIS IS AN OPINION AND NOT ADVICE. Comments and Queries can be directed to: 2005/028736/07 Legal Registers The legal register is a well known part of a company s ISO 14001 and OSHAS 18001 compliance records. The Legal Register is often neglected and many companies tend to only update this annually, just before a maintenance or compliance audit. The Legal Register can be an important management tool, if implemented as part of the management system. In some jurisdictions it is considered best practice to monitor the regulations that suppliers and customers are subject to. The emerging legislation around producer responsibility (cradle to grave principle) means that it will become necessary to link client and supplier legal register to your own.

2 A good legal register is one that: allows effective compliance monitoring; explain the requirements in easily understandable phrases; supports searchable content; reflects your business and its sector correctly; provides a sense of the impacts on your suppliers and clients; can be updated without difficulty and adequate frequency (at least quarterly); is auditable; and is on a stable and easy to understand platform. Specialised legal registers can be developed. These will focus on a specific area that a company wants to manage. It is not comprehensive enough for ISO purposes but as a management tool helps focus behaviour. These will include registers for financial, environmental or labour.

3 There is no mandated format for the legal register except that having one and updating it is necessary. This lack of format means that many companies have emerged to offer you their format for your legal register, often using proprietary platforms and software. End the relationship and you risk losing the software. A comprehensive Legal Register must contain all the relevant Acts, Regulations and By-laws applicable to your company. It is advisable to add licences, permits, conditions and exemptions to the register. It is important to incorporate a client s codes of practice, guidelines and industry standards to the legal register as part of other requirements to comply with the international standards.

4 To make the legal register more effective as a management tool it is important to specify quantity thresholds. A legal register for ISO14001 compliance must at the minimum deal with Atmospheric Emissions, Water Quality and Quantity, Waste Management, EIA, Noise impacts and Dangerous goods. It is not a requisite to include an entire Act or Regulation in the legal register but only the relevant parts. Since 1994 almost 1100 Acts have been passed. Typically not many apply to a company and sector altering legislation emerges infrequently. The tendency to purchase sector generic or off the shelf legal registers is adequate in a company s hands for only a short while and may meet legal requirements but not managerial requirements.

5 It is preferable to let your legal register be developed by an agency that knows your sector, or takes the time to understand the management systems of your business. Do you require information on how EcoPartners can produce or update a Legal Register for your company? Contact us for a free quote.