Vanguard’s Turnkey Solutions for the United States & Canada

Vanguard's Turnkey Solutions to Industry's "Mountain" of Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Compliance Laws

VANGUARD manages regulatory compliance for more companies than any other organization in North America. With 400+ combined years expertise on over 60 major laws imposed upon Industry by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Department of Transportation (DOT) and Homeland Security (DHS) (plus regulations from state, county and local agencies), Vanguard maintains departments in Environmental Engineering, Environmental Science/Technology, OSHA/DOT Training (onsite) and Regulatory Specialists. From offices throughout the United States and through a host of intellectual properties, Team Vanguard provides hundreds of clients throughout North America with a compliance peace of mind by minimizing exposures to enforcement penalties by satisfying and managing each client’s compliance over the years. This, in turn, keeps each client’s personnel focused on revenue-producing activities to the avoidance of “pushing Government paperwork,” while enhancing their commitment to corporate citizenship, sustainability and environmental stewardship.

The same is the case in serving Vanguard clients in Canada, although governmental oversight for compliance is shared in co-equal fashion by Environment Canada, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety (CCOHS), and Transport Canada at the federal level…and provincial/territorial authorities at those more localized levels. As in the U.S., turnkey compliance is featured for companies down to the postal code and street address, as site-specific compliance is also key to regulatory compliance management in Canada. Many laws are unique to Canada, its 10 provinces and three territories. However, some carry overtones to U.S. regulations. A quick look at EMS USA! and EMS Canada! will demonstrate the many differences between the two nations and their regulations governing Environmental, Health, Safety and Terrorist Prevention (EHS-TP) matters.

Vanguard Founded 1992

A debt-free corporation, Vanguard was founded in 1992 upon the principle of “treating others the way we’d want to be treated.” Vanguard’s business relationship with its clients features Turnkey Compliance, meaning, we get the whole job done A-to-Z…the same way a CPA would handle your company’s IRS and tax matters. Yet, costs are minimized through a flat-rate fee structure instead of exorbitant fees generally associated with “billable hours.”

Vanguard’s Four Primary Benefits

When the Federal Government establishes enforcement penalty policies from $56,000 to $102,000 per day per violation, American business and industry is plagued with significant risks on a myriad of regulatory compliance laws, all of which must be satisfied and managed from year to year. The parallel of meeting one's commitment to IRS matters and annual tax returns (CRA in Canada) is not lost with regard to regulatory compliance laws. Therefore, Vanguard's #1 client benefit is Risk Management Against Enforcement Penalties, which provides daily inspiration for our #1 Core Value...The needs of the clients come first! The four primary benefits enjoyed by Vanguard’s clients are the equivalent of a grand-slam homerun.

1. First and foremost is…Risk Management Against Enforcement Penalties itself. When considering enforcement risks, it’s important to understand the practical nature of four downside risks that come with virtually every violation:
   • When a penalty policy is set at $56,000+ per day per violation (i.e., EPA’s policy), the civil fine itself is no small concern;
   • But with that comes attorneys’ fees, generally resulting in another 30% to 50% beyond the fine levied against the violating entity;
   • The corresponding lawsuit and litigation can last one to three years, resulting in immeasurable losses of productivity and revenues due to the distractions that come with the territory.
   • Finally, the corporate violator ends up on inspectors’ “Hit Lists,” shared by personnel from one agency to another. In other words, inspectors do network! (Criminal detention is a very real prospect on some laws.)
2. The second primary benefit is Legislative Updating since regulatory laws evolve by about 30% per year via amendments and newly enacted regulations. Vanguard routinely upgrades its systems to screen its clients’ compliance matters on a continuous basis to ensure that someone is always looking, figuring that client personnel are not sitting at home reading the U.S. Federal Register or the Canada Gazette each night by the fireside.
3. Third is Defensible Documentation, a tangible outgrowth of the precision due diligence executed on a client’s site-specific regulatory compliance matters. Why? The client’s Defensible Documentation serves as an Inspection Showpiece when an inspector comes to conduct an enforcement inspection. And this benefit comes with every compliance project generated on behalf of the client. We call this evidence-based compliance, and it’s rare that enforcement inspectors don’t applaud the client’s commitment to compliance when they see Vanguard’s work, which sends them quickly out the front door – a smile planted on the face of the client’s compliance officer – and the matter resolved as if it were a 20-15 minute coffee break.
4. Finally, the client’s economic benefits are substantial in overall savings. Because we execute precision due diligence at the outset of every client relationship, a company’s investment in its compliance is made only toward its compliance gaps, never on extraneous issues where compliance is not mandated. Therefore, many compliance issues are eliminated, and the client’s site-specific compliance program is illuminated for compliance gaps that actually exist. This positions Vanguard to perform its role in terms of just a few turnkey compliance projects, simplifying our cost structures to that of flat-rate fees, as opposed to excessive “billable hours.”

Go to EMS to learn how Vanguard can benefit you and your company.