Risk Blogs

Dr. James L. Marsden is Regent’s Distinguished Professor of Food Safety and Security at Kansas State University. His blog post, “Ten things government can do to help small plants improve food safety”, is our link of the day today.
Find out how LRQA is actively helping organisations manage their food safety risks,

TRUST comes by Food and leaves by Horse

12th Feb 2010

“A deliberate typo in relation to last week’s Global Food Safety Conference. Yet a relevant typo, as the issue is ‘who do you trust?’ I will explain later.”

Day Ten’s blogger is Ronald de Kok, LRQA.

Business Risk Assessment Surveys Strengthen Your Risk Management Process

30th Jan 2010

Latest blog from Mis use of expenses, covers how you can use Risk Surveys to Identify, Assess and Mitigate Business Risks.

Improving MBAs after economic downturn

28th Jan 2010

Jeanette Purcell, chief executive, Association of MBAs talks about the economic downturn and how it was was widely considered to have revealed some shortcomings in what is taught at business schools.

Lloyd’s Register Copenhagen Audio Blog, December 17, 2009 – Energy Efficiency and the Rebound Effect

17th Dec 2009 by Alex Briggs

Lloyd’s Register Copenhagen Audio Blog, December 17, 2009 – Energy Efficiency and the Rebound Effect Today’s blog was phoned in by Sean Cuthbert, the Lloyd’s Register Energy’s leading climate change expert. The blog post is available as an audio file or as the transcript below.

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Skeptics, Standards, and Peak “Everything” – Lloyd’s Register Copenhagen Link of the Day, December 16th, 2009

16th Dec 2009 by Alex Briggs

Today’s Lloyd’s Register Copenhagen COP 15 blog post is from Sean Cuthbert, one of our leading climate change experts. Sean attended an oil industry meeting at the COP 15 conference and here are his thoughts.

Skeptics, Standards, and Peak “Everything”

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LRQA Business Assurance Quote of the Day, 18 August, 2009 FOOD SAFETY

18th Aug 2009 by Alex Briggs

Last year the world had a wake-up call with the sudden oil and food price rises. While we know the price of our food, the full environmental costs and the costs to our health are significant and hidden. We need a radical rethink of how we produce and consume our food.

UK Environment minister, Hilary Benn

Episode 6, Carbon Footprinting, LRQA Business Assurance Trust and Transparency Podcast Series

11th Aug 2009 by Alex Briggs

In episode 6 of the 10-part LRQA Business Assurance Trust and Transparency Podcast Series, carbon footprinting and “green issues” are discussed. Featured are Harriet Lamb, Fairtrade Foundation, Sandy Sutherland, LRQA and Solitaire Townsend, Futerra Communications.

Work-Life Balance – a luxury or necessity?

24th Jul 2009 by Richard Gunawan

Work-Life Balance – a luxury or necessity? Lack of Work-Life Balance has significant risks to the organisation; including loss of productivity, poor health, and higher absenteeism. By offering flexible work arrangements to employees can help companies navigate the troubled times. By offering periods of unpaid leave or options to work part-time, companies may be able to avoid massive retrenchment and still retain their talented employees.

Business Assurance in an Economic Downturn – Robert DuPuy Podcast

22nd Jul 2009 by Alex Briggs

The latest LRQA Business Assurance interview features Robert DuPuy, the Head of Sales and Training for Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance, Inc. (LRQA). In this interview, Robert talks about some of the key issues that organisations are facing during difficult economic times. He talks about management systems, the characteristics of a good management system and the importance of having accredited independent third party certification of management systems.

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Death in Chocolate Vat brings Health and Safety to forefront in Food Industry

20th Jul 2009 by Alex Briggs

This Food Navigator article highlights the seriousness of health and safety for food manufacturers. With 3 deaths in the UK over the past few months, many firms in the Food sector are looking at OHSAS 18001 certification as a way to help them manage their risk and reduce health and safety incidents.

Episode 4, INDEPENDENT ASSURANCE, LRQA Business Assurance Trust and Transparency Podcast Series

14th Jul 2009 by Alex Briggs

In Episode 4 of the 10-part LRQA Business Assurance Trust and Transparency Podcast Series, the importance of independent assurance in restoring consumer trust in organisations and government is highlighted. Featured are Harriet Lamb, Fairtrade Foundation, Helen McTaggart of the Co-operative, Alan Knight and Kate Ives, AccountAbility, Sandy Sutherland, LRQA and Solitaire Townsend, Futerra Communications.

LRQA Food Safety Webinar, Parts 5-8 Video Files

13th Jul 2009 by Alex Briggs

The recent LRQA Food Safety Webinar is now available in smaller segments, starting with the opening session, “Food Safety Issue and Standards” being broken down into 8 individual video files. This post contains 5-8. Click on any of the images below to view that section of the webinar. Here is also the link to sections 1-4 .

LRQA Food Safety Webinar Parts 1-4 Video Files

9th Jul 2009 by Alex Briggs

The recent LRQA Food Safety Webinar is now available in smaller segments, starting with the opening session, “Food Safety Issue and Standards” being broken down into 8 individual video files. This post contains 1-4. Click on any

LRQA Food Safety Webinar now available

8th Jul 2009 by Alex Briggs

The July 1st Food Safety Webinar from LRQA is now available for listening, viewing and downloading.
The entire session is available as a recorded Webex here.
You can also view the webinar in parts with each of the sections being uploaded individually. The first sections will be uploaded tomorrow, covering all of the opening session, “Food Safety Issues and Standards.”

Risk Managers crucial to restoring Trust

1st Jul 2009 by Alex Briggs

Association of Insurance and Risk Managers (AIRMIC) next chairman, Paul Howard, was recently interviewed by Sue Copeland for this article in Strategic Risk Magazine.

At a time when resources are even scarcer, risk managers are going to have to be much smarter in the solutions we offer and really review the cost benefit of any situation.

Business Assurance Link of the Day, June 29, 2009 Ethical Behaviour is Good For Business

28th Jun 2009 by Alex Briggs

This article in Strategic Risk Magazine highlights the importance of Ethical Corporate behaviour during times of increased scrutiny and consumer distrust of organisations.

Business Assurance Links of the Day, June 24th 2009 – Social Media

24th Jun 2009 by Alex Briggs

Follow Business Assurance at our YouTube! page, on our Twitter page , on the video sharing site, Vimeo and another video sharing site, Veoh .

Business Assurance Thought of the Day, June 23, 2009 – Supply Chain Planning during the Economic Downturn

23rd Jun 2009 by Alex Briggs

This Infosysblogs post takes a closer look at where organisations are investing across their supply chain, breaking it down by location and sector.Interestingly, over 50% of organisations that took part in a recent poll inidated that forward planning was their focus, not maintenance.

Business Assurance Thought of the Day – Guardian Climate Change Summit Notes

16th Jun 2009 by Alex Briggs

Here is a collection of notes and thoughts from Guardian Climate Change Summit 2009 in London yesterday, most of which were posted yesterday on our www.twitter.com/lrqa page.

First session thoughts and notes
Quote from Gavin Neath, Senior VP Unilever “Organisations need to learn humility.For the past 30 years, environmental groups were right, businesses were wrong.”
Mars looking to work with PAS 2050 the carbon Footprinting for products, according to Fiona Dawson, Managing Director, Mars, UK

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Episode 1 LRQA Business Assurance Trust and Transparency Podcast Series

9th Jun 2009 by Alex Briggs

The 10 part “Trust and Transparency” podcast series is here! Harriet Lamb of The Fairtrade Foundation starts the series with her insight on what it takes for organisations to rebuild consumer trust. She also talks about Fairtrade and how they have done during the current economic downturn. She also shares her thoughts on the What Assures Consumers in an Economic Downturn report, the latest in a series from AccountAbility, sponsored by the Co-operative and supported by LRQA.

BPA Debate highlights need for Trust and Transparency

2nd Jun 2009 by Alex Briggs

The current BPA debate that is raging around the world is an example of how quickly consumer trust can be destroyed, and how difficult it can be to regain it. Currently, both sides of the debate (the critics who believe the evidence clearly shows that BPA leads to significant health problems and the regulators around [...]

LRQA Business Assurance “Trust and Transparency” Podcast Series

27th May 2009 by Alex Briggs

The What Assures Consumers in an Economic Downturn report was commissioned by AccountAbility, sponsored by the Co-operative, supported by LRQA, with the online research being conducted by YouGov. In early June, we will be launching a 10-part audio and video podcast series from interviews and presentations from the launch event. Sign up to our subscription updates or our iTunes podcast link at the top right hand corner of www.businessassurance.com .

The Two Most Important Lists You’ll Ever Keep

25th May 2009 by Alex Briggs

This BNET blog post talks about the issues that all organisations and their senior management are currently facing.

1) Things That Keep Me Up At Night
2) Reasons I Get Up In The Morning

In getting started with your own lists, this quote from Alan M. Webber should help you get started

May 22, 2009 Thought of the Day – Food Safety

22nd May 2009 by Alex Briggs

Our Business Assurance Thought of the Day today helps bring the US Food Safety situation into perspective. According to Ohio.com,

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US government agency solely responsible for auditing food manufacturing locations across the US did not conduct any audits at all in 2007-2008 in California, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming.

www.businessassurance.com launches new Asia specific section

5th May 2009 by Alex Briggs

We now have 9 sections in total, with the Asia specific section joining Climate Change, Food, Supply Chain, CSR, Product Conformity, Risk, Management Systems and Business Continuity.

Business Assurance Link of the Day, April 29, 2009 : Supply Chain

29th Apr 2009 by Alex Briggs

Today’s link of the day is from a leading supply chain blog. This post is titled, “Seven Habits of Effective Supply Chain Managers.”

Business Assurance Thought of the Day, April 17, The Cost of Getting it Wrong

17th Apr 2009 by Alex Briggs

With Food Safety at the top of the agenda for governments, organisations and individuals, the risk to brands that get it wrong has never been greater. The costs of assuring the food supply chain have been seen by some as “too high” or “not necessary.” The example of the Plainview Peanut Company’s $14.6 million fine highlights once again the true costs of “getting it wrong.”

Supply Chain Managers Fear Protectionism

15th Apr 2009 by Alex Briggs

Supply chain managers in North America, Europe and Asia by a wide margin worry that increasing trade protectionism could push the global recession into a global depression, according to a survey released today.

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Business Assurance Thought and Link of the Day, March 31st, 2009: Food Safety

31st Mar 2009 by Alex Briggs

Todays thought and link of the day both refer to a new report, Keeping America’s Food Safe.

Only one percent of imported foods are currently inspected, even though approximately 60 percent of fresh fruits and vegetables and 75 percent of seafood Americans consume is imported.

Business Assurance Thought and Link of of the Day, March 26, 2009: Business Continuity and Six Sigma

26th Mar 2009

“Business continuity, security and emergency management are all process-driven activities. As such, it makes sense to ensure that those processes are constantly being reviewed and improved. Six Sigma is a process that ought to be considered for these disciplines, as it deals with process improvement.”

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Business Assurance Thought and Link of the Day, March 25, 2009: Supply Chains

25th Mar 2009 by Alex Briggs

Today’s thought and link are related to global supply chains and are from the same source, Bob Ferrari’s blog.

Tata didn’t set the price of the Nano by calculating the cost of production and then adding to margin. Rather it set $2500 as the price that it thought customers could pay and then worked back, with the help of partners willing to take on a challenge, to build a $2500 car that would reward all involved with a small profit.

Top 10 highest risk countries for absolute natural disaster, economic losses and hydro-meteorological risks

18th Mar 2009

The impact of natural disasters was estimated at US$200 billion. China and USA accounted for 90%, globally positioning them most susceptible to economic losses.

Are the new EU Risk Management Proposals beneficial?

5th Mar 2009 by Alex Briggs

The latest edition of Strategic Risk Magazine features an article by Andrew Williams on the benefits of new EU Directive proposals on Risk Management.
The article highlights the issues that organisations face in implementing EU Directives when they operate in multiple markets.

Are the new EU Risk Management Proposals beneficial?

5th Mar 2009 by Alex Briggs

The latest edition of Strategic Risk Magazine features an article by Andrew Williams on the benefits of new EU Directive proposals on Risk Management.
The article highlights the issues that organisations face in implementing EU Directives when they operate in multiple markets.

A new international standard for traceability

4th Mar 2009 by Cor Groenveld

ISO 22005 is the new international standard for traceability in the food and feed supply chain. Traceability is a must throughout the whole feed and food supply chain, in particular as a part of the emergency management process when quality or food safety problems with raw materials or finished products occur. When an organisation is able to rapidly trace back ingredients or finished products, risks and costs involved with quality and food safety defects will be reduced. The standard is part of the ISO 22000 family and it provides tools to implement an effective traceability system as part of a food safety / quality management system.

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Using BS 25999 to reduce risk and lower compliance costs

27th Feb 2009

A recent research report, comprising of interviews conducted by IBM, with over 1200 chief financial officers from 79 countries, concluded the following points mentioned in the article.

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How Prepared Are You? Business Continuity Management Toolkit

27th Jan 2009

In the event of a business disruption, Business Continuity Management (BCM) helps you to identify and prepare for critical business operations. This may be more important for organisations with global complex supply chains or where there is a single-point of dependency from either the supplier or customer side.

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Credit Crunch Supply Chain Predictions

18th Dec 2008 by Alex Briggs

i2 Technologies has published their economic downturn supply chain predictions:

1. SaaS and other engagement models will dominate in 2009
Software as a service (SaaS) and other engagement models will dominate the market in 2009 as companies seek to focus technology budgets on gaining a competitive advantage quickly without additional infrastructure. Outcome-based service engagements will be encoded into contracts in 2009 utilizing a managed business process services approach.
2. Risk becomes real and so does risk management

Is your supply chain at risk?

17th Dec 2008

Bob Ferrraris Blog about Supply Chains, this post talks about Supply Chain risks today.

Collapse of Big Three would be a threat across the supply chain

9th Dec 2008 by Alex Briggs

The future of any of the big three U.S. automakers lies both in world-class, competitive products, but also in a vibrant supplier network that can drive higher levels of innovation and time-to-market.

Business Continuity Management Plan: A License to Protect

8th Dec 2008

An unimaginable event occurred at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in downtown Mumbai in India on the evening of November 26, 2008.

Terrorists forced their way into the rear entrance of the 105-year-old historic building built by the great grandfather of the CEO of Tata Motors. The magnificent hotel symbolises the success and pride of one of India’s largest private businesses. The capability of the hotel to protect its customers and its reputaion was challenged.

Business Continuity Risks for China, India and Asia overall

27th Oct 2008

According to Forbes Calamity Prevention “the business impact of planning to mitigate, respond to and recover from earthquakes will be significant all over Asia, even if no more earthquakes occur for many years.”
Recent earthquakes around the Pacific Rim in the last four months have registered 6.0 or higher on the Richter scale, the magnitude at which earthquakes are generally considered destructive.

Milk Scandal Spills over to Food Safety and Consumer Trust

14th Oct 2008 by Alex Briggs

This New York Times Media Group article raises the question “Is there more tainted food out there?”

The melamine scandal has heightened fears that the food business is racing ahead of the ability of governments to detect health-threatening contamination, whether accidental or deliberate.

Business Continuity Experts talk about the role of BC

14th Oct 2008 by Alex Briggs

Cheryl Vallender at www.disaster-resource.com has gotten a group of the world’s leading Business Continuity experts together to answer the question:

Where does Business Continuity Planning Belong in an Organization?

Cheryl’s article takes us right back to the beginning of Business Continuity through to taking a look at the current trends in global organisations.

Compliance driving Global Supply Chains?

8th Jul 2008 by Alex Briggs

This Retail Bulletin article discusses the results of a recently published survey on supply chain issues. According to the 100 UK supply chain professionals surveyed, supply chain managers spend up to 52 days a year keeping abreast of, and complying with regulation and legislation relating to the supply chain.
The research found 84 per cent spend up to 52 days a year on compliance while 16 per cent claim even more time. More than half (58 per cent) claim to be either concerned or very concerned about operating in an increasingly regulated environment.

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Supplier of a supplier still the problem of the manufacturer

30th Oct 2007 by Gail Van Den Bos

A recent article in The Observer newspaper in the UK, highlighted how a supplier to Gap Inc. had sub-contracted their work to another supplier where child labour was apparently found in use.

What’s new for Supply Chains?

10th Oct 2007 by Gail Van Den Bos

There’s a great deal of information available about supply chains. And increasingly, it’s highlighting new areas. No longer limited to product safety recalls and logistical headaches, we’re now hearing more about green supply chains, ethical supply chains, carbon management in supply chains, reverse outsourcing, supply chain security and so on.

Climate Change Action Who and How

27th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs

Only through clear strategies that are informative and transparent to both business and consumers, backed by full government support and pressure, communicated by all types of media can there be a concerted global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Businesses having systems to measure data in place that are credible and verifiable will lead to the consumer trust that will change their buying habits.

Wal-Mart addresses climate change and supply chain

25th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs

The key issues of risk management, supply chain and climate change have made their way to the top of media and corporate agendas recently.

A Wal-Mart and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) joint effort will measure the climate change effects across the Wal-Mart supply chain.

Mattel apology to China not the end of it

25th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs

When big brands started to manufacture their products in “cheap labour” markets, it was believed that the brands had all the power, with governments doing everything they could to create favourable economic incentives to those brands.

The latest in the Mattel “lead paint” story seems to have indicated that the situation has drastically changed.

More consumer calls for transparency

21st Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs

In a food safety environment that is being increasingly driven by consumer awareness and outcry, soft drink manufacturers are taking steps to assure consumers that they are reducing additives in their products.

This Foodqualitynews.com article

A recent Food Standards Agency (FSA) report stated:

“eating or drinking certain mixes of additives together with the preservative sodium benzoate, could be linked to a negative effect on children’s behaviour.”

Supply Chain Risks, One Year Later

21st Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs

A Forbes article on growing supply chain risks, published a year ago this week, stated:

The three most cited disruptions to their supply chains were the supply of raw materials, the performance of supply chain partners (specifically in delivery and quality) and volatile fuel prices.

Green Supply Chains and consumer pressure

20th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs

Successful consumer led campaigns against companies using cheap labour may be the blueprint for upcoming campaigns aimed at brands not paying enough attention to the “greenness” of their global supply chain. This Supply Chain Digest article once again shows that brands cannot afford to get their supply chain wrong. It is no longer enough for [...]

Import Supply Chain Checklist

20th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs

Despina Keegen of JP Morgan Global Trade Services has written a guest column for Supply and Demand Chain which features a supply chain checklist. Interestingly, the column talks about a possible “import czar” position being created at the cabinet level of the US government. A sign as to how important supply chain safety, supply chain [...]

Supply Chains: Who’s to blame when it all goes wrong?

17th Sep 2007 by Gail Van Den Bos

China’s manufacturing sites come in for a lot of bad press… maybe deservedly, but they are part of a chain of responsibility that starts with the customer at one end of the chain. Quite a few questions need to be asked before identifying culprits who contribute to product failures.

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Supply Chain Conference in Prague

10th Sep 2007 by Gail Van Den Bos

At the recent Global Food Safety Summit inPrague, a number of key messages emerged. These included the importance of effective risk assessments across all of the supply network, of the need to have processes in place to prevent emergencies (product recalls, security incidents), and also to be prepared to respond if the worst happens. Whilst the [...]

Supply Chain problems linked directly to financial performance

7th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs

Supply Chain Digest, in their graphic of the week have proven a direct link between supply chain disruptions and a negative impact on a company’s stock prices. The importance of a company being able to effectively manage their supply chain, from beginning to end, has never been more relevant. Recent high-profile media cases, have highlighted the [...]

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Internal testing reveals latest Salmonella scare in US

3rd Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs

Fresh Metz, a California based “grower and shipper specializing in year-round custom-grown spinach” has voluntarily recalled 8,000 cases of its products after an internal test found traces of salmonella on some of their products. Coming on the back of new guidelines rolled out just five months ago, the latest recall of spinach has shocked the industry [...]

Think beyond the carbon label

2nd Jul 2007 by Tim Kitchin

If we are to trade our way out of climate change, consumers are going to need to make much better environmental choices.

Realistically, they will need a lot more information; honestly produced and simply presented.

Investing in change

8th Mar 2007

Gareth Hughes, Climate Change Capital‘s head of corporate development, outlined today the growing opportunities for corporations in the capital markets if they can prove they have superior environmental performance.

Effective supply chain management

22nd Nov 2006 by Andrew Kakabadse

One of the most critical applications facing management systems, is their deployment across complex supply-chains, where the same ‘rules and processes’ will need to be adapted into different cultures and risk management frameworks.

Risk of unrest increasing in China, say Maplecroft

30th Oct 2006

According to Maplecroft the risk of social unrest in China is on the rise, following the revelation that the poorest 10 per cent of the population in China has actually become worse-off despite the economic boom.

E. coli on the march

6th Oct 2006 by Tim Kitchin

The number of cases of E. coli in spinach continues to multiply in the US, displacing more serious governance concerns like HP’s alleged employee-spying from the front pages of newspapers.

When Health and Safety really matters…

18th Sep 2006 by Tim Kitchin

Jenny McCartney of the UK’s Daily Telegraph has drawn attention to the chasm emerging between ‘trivial’ health and safety concerns, and the ‘profound’ safety issues prevailing in developing countries, or when individuals are effectively compelled to take inappropriate risks.

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