Employees and customers are retailers’ most important assets. As executives charged with protecting their company’s assets, many loss prevention professionals oversee workplace safety initiatives.
At RILA, our goal is to cover the full spectrum of loss prevention within our retail member companies. To that end, more than 80 executives participate on our Workplace Safety Committee. This is an active, engaged group of retail professionals working in safety, risk management, training and loss prevention who participate on bi-monthly conference calls, semi-annual committee meetings and ad hoc benchmarking initiatives throughout the year. In addition, another 20+ companies participate in our OSHA Policy Working Group.
During a recent conference call hosted by RILA and attended by both groups, we were fortunate to have Marc Freedman, executive director of labor law policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, update the group on OSHA’s proposed Noise Reduction Standard that could significantly impact retail operations. Additionally, Mr. Freedman discussed the changing landscape of DC politics and what that may mean for enforcement agencies that target retailers. A lively Q&A session emphasized our members’ awareness and engagement in this area.
As retail segments continue to blur, more and more retailers are beginning to sell packaged food. On the same call as referenced above, we invited Deb White, principal of Regulatory Solutions, to provide an overview of the Food Safety Bill. The bottom line is that we will have to await the outcome of the rulemaking process before we will know for sure what foods and facilities are covered.
With budgets tightening, loss prevention departments are asked to do more with less. Our goal at RILA is to be the access point for our members to stay abreast of public policy and operational issues that may affect them and their operations. We will include a robust workplace safety track at our Loss Prevention, Auditing & Safety Conference in April 2011.
