Call for Papers

The Auditing Roundtable (“Roundtable”) has been promoting the professional practice of Environmental, Health & Safety, Sustainability, and related auditing for over 25 years. The “crown jewel” of our group has been our national meetings.  In an effort to draw upon the talent, insights, and creativity of all of our Members, the Roundtable is actively seeking ideas, assistance, and participation in the planning for the national meeting in Fall 2009.

Fall 2009 Meeting Theme

The theme of our Fall 2009 meeting will be “Laws, Regulations, and Standards.” In these challenging economic times, this is a common request of EHS/S auditing groups, and on audits themselves.

The AR recognizes that a spate of new laws, regulations, and municipal ordinances have created an array of new compliance requirements – and with the new Administration, more new (or draft) laws and regulations are likely. States and municipalities have been passing “green ordinances” affecting buildings, green businesses, certifications, and contracting with government entities. Furthermore, a number of standards have “flown below the radar,” creating compliance – and auditing – obligations that many companies do not fully appreciate. There are dozens of standards targeting industry sectors (utilities, electronic industry), or specific topics (carbon reporting, social conditions in the supply chain). 

In addition to panels and discussion on theme topics, we continue with standard features of our meetings, including industry sector break-outs, topical interest groups, and ample time to mix and mingle with EHS/S auditing and management professionals. The Auditing Roundtable is working with other groups to present detailed short courses on standards on MORNING OF DAY 3.

Fall 2009 Meeting:  Needs and Opportunities

We are requesting ideas and help for other topics, which may include:

• Standards:  many of our member companies have signed on to an array of standards, such as the Global Compact, the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct, Responsible Care, the Sullivan Principles, SA 8000 (Social Accountability Standard), AccountAbility’s AA1000 standard – to name a few.  We are interested in summaries of these standards, and how a company/ resource has managed these standards within their EHS/S auditing program. These sessions could be for a presentation on a panel, or for an extended (~2.5 hours) CEU course on Thursday morning, September 10 – or both. 
• Laws and regulations (including municipal ordinances): Federal or state laws or proposals are always of interest to our members.  Many local jurisdictions have passed “green ordinances”, each of which creates new compliance requirements.  How are companies or audit professionals gearing up to address these?
• Earth Day – Lessons for EHS/S Auditing?: The Auditing Roundtable took a quick poll the week of Earth Day 2009.  Over 2/3 of our respondents indicated their companies did something for Earth Day, and the majority of these stated a claim or provided data as part of their message.  Yet only one is six respondents indicated that EHS/S auditing was in any way involved supporting this effort.  We would like to hear from someone who is! 
• IT and Data Management:  in Spring 2009, we had an abundance of presenters and good information on how IT can be used to manage and audit EHS/S issues more effectively.  With continuing innovations in resources and applicability of IT, we remain interested in experience in linking EHS/S auditing or programs to enterprise platforms, such as SAP or Oracle. 
• Back to Basics:  We will likely include a Back to Basics session as one breakout session.  Is there a “basics” topic that requires special attention, or that a Member wishes to present? 
• Case Studies:  a perennial favorite. We are always seeking company representative(s) to present a case study.  On anything. We’ve had great presentations on how companies integrated Security, how they anticipate Homeland Security standards, how they’ve revamped their programs, how they integrated an acquisition.  Whatever you’ve gone through will be of interest to Members.  If you’ll present, we’ll listen.
• Others: we’re a Member-driven, volunteer organization. You pick.

Please see click Here to view submittal form – we’re requiring proponents to submit a short form so we know who’s submitting what, and can quickly get relevant information onto our meeting announcement. 

Selection Criteria

The Meetings Committee will consider any and all topics for inclusion on the meeting agenda, and will select from applications at their sole discretion.  Consideration will be given to:

1.    Current, timely nature of the topic

2.    Relevance to EHS/S auditing, or the field in general

3.    Ability to highlight Member involvement, expertise, or contributions

4.    Ability and willingness of individuals to commit to making presentation, providing content, or finding someone to do so

5.    Overall fit with other presentations or sessions, so as to create logical panels or discussions

6.    References or other assurance that presenter has good presentation skills

7.     Alignment with the selected theme

8.    Opportunity to collaborate another organization that complements the Roundtable’s mission and goals (for example, we have involved AWMA, ASSE, ACHMM, the World Resources Institute, and others).  This also extends to regulatory authorities, academia, and others who align closely with the Roundtable’s mission and goals.

You need not meet all these criteria to offer a suggestion or express an interest.   If a topic is not selected for a national meeting, it may be suitable for a regional meeting, or a webinar – or a later national meeting.

How to Offer Suggestion or Express Interest

If you or a colleague is interested, please submit your proposal on the attached form.  Please note that, if your proposal is accepted, we intend to use this submittal as the basis for our program announcement and publicity.