Rolling Out RIOS

Need help improving your quality, environmental, and health & safety performance? That’s what ISRI’s new scrap recycling certification program—RIOS—is all about.

Quality. Environment. Health & Safety.
   Those three areas—often represented by the acronym QEH&S—are critically important to every scrap recycler. Why? Because operations that don’t excel in those areas are more likely to experience inefficiencies, rejections, violations, and accidents, potentially costing serious money and hurting the bottom line. 
   In contrast, companies that strive for excellence in their quality, environmental, and health & safety performance are helping to ensure their current profitability as well as their future viability.
   But how can scrap recyclers achieve QEH&S success?
   That’s where ISRI’s new Recycling Industry Operating Standard—or RIOS—comes in. 

What Is RIOS?
RIOS is an integrated QEH&S management system designed for the scrap recycling industry. The general goal of RIOS is to help scrap recyclers achieve measurable continuous improvement in their QEH&S performance. Improved performance, in turn, will benefit individual companies and the industry overall in terms of better profitability, public relations, and relationships with regulators. 
   Though other management standards exist—such as ISO 9001 for quality, ISO 14001 for environment, and OHSAS 18001 and ANSI Z10 for health/safety—ISRI saw the need to establish a single integrated QEH&S management standard specifically for scrap operations. Thus, in 2002, a task force of ReMA members and ReMA staff began exploring the creation of RIOS (originally called SCRAP3).
   In 2004, ReMA founded ReMA Services Corp. (ISC) to oversee the development, implementation, and management of RIOS. ISC then hired Baker Botts L.L.P., an international law firm with scrap recycling experience, and First Environment Inc., an environmental consulting firm based in Boonton, N.J., to draft the standard and create an implementation package of tools to help recyclers apply the standard to their operations.
   The overall development of RIOS has been funded by about 50 charter ReMA member companies that encompass more than 100 facilities. 

How is RIOS structured? 
As purchased, RIOS comes in two parts: the standard itself (RIOS) and the implementation package (RIOS IP).
   The RIOS standard outlines the basic elements of the integrated management system in six short sections about general requirements, policy, planning, implementation, checking and corrective action, and management review. 
   These elements were drawn from ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001. RIOS also includes a glossary of terms and an annex. This annex shows in table form the correspondence between RIOS and the three standards noted above.
   The RIOS IP is designed to walk scrap employees at any level through the process of setting up an integrated management system. The process includes analysis of the QEH&S aspects of yard operations, assessment of what is needed under RIOS to address these QEH&S aspects, and development of the various components of the management system, for which templates and examples will be provided. To make the process as easy as possible, the RIOS IP is broken down into numerous small chapters with specific templates and tools. 
   Chapter topics include setting up to implement, management requirements, documentation and recordkeeping, policy development, QEH&S analysis, improvement planning, training, communications, operational controls, monitoring and measurement, corrective and preventive action, audits, and management review.
   The centerpiece of the RIOS IP is what’s called the “Master Tool.” This tool, which consists of printable Excel spreadsheets, is straightforward and user-friendly, offering a “toolbox” of checklists, action items, and tracking forms. This structure enables virtually any employee in scrap operations to use the RIOS IP. With easy-to-follow Excel spreadsheets, the Master Tool first leads you through a checklist of QEH&S issues for each operation in your facility, such as baling, shredding, and torchcutting. The tool then helps you to determine what activities you must do to be compliant. 
   For instance, the tool could indicate that you need to implement a lockout/tagout procedure for your baling operation. If you already have such a procedure, the tool provides a place for you to note this so that you can move on to the next activity. 
   If you do not have a procedure and require assistance in developing one, there are templates that you can adapt, as necessary, to accommodate your specific equipment.
   “In short, the Master Tool helps you identify what you have, what you need, and what you need to do based on those facts, while the provided templates offer examples of what the output is supposed to look like,” notes David Wagger, ISRI’s director of environmental management and ISRI’s staff manager of the RIOS program.
   Moreover, RIOS is flexible in that its different parts—quality, environment, and health & safety—can be implemented in stages. 
   That means you don’t have to do all three parts at once. You can start with the section of greatest interest and need for your operations. (Please note, however, that you must complete all three sections to become certified under RIOS.)

Can any type of scrap operation use RIOS?
RIOS is intended for scrap companies of all sizes and commodity lines. It is as appropriate for small firms as it is for large ones and equally applicable to metal processors, paper packers, electronics recyclers, and so on. 
   It is important to note that the RIOS standard does not even mention commodities, while on the other hand the RIOS IP addresses aspects of scrap recycling for all commodity lines.

Is RIOS available only to ReMA members? 
Since ReMA member companies have funded the development of the RIOS program, they have been given the first chance to implement it and take advantage of its many benefits. The standard will be made available to nonmember companies, but at a higher nonmember price.

How can RIOS benefit my scrap recycling company? 
RIOS holds out many potential benefits to scrap recycling operations. The specific benefits of RIOS will vary from company to company, but in general the standard could:
• improve your environmental performance and, in the process, control or lower your environmental costs;
• enable you to produce quality products more consistently and reduce rejection rates;
• increase consumer confidence in the quality of your scrap products and boost customer satisfaction;
• improve your safety performance and reduce your operating and insurance costs;
• establish a more positive public image for your company and improve your relations with your community, legislators, and regulators;
• increase the efficiency, consistency, and productivity of your operations, enabling you to achieve greater profitability; and
• give your RIOS-certified firm a competitive advantage in the marketplace compared with non-RIOS companies.
   In case the above benefits aren’t enough motivation, both emerging market and regulatory forces may require scrap processors to adopt some type of management system that is not designed specifically for the recycling industry. RIOS, in contrast, gives the scrap industry the opportunity to take control of its destiny in QEH&S matters.

How much does RIOS cost? 
Currently, an ReMA member that wants to use RIOS and the RIOS IP will pay an initial fee of $1,000 to $2,000 per yard based on the number of yards, with some economies of scale, and an annual fee of about $1,000 per yard. Companies that are not ReMA members will pay substantially higher fees than ReMA members.
   Beyond these direct RIOS-related fees, the total cost of implementing RIOS could include other expenses such as consultant fees, auditor fees, and training costs, all of which will vary based on the needs and preferences of each implementing facility.
   Nonetheless, implementing RIOS is expected to cost far less than implementing each of the other management standards, such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001, which have no implementation packages and will require expensive consultant services for their implementation. 
   This large cost savings is one of the major benefits of RIOS.

How does my company get certified under RIOS? 
Under RIOS, different levels of certification are possible, including self-certification, second-party certification (such as by an implementation consultant hired by your company), or third-party certification by an approved registrar.
   Among the above certification types, please keep in mind that achieving the maximum recognition and realizing the greatest benefit of RIOS certification would likely require a third-party audit.
   Also remember: While the quality, environment, and health & safety sections of RIOS can be implemented separately, you must implement all three components to become certified under RIOS.

How long will it take to become certified under RIOS? 
Most companies should allow at least six months to a year for implementation, depending on what QEH&S management systems or components are already in place. 
   Companies with established management structures will find implementation smoother than those without such structures. Another important factor is a company’s level of commitment to achieving certification. In short, management commitment is essential to success and will determine the time it takes to implement the standard.

What is the status of RIOS right now? 
RIOS is currently undergoing field tests by charter RIOS members, and it will be amended based on feedback from these beta testers. The RIOS standard and RIOS IP are expected to be officially released at ISRI’s board of directors meeting in Chicago in November.
   RIOS will also be presented to the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) for review and, it is hoped, adoption as an accreditable standard. The goal is for RIOS to be widely recognized and accepted as equivalent to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, and ANSI Z10.

How can I sign up? 
ISRI member companies interested in signing up for RIOS can contact David Wagger, ISRI’s director of environmental management, at 202/662-8533 or davidwagger@isri.org.