HIPAA and the Privacy Rule

By Greg Garner
When the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted by congress in 1996 it brought forth four separate standards: Transactions and Code Sets, the Privacy Rule, the Security Rule and National Identifier Standards. If we look at the basic overview of the Privacy Rule we can pick it apart to see where the changes affected the healthcare industry.

Of course, the Privacy Rule changed normal daily activities in physician offices. Everyone had to receive HIPAA training and then had to ensure that all the patient health information (PHI) was protected in their office by locking up the files ensuring its protection. If there were files or computers in the room they had to be locked at the end of the day. Screen savers were used so if the computer registered inactivity it would automatically log off and the next authorized person would have to use their password to log on.

When the Privacy Rule came out, with it came six new patient rights ranging from the ability to obtain copies of their medical records, the ability for the patient to request an amendment to their health information, everyone who had access to their information, patients can request to be contacted prior to releasing information, they can request a restriction be placed on their health information and they have the right to file a complaint if they feel there have been HIPAA violations. Providing patients HIPAA education are a great way to further their understanding on the protection of their health information.

HIPAA training and practices in the healthcare industry have come a long way. It has been almost fifteen years and we continue to improve our methods in protecting the patient's information. We spend less time trying to figure out how we are going to keep the patient information private and more time on improving the processes we have in place making it harder to get the patient information. As the technology keeps improving, we will continue to be challenged with the moving parts of the equipment and firewalls needed to secure all the information appropriately.

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What Is HIPAA?

By Greg Garner
Well, if you want to know what HIPAA is you have to go to the internet unless you work in the healthcare field. HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It was enacted by congress in 1996. It provides the patient privacy to their health information. It also gives them privacy when it comes to any treatment plans they are receiving and if information is to be given out the patient has to provide permission. Unless it is going to another medical company or going to a billing service so a claim can be filed against the patient's health insurance.

If you work with a computer then you also have to deal with the privacy and security rules that pertain to the electronic records of the patient's information and care. One of the standards that have been applied now to the patients unique identifiers instead of using their social security number. This unique identifier can be used for four standards and they include the Transactions and Code Sets, the Privacy Rule, the Security Rule, and National Identifier Standards. Everyone employed in these areas will have had HIPAA training and follow the HIPAA guidance and policy.

There will be times when a patient's information will be shared and it will happen when it involves ancillary services like the pharmacy or laboratory, dental practices, nursing homes anything that would involve medical treatment or care. Financial institutions are starting to follow the same rules since the outbreak of identity theft. Tighter controls are being placed on a person's personal information. HIPAA training covers a multitude of subjects from a patient's personal information to unique and strong passwords for a computer and how to secure your workstation.

HIPAA protects your medical information, treatment plans for your care, your health insurance, billing information and any other facility or entity who must comply with HIPAA regulations. People go through training as a new employee, annually, and whenever new instructions or guidance comes out. This is to make sure everyone remains abreast of the best way to keep your information private and safe for you. Everyone at one point or another will need their information protected too.

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Properly Managing Passwords for Health Information

By Greg Garner
As everyone knows we have been growing quickly in the arena for protecting personal healthcare information. Even though it started back in 1996 with the Health Insurance and Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) there have been continuous changes on how this is to be done. When you work in a hospital or any type of medical facility you are always looking at process improvements and HIPAA training is an annual requirement to review. Most of the information stays the same but as we have grown in the technology field there are policies and procedures that have come out providing us guidance on how to move forward.

One of the areas we can improve on is how we can properly manage our passwords when we are protecting the personal healthcare information on patients. In a medical facility is the ultimate responsibility of the security officer for protecting the information. Everyone has to do their part to make it happen. If you help in protecting the access to your workstation then this is one less area that would be available for someone to place a computer virus. If you ensure proper disposal of computers, CDs and other materials that contain electronic personal health information than this contributes to keeping information safe.

When you take your HIPAA training passwords are subject that is discussed because you want a strong password and one that someone cannot easily figure out. Most places now have a policy on your user identification and authentication and selecting a strong password is part of this. Suggestions are never to use sports, family names, dates of birth or hobbies. As it is mentioned in HIPAA training you will never want to write your password down, post it on your wall, or place it in your desk drawer. Never let anyone use your password.

Sometimes you may see this happen for the sake of convenience. Stop and say something to them. Do not let it continue to happen because it put unnecessary risk on protected information. In 2005 the HIPAA security regulations became effective and everyone needs to ensure full compliance. Properly managing passwords to protect health information is a responsibility for everyone.

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Why Is HIPAA Important to Patients?

By Greg Garner
Do you remember growing up and wondering when your mom would stop telling the whole world what was wrong with you. It felt like every time her girlfriend came over for a cup of tea, the topic of discussion was always you and what the doctors found this time. You started to feel like a specimen in a jar. The older you got the more anxious it made you. By the time you were sixteen years old you felt like the neighbor knew more about you than you did and she could actually take you to the doctors and give them the history on your health problems. In 1996, when congress enacted the Health Insurance and Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) it all came to a screeching halt. Your personal health information became private and for once you actually liked it.

You knew you were no longer going to be dinner conversation at the neighbor's house. If you were, you could actually tell them to stop talking about you. There were many, many people who felt the same way and that were relieved because they had health situations that if their companies had found out about it, they could lose their jobs. It would not have been to unsatisfactory work but diagnosis at the time of disease that people knew little to nothing about. HIPAA training became mandated at all the hospitals and healthcare facilities. Patients were being told upfront that their health information was private and would only be released to another medical company or billing office.

Information for patients became so limited it was hard to find out if a patient was being discharged from the hospital unless you spoke directly to the patient. As you sit through HIPAA training and review the various subjects, Mental Health is one of the areas that the information is even tighter. The patient themselves cannot have their own record to review what the Psychiatrist has written for a diagnosis or treatment plan. As people sit through HIPAA training or sit for an exam it will be surprising to see what you learn that you can and cannot talk about anymore. It truly does mean that a person's health care information is private.

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Physical Security of Patients' Sensitive Information

By Greg Garner
As the computer field grew enormously in 2005 the HIPAA security regulations became effective and everyone needed to ensure full compliance. Most places do this yearly with their HIPAA training program and through their departmental meetings and staff training sessions. This was many years after congress enacted the Health Insurance and Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA). The purpose of this was to provide a patient protection and privacy to their health information.

In 1986, when people were worried about their own health information being discussed and talked about at the kitchen table was a time when HTLV III was first coming out and there was not enough information for anyone to share other than it was a terrible disease and had a very bad outcome. There were medical diagnoses being made about people with cancer and they did not want their employers finding out in fear of losing their jobs. It was a time when people were demanding privacy and were finally able to get it.

This did change the way everyone in a hospital or doctors office had to handle a patient's medical record. There had to be quite a bit of training, it was new and a major change for everyone so HIPAA training was available and given constantly. For the right reasons, people are resistant to change but this was one that was not going away. There were things employees had to take into consideration that were taken for granted previously. For instance, talking openly about a patient treatment plan now had to be discussed in a conference room with the door closed. If someone called about a patient, very little information could be given about their status unless the patient had given permission for you to talk to them.

When we bring up the subject of physical security we are talking about workstation access and facility security. At a workstation you want to have your screen facing inward and away from outside eyes looking into the screen to see the information displayed. Maintaining HIPAA training and compliance are an ongoing part of training and educational practices that will be in place and part of everyone's normal training schedule. Focus on keeping the patient in mind and remember you are there for them. Remember you may be a patient one day and you will want your privacy too.

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Protect Patient Information

By Greg Garner
If you were someone who was born back in the 1970s and were hitting your late teenage years you remember the initial start of HIV and AIDS. Since there was hardly anything known about the disease it put the world in a panic mode. Since then there have been many training materials produced and a lot of educational products made for everyone. People discuss the disease more openly. There is medication available and you are no longer rejected from even applying from a job. In the beginning it was a tragedy if someone found out. This also led to congress enacted the Health Insurance and Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) in 1986. The purpose was to protect patient information and maintain a patient's privacy. This is also when HIPAA training started for everyone.

We still do this today and we do it with more intensity than we did it back in 1996. When HIPAA first started people were still trying to figure things out. In fact, they knew they had to provide HIPAA training but to what extent. The program was just starting and it would progress over the years to be something substantial for every healthcare facility and healthcare provider and worker. The main focus is to keep patients confidential and from the public. Sounds easy right? Now, take into consideration an innocent conversation that is addressing patient care being provided to an individual and the treatment that the patient is receiving.

Would you be able to discuss it openly without giving away any clues as to who you were talking about if anyone walked by the nurses' station? It can become difficult. What about in an elevator? When you take HIPAA training these are examples that are used during the classes to show you how easy it is to provide information without being aware of it. You may be in an elevator and catch up with one of the members of the team treating the patient. You know that certain medications are making them sick and you want to tell the provider this information. Do you think you could talk about an issue with the team member without giving away too much information to others in the elevator?

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How Does Being FSA Regulated Impact Your Business

By Thomas Lindeyer
Every business conducting financial services business is subject to the detailed regulations that are created by national and international regulators. The history of financial services business has a very long history of truthful and reputable companies which have always looked out for the best interests of their clients. Though, there are some companies which have abused the financial system, making use of it to obtain illegal gains and these few rotten apples have made it vital for every business to be subjected to the demands of FSA Compliance and regulation.

For many businesses, these requirements may sound like a burden on a business but in a well run company it's possible to put into place compliance systems and processes that protect both the people and the firms operating in financial services.

So for a firm looking to maintain FSA Compliance there are normally several steps they must take in order to keep their business in good standing with any regulatory agency. Firstly, it is important to identify what regulations apply to your company and which ones hold no significance to your business efforts. This'll instantly save you time and cash as you seek to simplify the FSA regulated demands.

Next you have to see how the applicable regulations impact your business efforts so that you could make sure that all your company's policies meet the demands and expectations of FSA Compliance. Finally, it is vital that your company educate your associates on the importance of these regulations and how your company is set to perform itself on the various financial transactions it completes on a daily basis.

While this might seem like a simple enough task on paper, the reality is that as a FSA regulated business you will discover that there are several regulations relevant to your company and a slide of changes that are applied on a regular basis. Unless you have a person in your company dedicated to keeping track of regulation changes and reviewing new regulations, it could be a simple procedure to fail to meet FSA Compliance.

The significance that is related to this need to remain compliant has several businesses looking for the knowledge and services of specialist companies dedicated to meeting FSA regulated requirements. This would aid the business to keep an eye on any new or developing regulations and would also aid to stay updated.

Outsourcing isn't something many businesses like to venture into, however, when your company is looking to compete in the financial industry it is vital that you keep up to date on FSA Compliance. Your very best opportunity to accomplish this goal is to utilise the professional services of a company looking to help your business in staying FSA regulated.

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The Danger of Pooled Water

By James Witherspoon
Even a thin layer of water can easily cause a vehicle to loose control and a driver can quickly find themselves in a dangerous and uncontrollable spin. Pooled water on a roadway is a dangerous situation that can arise in an instant. Water pooling, whether from rain, a faulty sprinkler, or any other source, can put a driver at danger of loosing control of his or her vehicle. Even if pooled water requires a small but sharp adjustment by the driver, they can quickly put themselves and others at risk for an accident.

Water pooling can be a threat in a number of different situations, not just during rainy weather. Any standing water can result in erratic or uncontrolled motion of a vehicle. Standing water is also especially dangerous for motorcyclists, who may quickly find themselves without of control of their vehicles and with little to no recourse for preventing an accident. The amount of water does not have to be great to greatly reduce the friction between a tire and the road.

Friction is crucial to a driver's ability to control his or her vehicle. Friction is a oppositional force that is exerted by the road on the tire that is used to propel a vehicle in its intended direction. If something greatly reduces that friction in just one wheel, it can cause an instability in the entire vehicle that a driver may not be able to react to without causing an accident. Also, water that is introduced into the brakes may hinder their ability to exert the friction needed to slow the vehicle. Pooled water can greatly reduce the necessary friction to safely operate a motor vehicle.

Municipalities and states are responsible for maintaining their roadways in such a way that their drivers are safe. If pooled water dangerously reduces friction on a street, a city or state may be liable for the improper maintenance of that surface. Ensure that your roadways are properly maintained by reporting dangerous pooling of water as soon as you notice it.

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The Future eDiscovery Arms Race: It Is All About the Semantics

By JD Morris
Over the last five years, there has been a confluence of eDiscovery software, case law, information governance policies, and information technology integration, which have all helped shaped today's eDiscovery market. As we look toward the future, we ask ourselves how to continue to optimize eDiscovery to intelligently reduce data volumes, efficiently decrease collection quantity, and streamline the review process, while also delivering the highest possible document accuracy, reliability, and repeatability. Finding relevant ESI is becoming more challenging for organizations, as ESI volume increases and is spread across email systems, file shares, and laptop/desktops. To complicate matters further, attorneys are expanding discovery motions to include new ESI repositories, such as SharePoint and other collaborative tools, which further increase ESI volume and complicates identification and collection. So, how can the problem be addressed to balance the opposing constraints of ESI volume, eDiscovery expense and relevant document precision and accuracy? The answer is simple, but will be challenging to implement. The future eDiscovery arms race is in the development of advanced, intelligent analytics capabilities. In other words, it is all about the semantics.

The first advance in reducing non-relevant ESI collection (or ESI culling) was simple file identification. Software delivered the capability to identify file types quickly and easily to exclude operating system files (e.g. CABs) and other program executables files (e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Numbers, Keynote, etc.), which are resident on all computers and do not contain any relevant ESI. File identification technology was a quantum leap. It reduced collection volume by 50% to 60% over the traditional brute force forensic collection, which copies entire disk drives. The second advance was Boolean keyword search, which has been a powerful eDiscovery tool. Over time, keyword search has become more sophisticated with the addition of keyword spelling variants and root word variations. This increased the keyword search accuracy by including common misspellings and root variants, like talk vs. talking. However, keyword search requires a priori knowledge for what one is looking, which is problematic and a limiting success factor. As valuable as it is, keyword searches often include many non-relevant documents (false positives) or exclude too many relevant documents (false negatives). The complication is within our language usage. We have a synonymy effect, which is that one of two or more words in the same language have the same meaning (as in "student" and "pupil"), as well as the polysemy effect, which is that many individual words have more than one meaning. The impact of polysemy on search complexity is as follows:

Polysemy is a major obstacle for all computer systems that attempt to deal with human language. In English, most frequently used terms have several common meanings. For example, the word fire can mean: a combustion activity; to terminate employment; to launch, or to excite (as in fire up). For the 200 most-polysemous terms in English, the typical verb has more than twelve common meanings, or senses. The typical noun from this set has more than eight common senses. For the 2000 most-polysemous terms in English, the typical verb has more than eight common senses and the typical noun has more than five[1].

The English language complexity impacts our ability to search and identify relevant information with efficiency, accuracy, and precision. If we consider the addition of other languages on the identification and search challenge, we have to tackle the semantic differences, as well as additional translation complexities between languages.

What are the next steps in search and identification analytics technologies? There are nascent concept search capabilities in today's market, which have been developed to circumvent the limitations of Boolean keyword search when dealing with large, unstructured ESI. The idea is to develop the ability to search on an idea and retrieve responses, which are relevant to the concept of the idea. With synonymy and polysemy effects, an idea can be represented by numerous loosely related terms. Research in the following areas of concept search hold promise to increase search relevance and accuracy:

1. Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD)[2]
WSD technologies help derive the actual meanings of the words, and their underlying concepts, rather than by simply matching character strings like keyword search technologies. Research has progressed steadily to the point where WSD systems achieve sufficiently high levels of accuracy on a variety of word types and ambiguities.

2. Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA)[3]
LSA is a natural language processing technique that uses vectorial semantics (documents and queries are represented as vectors with in a linear algebra matrix) to analyze relationships between a set of documents and the terms they contain and how the terms are correlated. After analyzing, LSA constructs a set of related concepts to the document and terms therein. In other words, LSA searches documents for themes within the language usage and extracts the concepts, which are common to the documents.

3. Local Co-Occurrence Statistics[4]
Local co-Occurrence Statistics is a technique that counts the number of times of pairs of term appear together (co-occur) within a given period, where a period is equal to a predetermined window of terms or sentences within a document or documents.

Each of the above techniques by themselves will not likely be a complete solution to the eDiscovery concept search challenge. However, these methods combined and intelligently integrated together within an overarching concept search paradigm will be the start in the right direction. As focus increases on conceptual search technologies, the winning products will likely have the best analytical technologies.

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Food Safety Training Is A Legal Requirement In The UK

By Dave Summers
Under Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs it stipulates that all food handling staff must be trained to the level of their job.

There are several levels of food training, namely, induction or level 1, level 2 for food handlers dealing with open food, level 3 for supervisors and level 4 for managers/proprietors/trainers. The qualifications must be accredited, which means they are recognised by educational bodies such as Ofqual, DCELLS and CCEA and form part of the Qualification and Credit Framework. If a company elects to deliver the qualifications in-house, then they must utilise a trainer who delivers accredited qualifications, to ensure consistent quality.

Training is defined as the process of imparting knowledge and understanding to a member of staff, it is not just attending a course, competency is far more important than certification.

There are many benefits to training including:

Ability to produce safe food.
Reduction of customer complaints.
Reduction of food wastage and profit.
Happy, healthy, motivated work teams.
Increase of self worth of staff and job satisfaction.
Compliance with legal requirement.

There are many ways to train staff in food hygiene, but the best are either in a training room or online training, for staff that can't get to a training course, or do not have the time.

Level 2 food safety courses cover the following subjects:

Introduction to food safety, microbiology, food poisoning/foodborne disease, personal hygiene, pest control, food premise design and construction, cleaning, legislation.

Level 3 and 4 cover the same syllabus but the exam structures are different. Level 3 consists of 60 multiple choice questions, whereas level 4 consists of multiple choice and long answers. The courses cover the following subjects:

Introduction to food safety, microbiology, food contamination and control, food poisoning, foodborne disease, personal hygiene and training, food hazards from purchase to serving, food spoilage and preservation, design and construction of food premises and equipment, cleaning and disinfection, integrated pest management, supervisory management, food safety legislation.

If a person wants to train food hygiene, they must gain the level 4 award in food safety and train for or hold a recognised training qualification such as a teacher's training qualification (PGCE, Cert Ed) or a professional trainer's certificate, the latter of which is to be replaced with the PTLLS certificate.

Many companies offer online training in food safety, issuing an in-house certificate. The problem is that this is rarely accepted by employers or enforcement authorities as it is not an accredited qualification. There is only one company in the UK offering accredited online food safety qualifications at levels 2, 3 and 4. They also offer an accredited level 2 award in health and safety in the workplace.

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Filing for Social Security Benefits As a Veteran

By James Witherspoon
Filing for disability benefits with the Social Security Administration is a rather complicated process. Qualifying for benefits might require rounds of appeals and a hearing with an administrative judge. Also, Social Security disability benefits are awarded either in their entirety, or not at all. This is different from the Veterans' Affairs disability benefits that veterans are used to, which award disabled vets based on a percentage of how much they are determined to be disabled.

General Procedures

For a veteran to apply for social security disability benefits, he or she must:

* Make sure the VA medical center handling their paperwork submits the medical records to the appropriate Social Security Administration officer. In fact, some vets have had to personally get copies of their records and provide them to the SSA office.
* File the initial claim. The SSA representative, with the input of a physician, will make a decision on the application. Unfortunately, about sixty eight percent of the initial claims are denied.
* The applicant can then either file a new claim if he or she feels there was a mistake made, or he or she may file for an appeal, called a request for reconsideration.
* Following the same procedure, the request for reconsideration is examined. Unfortunately, this has a higher denial rate, with about eighty five percent of requests being denied.
* An applicant can then file for a request for a hearing with an administrative judge. You must file the appeal within 60 days of the reconsideration decision. This is also when new evidence must be presented for the judge to consider.

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NFA Trust Information

By Tom A. Higgin
Suppressors, machine guns and other items might be procured having a legal entity known as an NFA Trust, but must be registered as an NFA class 3 item. As the trust is not regarded as a man or woman but alternatively another entity, the CLEO (chief law enforcement officer) with in the city where you live is not required to give his mandatory approval of transfer documents (ATF Form 4). Sometimes retired military and police personnel have known to struggle with getting approval for transfer documents (ATF Form 4) as many CLEO's have been reluctant to sign off on these documents over the last few years.

NFA trusts for Texas residents can expertly be prepared by a lawyer and lets them obtain class 3 weapons including SBR's (Short Barrel Rifles). Revocable in nature, these legal entities can be utilized in sister states, under their laws, after possible revision by using a law firm.

A will is quite similar to a revocable trust. For almost any the purpose of taxes, it's recognize to be a Grantor Trust with any income that is taxable to the Grantor of the trust(Creator). Who actually runs the trustees (the entity) together with all their powers is built into the trust. Also having a designation by the trust is whom this trust was specifically created for, the beneficiaries of the trust. Administrators of the trust are set forth should the trustee be unable to serve for dies. For the use and benefit of every trust_asset by the trustees and beneficiaries throughout the existence of the trust, provisions are created which may last for multiple generations. The trust has in place procedures for trust asset distribution after the time of termination. This allows any class 3 weapon that was put into it to be allowed to remain in trust for many years, to be enjoined over multiple generations, and does not require a constant transfer upon the death of the grantor or a single beneficiary.

With an ATF Form 4, which names the trust as the transferee, any NFA items purchased in the name of the trust might be conveyed to the same identical trust. Using a Bill-of-Sale documenting the transfer of all non-NFA property transferred to the trust, can be used as verification about what this trust owns decades after a death of the grantor of this trust. All NFA merchandise transferred in to a NFA Trust are subject to a federal transfer tax of $200.00 per each item.

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Know How To Find The Opportunities To Meet FSA Compliance Regulations

By Thomas Lindeyer
You will find that there is lots of demand which exist with maintaining FSA compliance, when you are a company that has involvement in the financial service industry. The financial services industry represents some of the most strongly regulated industries because of the significant influence it has not only on a person's finances but on the country's financial system in general.

For a company which is trying to conduct financial services business or looking to widen their offering must address the issue of FSA Compliance. There are many steps they can take to achieve this goal but, the detailed and constantly fluctuating environment of regulation could make it difficult for a business to achieve and maintain compliance on their own thus creating demand for expert help.

The thought of compliance manuals has always been a great help for a business which is trying to meet the regulatory demands of the business environment they're trying to enter. The problem with FSA compliance manuals is that when one is generated, it is outdated and needing revision in a very short time period. Regulators are continuously responding to new demands, products, technology and laws and have an obligation to create and maintain a responsive regulatory framework. For a company which is seeking to keep updated with FSA Compliance, these constant changes of regulation make it difficult to keep it's FSA manual up to date.

This is why many companies that are looking to cope with FSA Compliance seek the aid of professional compliance consultants such as CCL to not merely get them started, but also to keep up to date information on any relevant polices or regulations. By using a professional agency you will get an online compliance manual that provides the user with the highest level of knowledge and understanding that is constantly updated. Not just will a company specialising in FSA Compliance offer for you the opportunity to stay updated on regulations, they could even provide your associates with specific training on regulations to ensure that your associates can also aid you achieve your goal of remaining compliant.

You will have to abandon the thought of managing regulations on your with out-dated FSA handbooks and search for the expertise of an expert if you are searching for the goal of FSA compliance. With the right consultancy you will find your businesses best opportunity to meet your compliance goals.

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In Office Risk Assessment Training for the Best Way to Comply

By Shane Piter
There are certain rules that every office has to comply with - even if they don't feel they have the time. All staff, for example, must undergo risk assessment training to make sure that their work stations and working practices are not damaging them in any way. Many employers find this necessary evil an extraordinary inconvenience: mainly because they think they have to pack all their workers off to a training course, thereby losing their productivity for an entire day or more.

Actually, this isn't the case. These types of training can be conducted from the office, more or less according to the availability of the staff in question. Companies like Comply Wise deliver extremely robust risk assessment training software, which trains each staff member individually in his or her own time- completely, removing the need for sending staff on long training days when they would be better employed in the office.

In many cases, a assessment of risk like a VDU can be completed in around an hour: at the end of the day, say, or just after lunch. All online risk development courses can be saved at any time, too - so if an employee is in the middle of one, and has to attend a meeting or has some urgent work come in, then he or she simply hits "save" and returns to the questionnaire at a later date.

Modern risk assessment training modules are really very clever. For the most part, they use multiple choice question parameters to get trainees to deliver a really clear picture of the true state of their working environment. The questions, which are designed according to psychological ideas as well as referring to the actual physical environment of the worker, are able to construct a kind of virtual picture of an employee's working conditions in a mainframe server hosted by the company delivering the training. The risk assessment training module, once completed, is analysed by that company's own computers, which will flag any areas of concern for attention by the client. A report is delivered to the client with areas of attention clearly marked in it: and a length of time in which to comply.

Sounds good - but can a computer really carry out a successful assessment? In most cases, yes. The training software is pretty smart - it is able to identify almost all grey areas by analysing the responses trainees have given to the questions it has posed. The questions run by the risk assessment training software have been specifically architected to make grey areas obvious to the machine running the collation of the data: if answers do not match a cleverly defined set of criteria, they will be sent up for attention by a human operator, who will contact the client directly and attempt to sort out the discrepancy. If, after human contact is made, the answers are still unclear, a human operative will undertake that part of the risk assessment manually.

In all cases, even up to this worst case scenario of someone having to come in and do a bit of the risk assessment training in a manual fashion, most of the work involved is outsourced to computers at the host company. The managers and owners of the company doing the risk assessment, then, need only lose their staff for an hour or so each. Good news for all those who want to comply.

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Privacy Policy? Who Needs a Privacy Policy?

By Erick Hagstrom
I need a privacy policy. You need a privacy policy. Everyone who does business online needs a privacy policy. But why?

Your Responsibility

The simplest answer is that you need to be responsible with the information entrusted to you by your readers (or members or followers or whatever you call them). No matter where you are located, or where your readers are located, you have a responsibility to protect any information that you collect. You have a responsibility to use that information only for the purpose intended by the person who gave it to you. And you can be sued or worse if you fail to satisfy your responsibilities. The specific rules vary from place to place, and that makes things difficult. But in most cases you can limit your exposure to trouble by stating clearly up front what kinds of information you intend to collect, what you intend to do with it, and how you intend to protect it.

Your Protection

A privacy policy can help keep you out of serious trouble. If you collect names and email addresses, for example, any of those people could end up suing you if you use their information for a purpose that they didn't expect when they gave you the information (like sending them an email!). If you have a privacy policy in place you can use it for your defense. "Your honor, my published privacy policy clearly states that I can and will do the following things with information I collect: 1)...." If you don't have a privacy policy your defense is reduced to, "But your honor, I thought they would understand that I would email them if they gave me their email address. That's reasonable, isn't it?" It may seem reasonable, but the winner in a lawsuit isn't always the one that's reasonable. Don't risk it. Put the policy in place. You'll sleep better.

Legal Requirements

There are some situations where a privacy policy is required by law. If, for example, your site is intended for the use of children, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act places some specific requirements on you. If you are operating in the financial or healthcare realms there are specific laws that apply to you. Some US states have strict laws governing your activities. And you don't even have to live there to be subject to those laws. You open yourself to those jurisdictions as soon as a resident of one of those states visits your site and you collect information on them. Unless, of course, you specifically address those situations in your published privacy policy.

Trading Partner Requirements

Do you use Google AdSense ads on your site? In they require you to have a published privacy policy, and they want you to address certain specific topics in it. Other companies with whom you do business may have their own similar requirements. Do your homework to be sure you are complying with your obligations or you may soon find yourself out of business.

Where Do I Get One?

One option is to go to a knowledgeable lawyer. It's their business to help keep you out of trouble. But they can be a bit pricey.

Another option is to purchase a guide to internet legal compliance. Such guides are available online and are generally quite good. They won't provide you tailored legal advice and may not exactly address your particular situation, but it's far better to get a 98 percent solution to the problem than to expose yourself to every possible privacy problem that any lawyer can dream up.

There are also some free resources available online. Offerings change frequently, so if you want to find out about free privacy policy options you should do your own search.

Don't Wait. Act Now.

If you don't have a good published privacy policy in place on your website you are running a huge risk. Take action now to protect yourself. Get yourself protect. Now.

READ MORE - Privacy Policy? Who Needs a Privacy Policy?

Ignoring Food Safety Legislation Can Lead To Harsh Penalties

Ignoring Food Safety Legislation Can Lead To Harsh Penalties
By Dave Summers
The UK food safety legislation is composed of several parts.

The main piece of legislation is, or rather was, the Food Safety Act 1990. I say was as further legislation introduced during 2004 and subsequently 2006 have since superseded the main act. The Act, however, is still classed as the principle of legislation. It was agreed by the British Government and accepted as law. As with all Acts, they tend to be complicated, skeletal, difficult to understand and is a framework on which other items of legislation build on. These other items of legislation include EU directives, where a member state, Brussels, issues regulations to put into place certain requirements. EU regulations apply to all members of the European Community directly. Finally, UK regulations are composed by ministers and civil servants and passed into UK law. It is the regulations which "spell out" the Act in more detail.

The main regulations in operation concerning food safety, especially in catering, retail and manufacturing are:

-Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs.
-The Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006
-The Food Labelling Regulations 1996
-The Food Labelling (Amendment) (England) (No2) Regulations 2004.

The Food Safety Act has mainly been concerned with food standards and quality since the introduction of the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations. Sections include the following:

-The provision of food that may harm health.
-The ability of enforcement officers seizing and holding food that is thought to be contaminated.
-Food not being of the nature, substance or quality expected by the consumer.
-Due Diligence defence.
-The ability to sample food.
-Enforcement officers are allowed to enter any food premises at any reasonable time without giving notice.

Details of penalties.

The penalties, if convicted in court, are: £20,000 fine and/or 6 months in prison or unlimited fine and/or 2 years in prison. The former penalty is issued in a Magistrates Court, the latter in a Crown Court.

The UK provides a legislative system whereby Food Safety is covered under criminal law. Criminal law is heard in either a magistrate's court for less serious, summary offences or in a crown court for more serious, indictable offences.

Civil law deals with compensation claims, perhaps from consumers that want to sue a food company for causing food poisoning, which resulted in lost time from work, physical harm, or psychological damage.

Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs states that all general hygiene rules are the direct responsibility or the food business owner. There must be strict controls in place to ensure that all high risk food is retained under refrigeration. There must be a food safety management system in operation using the 7 principles of HACCP.

The Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006 deals mainly with the enforcement of EU Hygiene Regulations such as the issue of improvement and prohibition notices by enforcement officers and the issue of orders by the courts.

The Food Labelling Regulations 1996 states that a food label must have the following information:

-Name of food.
-List of Ingredients.
-Best Before or Use By date
-Storage conditions
-Contact details of manufacturer/packer/seller.

This was amended or added to in 2004 with the Food Labelling (Amendment) (England) (No2) Regulations 2004. This covers the labelling of food to include allergens such as peanuts, fish, etc.

Further information is available to provide more detail on the regulations, such as Statutory Codes of Practice which are provided by ministers for enforcement authorities and National Guided to Good Practice, developed by food business operators.

READ MORE - Ignoring Food Safety Legislation Can Lead To Harsh Penalties

The Implemented Laws for Telemarketing Call Centers

By Rosiel Brazil
Telemarketing is the most popular and cost-effective marketing and communication technique available. It helps your business conserve more time, money, and workforce. It is a method of direct marketing in which an agent proposes to the prospective customer to buy products or services over the phone. It is a great way to promote your products or services, that is why outbound call centers emerged and are widely used by businesses.

Outbound telemarketing is a huge business but it can be annoying to those who receive these calls multiple times a day. It has been reported that households particularly in western countries received billions of calls in a year from faceless telemarketers. They sometimes call your household at the most inopportune time, either early in the morning when you are still fast asleep, at dinner time when everybody is set at the table, or before bedtime when a mother is reading a story to her child. Is it not annoying when you rush out from the bathroom halfway done taking a bath, or get out from under the car covered with grease, just to pick up the phone and only to find out an unknown caller is trying to sell you something you do not need?

Because of the rapid growth of telemarketing call centers, several laws were passed and amended. However, these laws differ from state to state and from country to country. In the face of all the difference, each telemarketing companies have the sole responsibility to become familiar with the laws governing the industry in a specific locale. They are obliged to adhere with all the relevant laws imposed on their industry.

According to the Official Business Link to the U.S. Government, telemarketing is regulated at the federal level by two statutes: The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) and the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) derives its regulatory authority from TCPA, while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is responsible for enforcing TSR. The FTC implemented the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act of 1994, a federal legislation in the United States, to combat telephone fraud. It helps consumers how to differentiate between fraudulent and legitimate telemarketing.

The law established the FTC's National Do-Not-Call Registry in 2003 in order to facilitate compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA). A Do-Not-Call (DNC) Registry is managed by the FTC to make it easier and more efficient to prevent telemarketing calls that you do not want. It is a list of phone numbers from consumers who do not wish to be called by telemarketers, otherwise, consumers can file a complaint against the company. The telemarketing laws of the FCC also require that calls made by predictive dialers to wireless telephone numbers be prohibited. It also prohibits sending any unsolicited fax advertisements, the use of automatic dialers, or sending recorded messages.

On the other hand, telemarketing companies are also required to maintain their own internal Do-Not-Call list. If you are contacted by a company that is exempted from the national DNC registry, such as banks, federal credit unions and loans, or telephone and airline companies, you can ask them to put your number in their internal DNC list, otherwise, you can file a complaint against the company as well. You can also take advantage of this strategy even if you do not subscribe to the national DNC registry.

READ MORE - The Implemented Laws for Telemarketing Call Centers

HK Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) - Practice Direction 31

By Jamon Yerger
Hong Kong is no stranger to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre handled 280 cases in 2004 up to 602 cases in 2008. When foreign investors in Asia have disputes, they prefer to have a neutral "third place" for them to be settled. Hong Kong has been claimed as one of the preferred places for foreign dispute settlement, due to its developed law system and geographical location.

Practice Direction 31 (from here on referenced as PD31) for mediation, which is one method of ADR, came into effect on 12 February 2010. PD31 is a practice direction that only pertains to the ADR method of mediation and encourages people to mediate before or during litigation procedures.

A detailed look at PD31

PD31's main task is to encourage people to settle their disputes by making it compulsorily to consider mediation before or during litigation. While it is not "mandatory", PD31 instructs legal representatives to inform the parties the court could issue adverse costs if they "unreasonably fail" to mediate. Unless the party has a good reason not to mediate, then they will not take on these adverse costs. Outlined by Herbert Smith LLP, we will touch on the five essential points that are particularly important when considering the new PD31 on mediation in Hong Kong.

1. Active exploration of ADR

The court has a "duty as part of active case management" to encourage other methods, such as ADR, to settle disputes. In other words, the court's duty is to help the parties to settle matters but it is also the party's responsibility to help facilitate these methods when ever possible.

2. Costs of unreasonably failing to mediate

When a party unreasonably fails to mediate, the court may include "adverse" costs to them. There is a minimum requirement one can participate to avoid the adverse cost, as well as having an acceptable reason why one can not mediate. The term "unreasonable" is not clearly defined. The best method is to go through the motions and up one mediation session. IF it does not work out, you have made you attempt. You might also resolve some issues as well.

3. Mediation procedure

Mediation certificate

The Mediation Certificate is important because it states whether the parties agree to mediate, more importantly if they do not agree to mediate, what is the explanation. The second function of this certificate is to verify if the legal representatives have explained that mediation is an option available to them, the cost of mediation compared to litigation and explaining PD31 contents.

Mediation notice

In the event one party would like to mediate, they must draft a Mediation Notice after sending the Mediation certificate. The Mediation Notice should include the party's willingness to mediate and how to suggest how to carry out the mediation.

Mediation Response

Once the notice is received, a mediation response must be sent to the court in 14 days. In the response, it should be noted whether they agree to mediate the dispute and if not, why not. The respondent also has the right to suggest ways of carrying out mediation.

Mediation Minute

Once an agreement is reached, it should be reduce into writing with the signatures from the parties or legal representatives. In the event the parties can not come to an agreement about mediation, for example choosing a mediator or location, they may look to the court for guidance to help solve those differences.

4. Stay of legal proceedings

At any time during litigation, the parties may opt for mediation in order to try to resolve their differences. Providing they do not conflict with any "milestone dates", the court will allow a short break to start mediation. Milestone dates such as, case management conferences, pre trial review and trail date, stay of legal procedures will not be granted in attempt to reduce delays in court proceedings. If the parties come to agreement during the time of mediation, they will have to inform the court and formally close the proceedings. If an agreement is not reached with in that time, the previous proceedings will continue.

5. Without prejudice communication and confidentiality

One of the advantages of mediation is confidentiality. It can be a private forum between the parties, legal parties and mediator. PD31 claims the court can not compel one of these parties to divulge information to the court for evidence.

What now?

Even though mediation was available before, people might not have had the opportunity to learn about the other alternatives available to them. PD31 dictates legal counsels are to make sure their clients are aware of the advantages and cost benefits of mediation. Whether mediation is more enjoyable than litigation is not the point to be debated, but rather, PD31 requires a second option that may yield a better out come. PD31 brings awareness to this second option of mediation; an option that has always been available.

READ MORE - HK Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) - Practice Direction 31

Personal Licence Course

By Harvey McEwan
The Personal Licence Course provides the learner with a clear and comprehensive understanding of the framework of law and regulation, laid out in the Licensing Act (2003), that underpins the responsibilities of the personal licence holder.

The NCPLH and SCPLH courses, which cover England & Wales and Scotland respectively, include the roles, responsibilities and functions of licensing authorities within the framework of the licensing objectives.

The course also covers the application process for a personal licence, as well as the difference between this and the premises licence.

The learner has to understand the role and legal responsibilities of the PLH (personal licence holder) as denoted by law, and the penalties relating to any perceived failure to comply with the regulations put in place by the proper authorities.

A PLH must be fully trained in the content and purpose of operating schedules, and the role and duties of the designated premises supervisor.

They must also have full comprehension of what constitutes unauthorised and temporary licensable activities.

Any NCPLH or SCPLH training course will also cover police powers with regard to the potential suspension and closure of licensed premises, and the specific prohibitions for the sale of alcohol.

The strengths of alcoholic drinks, and the effects of alcohol on the human body are also vital training points, as is the protection of children from harm from the effects of alcohol abuse.

READ MORE - Personal Licence Course

Road Sign Overkill Is a Distraction

By Darren Joint
According to the Wandsworth Guardian, the 250-yard stretch of the A3 trunk road near West Hill is home to a "miniature forest of signs on both sides of the double and triple carriageway".

The news provider took two "reasonably intelligent passengers" for a drive along the carriageway and asked them to count the number of signs in place.

They spotted just eight signs each - highlighting the dangers of having too many signs on the road.

However, a Ministry of Transport spokesperson said that there was a good reason for each and every sign found on the A3.

The department also claimed that there was no legal requirement for sign spacing and local authorities were only offered "recommended distance" guidance.

Meanwhile, new road signs are being erected on Paddockhurst Road in Worth to encourage motorists to reduce their speed, reports This is Sussex.

Often the cause of this kind of 'blooming' of road signs is a lack of thought when new signs are being installed. Temporary road signs are installed, changes mean new signs are required, but no one reviews the need for existing signs and none are removed.

Over time drivers can't see the wood for the trees because no one is pruning!

Sometimes this lack of thought is because different bodies are responsible for different signage, but where clear authority exists, for example with a council, a review of ALL signage should be undertaken before new signs are installed to ensure that the overall "signscape" is still appropriate.

READ MORE - Road Sign Overkill Is a Distraction