Compliance Assistance & Assurance Program
What is a Compliance Assistance & Assurance Program (CAAP)?
A Compliance Assistance & Program (CAAP) is a set of management processes and procedures that allow an organization to evaluate, control, and reduce losses and accidents arising out of its activities, products, and services and operate with greater efficiency and control.
Background :
Over the years, the University of Alaska has developed many outstanding programs in response to regulatory requirements and a desire to provide our university community a safe and environmentally sound working and learning environment. The CAAP program recognizes and builds upon existing programs while developing a centralized framework to assist every UA location throughout the state, no matter how remote or small, by providing the necessary tools and information to meet the compliance needs of our higher education operations. Moreover, this program will enable the institution to respond systematically and comprehensively to future changes in personnel and regulatory requirements so that no location will be at risk of inadvertently falling into a status of non-compliance.
The CAAP will generally follow the framework developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO) in their guidance for environmental management systems ISO- 14001. However, UA has broadened the scope to include occupational health and safety regulatory compliance. The CAAP framework builds on a continuous cycle of “Plan, Do, Check, Act” to facilitate continual improvement and ongoing success.
Often, compliance issues are considered to be everyone’s, and at the same time, no one’s responsibility. As an employer, we can expect that our employees will strive to accomplish their work in a way that presents the least probability of injury to themselves or harm to the environment. While this is often the case, the legal requirements have grown in number, depth and complexity over the past few decades and are frequently accompanied by requirements for written plans, permits, monitoring, record keeping and renewals. With the CAAP management structure, we seek to develop the framework that will establish expectations and monitoring for our UA community so that, ultimately, we can provide the assurance that we are meeting our requirements.
The UA Compliance Assistance & Assurance Program :
The number one focus of the CAAP is compliance and its supporting procedures (i.e. document control, assessments, inventories, programs, training, roles and responsibilities, etc). Once a functional management structure for compliance is in place, UA can refine the CAAP to improve performance “beyond compliance” where economically or environmentally justified.
Strategy :
Identify Roles and Responsibilities (BOR policy and UA Regulation)
Establish Standardized Management Tool (Intelex)
Establish Management Framework (includes priority setting and communication with administration)
Perform Gap Analyses (see Appendix 1)
Develop & Implement Needed Corrective Actions (includes programs, policies, procedures, training)
Monitor and Measure Performance
Through active management and dedication to the principle of continuous improvement, new targets and objectives can be determined as a result of review cycles, which will be able to take into account the implementation of new laws, or changes in old laws, by regulatory agencies. By building upon the foundation of regulatory compliance, we will be able to recognize opportunities for greater efficiency and operational improvements, further reducing the risk presented by our operations.
