Integrated change management unit

• US 6,341,287 B1
• Filed: 12/18/1998
• Issued: 01/22/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Applications in Internet Time, LLC
• Original Assignee: Alternative Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Verma, Ashish K., Sturgeon, Douglas H., Mitchell, Christopher M., Frankland, Richard, Ferguson, Joseph D., Popowski, Judith E., Sziklai, Anthony T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHEUNG, MARY DA ZHI WANG
• Application Number:
  US09/215,898
• Time in Patent Office: 1,131 Days
• Field of Search: 707/102, 707/200, 707/202, 707/203, 707/205, 705/7, 705/8, 705/9, 705/10, 705/28, 705/29, 705/11, 588/1, 588/16, 700/266
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/845 Inventory and reporting systems for greenhouse gases [GHG]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

An integrated system for managing changes in regulatory and non-regulatory requirements for business activities at an industrial or commercial facility. Application of this system to environmental, health and safety activities, and to food, drug, cosmetic, and medical treatment and device activities, are discussed as examples. The system: provides one or more databases that contain information on operations and requirements concerning an activity or area of business; receives information on regulatory and non-regulatory changes that affect operations of the business; converts these changes into changes in data entry forms, data processing and analysis procedures, and presentation (by printing, electronic display and/or distribution) of data processing and analysis results to selected recipients, without requiring the services of one or more programmers to re-key and/or reformat the items affected by the change; and implements receipt of change information and dissemination of data processing and analysis results using the facilities of the Internet.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring processing and disposition of at least one material used in a business at a facility, the system comprising:

a first database that provides product stewardship for at least one selected material that is received, created, consumed or produced as a waste product at the facility, the first data base including information on at least one product produced at the facility, information on ecological and toxicological studies performed at the facility, information for production of a Materials Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for at least one material used at the facility, and tracking of allegations and inquiries concerning operations at the facility; and

at least one additional database, drawn from the following group of databases;

a second database that allows tracking and prevention of selected incidents involving unintended discharge of a material at the facility, the second database including information on response to at least one type of emergency at the facility, information on tracking of at least one incident at the facility, and safety information on at least one process used at the facility;

a third database that provides information on and monitoring of personnel health and safety at the facility, the third database including information on demographics of personnel working at the facility, information on personnel training, information on safety measures implemented at the facility, injuries and illnesses experienced by at least one worker at the facility, and information on industrial hygiene and occupational medicine studies carried out at the facility;

a fourth database that provides information on and monitoring of hazardous materials and hazardous waste, the fourth database including information on at least one hazardous material used at the facility, tracking of at least one waste material produced at the facility, information on at pollution prevention measures and on site remediation measures implemented at the facility;

a fifth database that tracks a controlled release or discharge of a material to the environment, the fifth database including information on discharge of at least one hazardous substance into at least one of the air, the water, the groundwater and the soil at the facility, and information on at least one toxic chemical release at the facility;

a sixth database that provides selected information on regulatory requirements for receiving, handling, processing or producing hazardous materials, the sixth database including information on at least one environmental audit conducted at the facility, information on regulatory lists used at, and on regulatory issues concerning, the facility, and information on at least litigation issue concerning the facility; and

a seventh database that provides selected information on management of the facility, the seventh database including information on at least one of the physical structure and the organizational structure at the facility, information on tracking of at least one equipment item at the facility, and information on at least one process used at the facility;

a tools module that provides software for at least one of creation of a report on operations at the facility, creation of formulas and expressions for a report on operations, creation of at least one image for a report on operations, archiving of at least one record on operations, and security measures implemented at the facility, and that implements entry of one or more changes in regulatory and non-regulatory requirements for the business without requiring manual reprogramming of the tools module software; and

a relational database management module that links each database to each other database and to the tools module so that an information item, once entered, becomes available to each database and to the tools module.