Value Statement – Why should I join ORC?

For more than 35 years, ORC has provided the world’s leading businesses unique opportunities to improve their safety and health programs and performance and to communicate persuasively with government regulators.  The focus of all of ORC’s EH&S Groups is to promote effective occupational safety, health, and environmental programs and practices and to facilitate constructive communication between business and government agencies responsible for establishing national occupational safety, health, and environmental policy.

Membership in ORC’s Occupational Safety, Health, and Environmental Groups has proven over the years to be one of the most cost-effective investments of your EH&S dollars. Members receive value in the following ways:

1.      ORC services allow member companies to leverage their scarce EH&S resources to achieve improved performance.  ORC members are assured of ready access to ORC’s uniquely qualified and highly experienced professionals, as well as a vast reserve of information and a broad range of services that can help members quickly and effectively address technical EH&S topics, strategic business issues, and federal and state regulatory and compliance matters.  This, in turn, helps members reduce risk, assure compliance and make the most productive use of in-house resources, leading to a positive impact on the bottom line.

2.      ORC offers unique and powerful EH&S benchmarking opportunities with other industry leaders that are not available anywhere else in the world.  ORC’s membership of more than 150 of the world’s leading companies eagerly share with their ORC member peers valuable insights into an array of successful EH&S business strategies and models, management systems, performance metrics, etc.  This sharing of EH&S best practices among acknowledged industry thought leaders is widely recognized as a distinguishing feature of ORC membership.

3.      ORC has developed data bases related to S&H that are unparalleled in the profession.  ORC member companies exchange and compare S&H performance data annually.  In addition, ORC frequently conducts and shares results of surveys of member company practices on topics such as S&H management systems, security, metrics and organizational structures. 

4.      ORC keeps member companies current on key issues via Quarterly Group Meetings and frequent communication. At meetings, member company representatives share information with their peers, exchange views with representatives of federal and state regulatory agencies, and interact with invited experts from the occupational safety and health or environmental fields. ORC also provides frequent email updates to members on regulatory developments and key S&H developments.  The ORC members-only web site and bulletin board afford instant access to information and the means to communicate to other companies on issues of interest.

5.      ORC’s expert consultants provide prompt and definitive responses to the critical needs of ORC members.  Members get unlimited telephone and web access to ORC consultants and are entitled to one on-site visit from a consultant each year as part of their membership.  Unlike many business groups, ORC has nationally-known in-house EHS experts who are able to respond promptly and authoritatively to member requests.

6.      ORC is recognized as a business leader in groundbreaking efforts that support member company business objectives and leverage successful strategies and programs.  ORC task forces and company dialogues are breaking ground in such areas as improving S&H metrics, identifying S&H projects that contribute to corporate social responsibility programs, applying Six Sigma concepts to safety and health, and furthering integrated employee health and wellness programs.

7.      ORC tracks key EH&S legislative, regulatory, legal and policy developments and works with Federal and State government agencies and standards bodies to help shape effective public policy.   ORC testifies at public hearings on proposals for new or amended standards and provides oral and written presentations to Congress, government advisory committees and other forums. Furthermore, ORC provides a link between member companies and government agencies including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ORC also maintains effective working relationships with voluntary standards organizations, safety, health, and environmental professional groups, and major industry and trade associations.8.  ORC services focus on international EH&S issues that are critical to members in a competitive global business environment. These services include ORC's distinctive International Safety and Health Forum, which keeps members informed about global safety, health, and environmental regulatory and legislative developments and provides a unique venue for benchmarking on international best practices. In addition, ORC offers a library of Country Profiles highlighting the basic EH&S legal framework and regulatory requirements in more than thirty key countries.  Additionally, ORC’s newly established European Union-based HSE Forum will focus on the particular needs of multinational corporations’ European operations. 9.      ORC provides valuable professional development opportunities for member company managers, including points for maintenance of professional certification for attending meetings of many of ORC’s Occupational Safety and Health Groups.

In summary, the value of the services ORC provides to members is substantial, and can significantly increase the productivity and effectiveness of member company EH&S staff and their ability to positively impact the business.  Member companies that take full advantage of ORC's services have equated the benefits from their membership to at least one half-time senior EH&S staff position, although the breadth of expertise and access to information from ORC would be hard for any single company to replicate.

Simply put, membership in ORC is one of the best investments that a company can make to improve its EH&S programs, protect the health and well being of its employees, and strengthen its business.

Once again, ORC thanks all of the members of its Occupational Safety and Health and Environmental Groups for their strong support.  It is through your active participation that the full value of ORC membership will be realized.  We encourage you to take advantage of all of ORC’s member services and provide us with your comments and suggestions for improvements.

If you have any questions about ORC membership, please contact Linda Haney at

(202) 293-2980 or linda.haney@orcww.com.