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If you meet all your requirements of disclosure regarding safety and environmental, ANY company can protect its trade secret.In 1911 the United States Government sued the Coca-Cola company for violations of the Pure Food and Drugs Act, claiming that the high concentration of caffeine in Coca-Cola syrup was harmful to health. The case was decided in favor of Coca-Cola, but a portion of the decision was set aside in 1916 by the Supreme Court. As part of a settlement, the company agreed to reduce the amount of caffeine in its syrup.[1]You know who else doesn’t reveal their recipe? Chemical companies. Yup, many manufacturing companies like paper mills, petroleum companies depend on chemicals from outside vendors.And guess what? None of them are required to reveal their trade secret. What companies are required to do is reveal if their chemicals contain any hazardous substances. They are required to provide units with a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) that would outline the hazards, safety requirements, and health precautions to take.In the case of Coca Cola it would be the FDA.So typically,A trade secret can be very much supported.The information contained regarding the hazardous chemical is disclosedThe safety data sheet indicates that the specific chemical identity and/or percentage of composition is being withheld as a trade secret; and,The specific chemical identity and percentage is made available to health professionals, employees, and designated representatives in accordance with the applicable provisions.Where a health professional determines that a medical emergency exists and the chemical constituents of a trade secret product are necessary for emergency treatment, the owner, operator, or service contractor shall immediately disclose the chemical constituents of a product to that health professional upon a verbal acknowledgement by the health professional that such information shall not be used for purposes other than the health needs asserted and that the health professional shall otherwise maintain the information as confidential. The owner or operator or service contractor may request a written statement of need, and a confidentiality agreement from a health professional as soon as circumstances permit. [2]So yes, not only Coke, but several other places can have trade secrets. How else do you think would they remain in business?Sources:[1] Wikipedia[2] Proprietary Chemicals and Trade Secrets

Method Statements are perquisite before start of an activity.What is Method Statement?Method Statement is a document that details the way a work task or process or an activity is to be completed.What is in Method Statement?The method statement should outline the followingScopeRoles & Responsibility of engineers, team members involved in the activityEquipments or Tools & Tackles required to execute the taskMaterials required with Material Safety Data SheetHazards involvedHelath, Safety & Environment guidelinesa step by step guide on how to do the job.Inspection Test Plan with Acceptance criteriaChecklistsReferencesWhy Method Statement is required?A method statement helps manage the work and ensures that the necessary precautions have been communicated to those involved.A Method Statement at large sets expectations about the product that emerges out of a particular activity or process.The construction industry has various standards and practices.For e.g. a brick layer can construct a wall using Flemish bond or English bond. While executing, engineers often confuse on which bond to employ when there is no specific written instructions. So here a Method Statement serves the purpose.It gives an idea about the acceptance criteria of a to be finished product.For e.g., the compressive strength of Concrete can be tested using a cylinder as per British Standard or with a cube as per Indian Standard. Again Method Statement clarifies Quality Engineers on acceptance criteria.A ready reckoner to engineers and supervisors who perform the task.A well written Method Statement propels the speed to the project.Far too often, the method statements let loose into construction industry are grossly excessive, unclear, do not concentrate on the key process, or are aimed at the wrong audience. Many contractors feel compelled to produce lengthy and impenetrable documents to satisfy, or even impress, desk based administrators, as part of prequalification for tendering.These “method statements on steroids” provide many pages of content, much of it with no particular purpose, which is often passed to people who do not even manage execution.Conversely, some contractors who are not sure how to describe a system of work decide to substitute clarity with lots of content, in the hope that a method is “in there somewhere”. But the main audience for the method statement should be the on-site supervisors and operatives. These workers need a concise and easily communicable Method Statement.A contractor has to submit Method Statement to Client or Owner for approval. The activity could only be started after approval. Any activity sarted without a Method Statement is termed as breach of contract and can be penalized.A Method Statement in particular to Health, Safety and Environment is termed as HIRA or HIRAC.HIRA C - Hazard Identification Risk Assessment and Control.HIRA in hindi is called 'Diamond'. Employing HIRA at site pays back as diamonds.I shall stop the discussion here and will soon write separately in detail about HIRA CPa1

There are differences, for sure, in the role for unions back in the day and now. People make the mistake, however, of believing that the changes in the workplace have made unions “obsolete” today, when actually they are more relevant than ever.Obviously, during the raw beginnings of the Industrial Era, the level of exploitation made factories dangerous places, where children, women and men were subject to toxic air, numbing noise, heat and cold, and physical demands that strained and drained the body, or could leave it with crushed limbs or even dead.The compensation was as miserable as the working conditions, and workers had literally nothing left to lose, when waves of organizing hit industry in the US in the 1930’s.Fast-forward to today. Workplaces seem much cleaner and safer. Employees are now “associates,” people have computers and its all lovely.Except it rarely is. There are, for instance, more than 500,000 different chemicals used in manufacturing, out of which maybe 1,000 have actual Material Safety Data Sheets that spell out any possible harm from exposure to the substance.Workers Compensation, that is — work-connected injuries — are actively opposed by the employer’s insurer. In fact, any claims against the boss are aggressively denied and fought, no matter what the circumstances, including if the claim is justified.Today’s employer is likely to be a major corporation, since little companies are struggling and corporate entities are merging. At the same time, your employer is likely to be trying to employ as few people they can. They tell you you are now an independent contractor, and will no longer pay into Unemployment Insurances on your behalf.The modern workplace is, in its way, as brutal as ever, and 1000x more complex. You still need legal rights and the strength that comes from collective action. But now you need expertise as well, and nobody knows workplace laws and regulations, and workers’ rights, better than a labor union.Labor basically plays the same role now as it did “back in the day.” But the complexity of the modern workplace, and the aggressive nature of the modern employer, make unions more necessary than ever.