Achieve Regulatory Compliance with an Action Plan
Regulatory Compliance is all about ensuring that an organization is adhering to the rules for its industry. You are required to abide by the rules of an external authority. Not complying with the regulations can have serious consequences.
Compliance action planning includes putting together compliance methodologies in place for the organization to act. You can use these methodologies to comply with not just a single regulation but with many.
Putting Together A Compliance Plan
Before putting a compliance plan in place, you first need to know:
- The laws that apply to you or your regulatory universe.
- The requirement of those laws
- The risks to your organization and (directors) for noncompliance: Risk assessment
- Whether your organization is already compliant with those laws
- Who in your organization is responsible to take the corrective action
Explore these in greater detail below:
The laws that apply to you or your regulatory universe
Here are some examples of regulatory laws
- HIPAA Compliance for the healthcare industry
- Sarbanes-Oxley or SOX Act of 2002 are financial regulations for public companies
- The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is an act for banking and financial services
- FDA Regulation Title 21 Parts 210/211- Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) for the Life Sciences industry
Understanding the requirement of those laws
A good way to understand the requirement of those laws well is to attend webinars and seminars where subject matter experts explain those laws and compliance thoroughly in a simple and concise manner. ComplianceOnline.com consists of training programs for all regulated industries. You can search this portal or contact the customer service reps for help in finding training that is relevant to you or your regulatory universe.
Assessing the risks
To learn how to assess compliance risks, attend this complimentary webinar 'Compliance Risk Assessment - Getting it Done Right'. It is a valuable resource that helps you understand how to Organize, Identify & Quantify Legal Risks and establish a Sustainable Risk Management Program.
Assessing whether your organization is compliant with the applicable laws
Once you learn the requirement of the laws, it becomes easy to assess whether your organization is compliant with them. If not, you will need to take immediate compliance action.
Who in your organization is responsible to take corrective action?
It takes an extraordinary leader to uphold the integrity of an organization. Such an individual must be designated to take up the role. A comprehensive compliance risk assessment will help you identify specific individuals for managing each type of risk.
The High Cost of Noncompliance
Your compliance represents that you are on the right track for data protection. Nevertheless, viewing compliance as a minimum standard and striving to reach higher is critical. What does this entail? It means having sound controls in place and doing the correct things. On the other hand, noncompliance can have a direct impact on brand and reputation. Compliance failures result in productivity loss, fines, industry risks, and penalties. Your business continuity may even be at stake.
Today, privacy and security are of great concern to consumers. Consumers are becoming more aware of how their privacy is being abused over the last five years.
Although many regulations exist for many years, they were not designed with privacy and security in mind. In recent years, we are seeing it merging with IT security. For instance - The GMP requirements are in place for many decades. However, the requirements to implement formal software controls and usage, starting with proper verification and validation methods, data integrity and cybersecurity were recently added.
Also, the recent General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was designed to mitigate risks and highlights the importance of risks involved in processing certain types of information.
Regulations keep evolving and changing. To keep pace and achieve ongoing compliance, you need a compliance action plan.
Thank you for reading this article on a compliance action plan and achieving compliance. For compliance training and content, please contact us. +1-888-717-2436
