Compliance specialisms broadly fall into four main categories:

• Company Secretarial
• Employment Law
• Tax, Finance and Financial Services
• Health & Safety

Within each of these there are many sub-divisions, including:

Absence Management
Days lost at work through illness, indiscipline can be managed through a range of medical and administrative procedures.

Air Quality
From stack emissions to odour management, legislation impacts on the management/measurement of indoor and outdoor air quality.

Asbestos Management
Three levels of surveys, and best done by someone not involved in the removal contracting; long term management implications.

CDM/Construction Safety
Construction design and one of the most heavily regulated and targeted industries makes this a specialism in its own right.

Company Secretarial
Ltd companies are people in law and accounts, filing, incorporation, dissolution, directors duties, etc abound backed with stiff penalties.

CoSHH/Chemical Safety/REACH
Substances hazardous to health, and chemical safety generally, has been heavily regulated for years and about to get a face lift.

Disability/Access
Both a safety and an employment issue, especially for public sector and consumer oriented businesses.

Discrimination
Race, sex, age, religion and all issues relating to “diversity” abound from recruitment to selection with higher than average penalties.

DSE/VDUs
Workstations and ergonomics combine to make work bearable.

Employee Assistance Programs
Employee benefits packages, often insurance backed which allow staff benefits from medical cover to legislation help lines.

Employment Law
Case law and statute law cover all aspects of the working relationship from recruitment to termination and tribunals.

Engineering Safety
Electrical, mechanical and testing disciplines underpin a wide range of industrial processes, even in many service industries now.

Environmental Health
The remit of Local Authorities, knowledge of TSOs and EHO activity often requires detailed local knowledge and contacts.

Facilities Management
Professional property services management and administration.

Financial Services
The very highly regulated insurance and pensions sector.

Fire
Detailed safety specialism now backed by new regulations.

Food
From animal feed to “full up” – its all regulated for growers, suppliers, manufacturers, packagers, retailers and importer/exporters.

HACCP
Hazard analysis and critical control point – a food discipline on the move to other sectors also.

Health & Safety
The generic term for the most common slips, trips and accidents.

Industrial Relations/Trades Unions
Employment disputes between big hitters with big regulations.

IR 35 & Sub-Contracting
Employed or self employed – HMRC take a hard line over NIC.

Legal Expenses Insurance
Insuring against the legal cost of fighting a dispute.

Manual Handling
A core health & safety specialism for lifting etc.

Nuclear
Rarified safety and environmental specialism.

Occupational Health
From absence to private health care and medical case management by employers – no longer the preserve of insurers.

Occupational Hygiene
Chemical, physical and biological agents arising from work activities and their management.

Pay & Benefits
Comparability of pay and remuneration of staff.

Payroll
Wages, minimum wages, pay and tax and administration from bureau to managed and software only systems for compliance.

Personnel/Human Resources
Human capital, human resources – personnel admin as was.

Professional Indemnity
Insurance underpinning a firms ability to pay for their mistakes.

Recruitment
Safety and employment issues can arise before interview.

Redundancy
Selection, calculation and consultation regulations abound.

Risk Management
The process of measuring, or assessing, risk and developing strategies to manage it.

Sarbannes Oxley
US based corporate governance standard designed to restore confidence in corporations post Enron.

Tax
Tax Fee Protection – insuring yourself against the costs of an HMRC inspection either through your accountant or direct.

Unfair Dismissal
Procedures, pregnancy, competence, etc, regulated through both statute and case law precedent and local tribunal preferences.

Water
From legionella to surfing – its regulated.

Working at Height
Ladders, scaffolds, restraint and how to use it.

Working Time
EU based 48 hour week with exemptions and complications.