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To have revised,
within the past three years, the Safety Data Sheets (SDSs),
or in the United States the Material Safety Data Sheets
(MSDSs) for products delivered to customers. |
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76%
of SDSs and 88% of MSDSs have been revised
within the past three years. |
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Deploying
software to analyze product risk
As part of the process to assess the impact of the White
Paper presenting future European Union product safety
regulations, all of our Enterprises began reviewing their
product portfolios, comparing the results of toxicological
and eco-toxicological tests with future requirements.
The focus was on substances produced, marketed or imported
in quantities of more than 1,000 tons a year and on substances
classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction,
which are expected to be the first targeted by the new
regulations. |
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The
decisive role of R&D |
Rhodia’s Product Stewardship process consists of managing safety
and environmental factors throughout a product’s life cycle,
from design to end-of-life. Research is central to this commitment,
because future products and their related processes are developed
in our laboratories.
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Custom
manufacturing processes |
On the production line, research entails disciplined, compulsory tracking
of each product’s process book, which contains a complete description
of the product and the manufacturing processes to be used to ensure
that safety and environmental factors are handled appropriately.
When a customer’s request falls outside the specified production
framework—for example, when an order is bigger than initially
planned—all the processes are re-examined to ensure they still
comply with the process book. In addition, each product is covered
by a Safety Data Sheet, updated every three years and sent to production
teams and customers.
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Getting
everyone involved |
Managing risks across the product life cycle demands the involvement
of every employee, in every discipline and specialty. To inform researchers,
engineers, technicians and marketing staff of the risks entailed at
each stage, proprietary project management software has been developed
that incorporates risk factors with a series of checklists. In all
cases, projects that may be commercially viable are nevertheless abandoned
if they are incompatible with good process and risk management practices.
 |
Pierre
Legrand, Engineering Manager, Coloris Global Coloring
Concept, a colorant and tinting system manufacturer
|
Could
you describe your partnership with Rhodia ? |
Initially, our partnership was based on a contract to supply
raw materials. Rhodia not only manufactured polymers using our
patented technology, but also developed the production process.
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Later our alliance took on a marketing dimension, which opened doors
for us to work with some of the world’s leading paint companies.
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What
did Rhodia contribute ? |
From the beginning, they trained us in product stewardship, a process
that requires the company to comply with demanding environmental,
safety and health standards. The related practices concerned every
link in the production chain, from upstream to downstream.
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Has
this created a competitive advantage ? |
Yes. Some of our customers have made us preferred suppliers on the
basis of our environmental responsibility. Rhodia’s image has
a lot to do with that.
Laura Planel, European product stewardship manager,
PPMC 
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What
is the RASP method ? |
RASP, which stands for Risk Assessment of Products in their Markets,
is a tool created in-house to assess the environmental and health
risks of our products more effectively. With this method, we cover
all steps in the life cycle of products: before they are sold—including
design, packaging and shipping—and afterward, with their marketing
and the integration of customer requirements.
RASP is also easy to understand and use. It’s based on an Excel
grid that allows users to quickly estimate a product’s risks
in light of the planned applications. Each product is assigned a risk
factor ranging from acceptable to undesirable. To calculate this,
we combine a physico-chemical, toxicity and ecotoxicity hazard factor
and an exposure factor that integrates such information as packaging
and shipping, product origin, market requirements and quantities marketed.
We also consider the impact on our image and our responsibility in
the event of an accident. Once the assessment is complete, we suggest
corrective measures if necessary to reduce risk at each phase in a
product’s use.
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How
is RASP implemented in PPMC ? |
RASP was designed last year but actually became available starting
this year. Currently, we use it for the most sensitive products and
whenever we receive additional information about product risks. Our
objective in 2003 is to apply RASP systematically to each product
or product family. We’ll also continue to present it in the
plants and teach employees how to use it. On average, this requires
around 30 minutes of training.
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Testimonial :
James Hathaway, Medical Director and responsible
for Product Stewardship, |
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North America |
" We’re trying to make continuous improvement
in all our business practices, with a particular focus on customer
partnerships. We help them to address the issues related to
the product life cycle, while making sure that all issues are
being identified in the product development stage. "
|
"
Even before the product stewardship concept became widely known,
Rhodia Inc. was interested in product life cycles and was conducting
a variety of programs with customers to ensure that products could
be handled safely. This was in addition to actions such as the creation
of Material Safety Data Sheets for all products, as required by
regulation. In the early 1990s, a product stewardship team was formed
at the North American shared services level to coordinate these
activities. In 1995 we decided to create a product stewardship expert
position in each Enterprise, a process that was completed by 1997.
While these actions resulted in enhanced product stewardship activities,
we felt that even more could be done.
Taking as an example the 3R HSE process, we developed a set of product
stewardship rules for all the North American Enterprises in 1999,
and then audited their application in 2000. This process was later
adopted by the Rhodia Group globally. The audit findings enabled
the Enterprises to develop their own action plans. Most Enterprises
selected a product stewardship champion, a senior manager, to help
drive progress in his or her Enterprise. As of the end of 2001,
every Enterprise in North America had product stewardship practices
in place that met American Chemistry Council standards. We are now
trying to make continuous improvements in all our business practices,
with a particular focus on customer partnerships, not only in product
stewardship, but also in R&D. We help them to address the issues
related to the product life cycle, while making sure that all issues
are being identified in the development stage.
One example of a customer partnership is our AvGard product, a system
that reduces the risk of salmonella and other bacteria in poultry
products. While safe and effective for consumers, AvGard used trisodium
phosphate as the agent to kill the bacteria. As a result, it was
a factor in eutrophication, because it increased the phosphate content
of water effluent from poultry processing plants. Some customers
have asked for help in dealing with this issue, and Rhodia is now
developing a new product using sodium metasilicate that will be
just as effective but won't cause any pollution."
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A tangible initiative |
Tolcide PS 75, a biocide used during oil extraction
in the North Sea, has been accepted by the Norwegian authorities
as being readily biodegradable, following analysis by a Rhodia
team |
Tolcide
PS75 is a Rhodia biocide used on oilrigs in the North Sea. It is
fed into the seawater injected into seabed rock as part of the oil
extraction process, in order to eliminate the build-up of bacteria
that produce a toxic gas capable of causing explosions.
After a rudimentary test suggested that Tolcide PS75 was not readily
biodegradable, SFT, the Norwegian pollution control authority, issued
an unfavorable judgment, causing some North Sea oil companies to
fear that they would no longer be able to use the product.
In response, a Rhodia team presented SFT with the results of an
in-depth study that proved Tolcide PS75’s biodegradability
in a freshwater environment and demonstrated, with the support of
a major oil services company, that the results could be extrapolated
to the North Sea marine environment. SFT accepted these conclusions
and assured Rhodia that the product would not be banned. It also
promised to recommend to OSPARCOM, the international organisation
that governs the use of chemicals in the North Sea, that data on
biocides be treated differently from other chemicals, so as to avoid
a reoccurrence of such problems. |
