Chemical Management
Socially and environmentally conscious chemical management in the supply chain requires protecting workers’ health and the mitigation of environmental impacts through responsible business and due diligence practices.
Industries have made considerable progress in identifying, characterizing, prioritizing, reducing, and eliminating many harmful chemicals from consumer products. Industries are also implementing responsible business and due diligence practices to address environment, health and safety risks posed by manufacturing process chemicals. The RBA is leading the development of responsible process chemical management practices across supply chains to protect the health of workers, their communities, and the environment. Advancing the sustainability of our chemical consumption activities requires holistic and systematic management of chemical safety risks, including facility-level environmental, health and safety practices with a strong focus on hazard identification, worker engagement, and occupational health.
Chemical Management Working Group
To further address the ongoing challenge of reducing risks and protecting workers across supply chains, the RBA has made chemical management a priority issue. RBA members are working in partnership to collaborate on solutions to reduce chemical risks through the Chemical Management Working Group. The working group promotes the adoption of proven quality management systems to reduce chemical risks and strives to improve visibility and communication within supply chains and among stakeholders to bring attention to each process chemical’s potential hazards and requirements for safe use, handling and disposal. The Chemical Management Working Group's efforts include:
- Increasing member awareness and involvement in the safe use of chemicals
- Developing training and capability-building resources to reduce harmful worker exposures, including online training courses and fact sheets for workers and managers on chemical management best practices
- Defining adequate and effective practices for conducting chemical risk assessments, tracking and reporting of process chemicals, and engaging workers.
- Exploring how to phase out hazardous chemicals of concern and pursue safer alternatives, where feasible
Our chemical management work has benefited from significant feedback from well-respected NGOs and is being conducted in collaboration with civil society organizations. We recognize there is still much work to do around the safe use and sustainable consumption of chemicals. The RBA and its members are committed to staying the course, working with partners, and making meaningful progress on this important issue.
Industry Focus Process Chemical Policy
The RBA introduced a new chemical policy in 2021, including an Industry Focus Process Chemical List (IFPCL), which outlines greater industry scrutiny and the need for the most protective levels of control to be utilized for the most hazardous chemicals.
The policy became effective January 1, 2022 and is operationalized through the Validated Assessment Program (VAP) and Specialty VAP (SVAP) on Chemical Management to prioritize more advanced, permanent, and protective levels of control in accordance with the Hierarchy of Controls. Learn more about the IFPCL Policy here.
SVAP on Chemical Management
The RBA SVAP on Chemical Management (SVAP-CM) is an assessment process used to evaluate and address chemical safety risks, including hazardous occupational exposures and chemical emergencies. SVAP-CM assessments are conducted by specialized auditors that have unique expertise in industrial hygiene and occupational safety. The elements of the SVAP-CM were carefully developed by the RBA with input from stakeholders, members, and third-party subject matter experts to create a specialized assessment program.
The SVAP-CM's scope focuses on RBA Code of Conduct provisions related to chemical management to provide a unique assessment program for better evaluation of facilities’ chemical safety risks.
The SVAP-CM isn't designed to expand upon RBA Code of Conduct requirements, but it provides a deeper dive on these provisions through additional complementary audit criteria that more acutely assess occupational safety, industrial hygiene, emergency preparedness, hazard communication, and the management of hazardous substances. The SVAP-CM is simply designed to better evaluate chemical management risks.
Learn more about the SVAP on Chemical Management here.
Chemical Management Leadership Program
The sound management of chemicals is at the crossroads between environmental sustainability and human health. Many RBA members have prioritized chemical management as a key sustainability issue, and. the RBA is currently launching a voluntary commitment program for companies in the electronics production sector to demonstrate their commitment to responsible business conduct through enhanced transparency, industry collective action, and continuous improvement. Collectively, participating companies of the RBA’s Chemical Management Leadership Program are adopting and disseminating a harmonized due diligence approach on identifying, assessing, and addressing chemical management risks throughout the electronics production supply chain.
Learn more about the Chemical Management Leadership Program here.
Partnerships
The RBA joined the Clean Electronics Production Network (CEPN), facilitated by Green America. This multi-stakeholder effort includes participants from the academic, government, NGO and business communities. As partners, the RBA and CEPN are working to develop and scale effective monitoring and control systems to prevent worker exposure to harmful chemicals by empowering and engaging workers, tracking and measuring exposure, finding safer substitutions where feasible, and enabling faster, easier process chemicals reporting. Several RBA member companies are also participating directly in the CEPN.
All of our chemical management work has benefited from significant feedback from well-respected NGOs and is being conducted in collaboration with civil society organizations. We recognize there is still much work to do around the safe and sustainable consumption of chemicals. The RBA and its members are committed to working with stakeholder partners to make meaningful progress on this important issue.
