Effective product stewardship is at the core of business competitiveness. How a product looks and performs, how long it lasts, and how much it costs are all direct results of the decision-making process within the management structure of a company. However, product stewardship is more than engineering and product design. Health, safety, and environmental factors should be considered throughout the product life cycle, to identify and deal with emerging risk issues as quickly as possible.
Health, safety, and environmental considerations are important in the entire life cycle of a product. These issues include research and design, registration, manufacturing, introduction into the marketplace, transportation, and disposal. Effective product stewardship principles are important for the current and emerging regulatory standards in global commerce, including the EU-REACH chemical registration program, the UN’s Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for Chemical Labeling, and the World Health Organization’s harmonization standards for Chemical Risk Assessment.
Exponent’s product stewardship team can help you address the following questions in each aspect of the product stewardship life cycle.
Research and Design — How does one achieve the best function, highest performance, longest durability, and lowest cost, while minimizing potential risks to health or the environment? What procedures should be put in place to protect the health of our research staff and the employees of our suppliers? What demands will we place on available natural resources, and what environmental impacts will result? How will these factors affect our production costs and corporate reputation?
Registration — What types of information must be developed to successfully register a product for use in a particular country? What test protocols must be followed? How should we interpret and summarize the results for submission to regulatory authorities?
Manufacturing — What information should be incorporated into our Material Safety Data Sheet for this product? How can we best protect the health of our workers? What safety training is needed? What kind of workplace monitoring should we be doing to ensure that our exposure limits are not being exceeded? What should be included in our emergency management plan? What will likely be the concerns raised among workers and in the neighboring community by an accidental or emergency release, and how should we best respond to those concerns? How should we prepare for unannounced regulatory inspections? What should be our corporate risk management strategy (e.g., an insurance contract, self-insured)? What is our corporate records retention policy?
Product Sales and Marketing — What information must be included on our label and product brochures? How should we answer questions from our customers and/or end users? Should we have information packages pre-prepared for Poison Control Centers? For veterinary clinics? How can we accurately evaluate and communicate potential risks? What actions may be necessary in response to product liability claims?
Transportation — What emergency information and training should our truck drivers be given in case of an accident? What instructions for crowd control should the driver have, in order to minimize by-stander exposures? Should our trucks carry special emergency gear?
Disposal — What are the appropriate alternatives and consequences for end-of-life product disposal? What are the likely financial costs for remediation and disposal of contaminated soils and water associated with our product and related facilities? What beneficial uses of contaminated properties can be developed? What are the long-term potential risks to the organization and its employees/clients?
Exponent’s Product Stewardship team of health scientists and engineers has extensive experience in addressing all of these management decisions. We are ready to assist in product stewardship support, whether it be evaluating health, safety, and environmental risks or improving the business process.