Solvay is committed to safeguarding people and the environment by improving its Health, Safety, and Environment performances; by making its facilities, processes, and technologies secure; and by ensuring chemical product safety and stewardship throughout the supply chain. These efforts are in line with Solvay’s Responsible Care Policy, which requires efficient management systems to be in place in all sites.
53
sites certified OHSAS 18001 / ISO 45001 / ACC RCMS
66
sites certified ISO 14001 / ACC RCMS 14001
Definition
Solvay monitors that efficient Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) management systems are implemented at every Industrial site, and that every GBU has a Product Safety Management System (PSMS). The cornerstones of Solvay’s Health, Safety, and Environment management - both for industrial operations and for products - are regulatory watch and compliance management, risk management and short- and long-term plans to improve performance, and the new Safety Culture approach.
Management approach
Industrial sites
Individual manufacturing and Research and Innovation sites implement Health, Safety, and Environment management systems in compliance with Solvay’s Responsible Care policy. Each industrial site undergoes a regulatory compliance audit by a third party (either internal or external) at least once every five years. All identified risks, improvement areas, and compliance gaps must be addressed. Sites set up a dedicated systematic regulatory watch mechanism. Risk-based management applies to all aspects: health monitoring, industrial hygiene, occupational safety, process safety, environment, and product safety.
Products
Every GBU must have a Product Stewardship management system in line with Group requirements in order to make sure that Health, Safety, Environment, legal and regulatory framework, supply chain, and commercial risks associated with a product’s manufacture, distribution, and sale are identified, prioritized, reviewed and managed. In addition to compliance management, crisis management, and continuous improvement, these management systems must also encompass:
- Product safety knowledge management (composition and hazard information, intended uses and exposure, risk assessment, value chain communication, and change management);
- Systematic assessment of safer alternatives for hazardous substances of concern and promotion of their substitution when possible.
Indicators
Approved HSE Management systems at sites
All the sites are involved in plans to comply with the Group requirement by 2021.
100 sites have a management system in line with Group requirements and have been audited by a third party in the last five years. The sites with fewer than 10 persons or sites not under Solvay’s operational control are excluded from the scope.
The following management systems are approved within Solvay:
- Responsible Care management system (ACC RCMS),
- Responsible Care 14001,
- ISO 14001 management system,
- Mexico Responsible Care Program by ANIQ,
- Brazil Responsible Care Program by Abiquim,
- EMAS management system,
- OHSAS 18001 management system,
- ISO 45001 for Occupational Health and Safety,
- OSHA VPP management system,
- China Occupational Safety and Health management system (GB/T 33000-2016).
Product Safety Management Systems (PSMS) in Global Business Units
The Group has deployed a consistent PSMS at the level of every GBU. All GBUs carry out self-assessments of their Product Safety Management systems, paying particular attention to level 1 Group criteria for such systems, which encompass the regulatory compliance element, and updating them periodically.
Compliance
All the sites are involved in plans to comply with this Group requirement by 2021.
130 sites have installed a systematic process for Health, Safety, and Environment regulatory watch in line with Group requirements.
Number of sites |
2019 |
2018 |
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Sites with regulatory watch process in line with Group requirement and with a compliance audit in the last 5 years |
129 |
128 |
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Solvay’s Product Stewardship Management System recognized
Solvay received the 2019 European Responsible Care Award for its Product Stewardship Management System, a tool that helps all Solvay business units manage product safety and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements globally. The tool was recognized for its innovative and distinctive feature - a worldwide scope for monitoring product safety management. This is a recognition that the PSMS helps ensure safety and compliance for our 12,000 customers and our 16,500 marketed products in all countries worldwide and simultaneously. Solvay’s businesses use this tool to ensure that product information, especially safety considerations, are consistently shared with all stakeholders throughout the value chain.