Risk management

The company took advantage of the application of the European Union's Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) to establish a coordinated response procedure that reinforces its management of chemical risks. Joint work by the divisions and functional departments (Legal, Institutional Relations, Technical, Risk Management, Research and Development, Purchasing, Health and QHSE) and the pooling of resources enabled our company to meet its obligations for preregistration on December 1, 2008.

REACH represents a valuable opportunity for improving the prevention and management of health and environmental risks associated with the chemicals we use, treat or produce and, therefore, reviewing certain internal procedures.

The inventories conducted on our chemicals facilitated the definition of action plans and training in managing these substances. There will be many long-term advantages: better protection of our employees' health and safety, better management of the environmental impact of our activities, promotion of chemicals recovered through processes that minimize health and environmental impacts, and better information about chemicals for our clients.