Product Stewardship

 

• Product stewardship is the act of minimizing the health, safety, environmental, and social impacts of a product and its packaging throughout all lifecycle stages, while also maximizing economic benefits. The formulator/manufacturer has the most impact on a product’s adverse impacts. stakeholders, such as suppliers, retailers, and consumers, also play a role in minimizing the products impacts by communicating measure to minimize impact to downstream users.

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What are some of the main responsibilities of a product steward?

 

• A product steward should ensure that adequate EH&S information is available to assess the safety of each product. All intended uses for a product must be assessed.

 

• A product steward should establish regulatory risk review requirements for products. This includes properly classifying products and the associated risks. From this information the company can determine which obligations must be fulfilled under the Chemical regulation laws.

 

• A product steward is engaged in product/process design. They give advice on Improvement processes and they also help with assessments of external manufacturing. For example, they help to identify which materials should be substituted because of their impacts on the environment.

 

• A product steward should help develop expectations for suppliers and distributors while not being intrusive on current business processes.

 

• A product steward should ensure that customers are provided appropriate product stewardship information. Assessment and product stewardship programs should align with the appropriate risks of a product.

 

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Why is having a product steward important in 2018?

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• A product steward helps a company achieve regulatory compliance. With the highly competitive nature of businesses and the heightened awareness of environment safety from society it is utmost importance that your company is compliant with the regulations.

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• A product steward improves workers safety by providing critical information necessary for working with certain chemicals. Any work incident can lead to bad publicity; hence it is important to have a product steward that is not only qualified but understands the topics well within the industry. One mistake could lead to injury or even death of a worker.

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• A product steward enables a responsible supply chain within the company. Smart supply chain decisions will create a competitive advantage. With a general trend of making stricter regulations, you can be ahead of the field by preventing use of materials that could become restricted.

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What are the different zone laws a product steward could be asked to understand?

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• listed below are separate regulations zones that each differ from each other. EU requirements are different than requirements in Canada. In most cases

  • Canada laws

  • Central America and Mexico laws

  • South America laws

  • Europe Laws

  • Asia laws

  • U.S, Chemical control laws

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How can Product Regulatory Services Help?

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• We have experts in the field of product stewardship who can help with any of the required responsibilities. We are able to give advice on regulations in the following zones:

  • U.S.

  • Canada

  • Europe

  • Asia