Product Stewardship
Product stewardship involves an integrated approach to products, materials and services management designed to assess, minimise and eliminate the environmental and health related impacts of products. Johnson Matthey is committed to product safety and conducts systematic and rigorous evaluations of our new and existing products. The process involves characterisation of any risks associated with product use, a determination of the related risk management measures and coupled mechanisms to effectively communicate this information outside the company.
Product Stewardship Performance
A systematic product responsibility reporting scheme conforming to the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Guidelines has been introduced to monitor the performance of Johnson Matthey operations. No notifications of significant health effects at end user level involving Johnson Matthey products were reported by our business units in 2007/08. In addition, no major incidents or environmental releases during product transportation and distribution were recorded. On 27th July 2007 Avocado Research Chemicals Limited, a subsidiary of the company, was fined £600 and ordered to pay £100 costs after pleading guilty at the City of London Magistrates’ Court to the unlawful exportation of a controlled chemical substance. Following the incident, the business has improved its automated ordering system and recruited a dangerous goods compliance specialist to prevent recurrence.
During 2006/07 we established a central Group Product Stewardship function and this year we have further upgraded our global product safety and product sustainability systems. Best practice improvements to site and business unit product stewardship programmes have been introduced across a number of operations within the group and we have recruited several new technical specialists into our business unit product stewardship functions to augment their capabilities.
Significant progress has been made in establishing methods to conduct hazard characterisations and to specify voluntary exposure control standards for our workplace.
Product Stewardship Targets
We will complete the development of consistent product stewardship guidelines for our products. This will include more work on product sustainability criteria and ranking systems for new product introduction.
Johnson Matthey will continue in its commitment to phase out or substitute chemicals of concern where feasible, and to avoid such substances in new technology developments. We will continue to engage with the chemical and metals sectors on areas such as product stewardship practices and responsible care, the evaluation of new technologies and on restricted substance management.
We will continue to enhance our levels of employee protection with sustained emphasis on controlling workplace chemical exposures and improving chemical risk assessment. We will work towards improved occupational hygiene and chemical containment programmes.
Animal Testing
In common with all companies developing and marketing new substances, Johnson Matthey is obliged by international legislation to make toxicity information available to assure product safety for humans, wildlife and the environment. However, we always attempt to limit testing and avoid redundant studies by undertaking collaborative work with industrial partners where it is established that suitable data does not already exist. If in vivo studies are unavoidable, it is ensured that such work complies with applicable laws, regulations, licensing and welfare codes.
Johnson Matthey strongly shares a desire that is widespread in society to increase reliance on properly validated alternative methods which reduce, refine or replace the use of animal testing. We remain optimistic that advances in toxicology science will enable us to further minimise animal testing, while continuing to protect human health and the environment now, and for future generations.