Product stewardship helps keep workers ‘Safe + Sound’
This week, OSHA has announced events to highlight worker health and safety initiatives through its Safe + Sound Week. While safety is a cornerstone value for us every week, the American Chemistry Council’s Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) is excited for the opportunity to highlight our commitment to safety and some of the ways we help our members and their customers make safety important every day.
Safety is a primary function for us. Our role here at CPI is to support the polyurethanes industry by developing environmental, health, and safety programs and associated educational literature; conducting research to further current understandings on use of the product; and establishing relationships with regulatory and legislative bodies to help promote sound and responsible public policies.
We promote the growth of the North American polyurethanes industry through effective advocacy, and by demonstrating how polyurethanes deliver sustainable outcomes. The industry supports 48,800 jobs in nearly 1,000 locations in the United States.
A robust product stewardship program encompasses environmental, safety and health aspects of manufacturing, transportation, and use, and helps those involved to understand, control and communicate a product’s environmental, health and safety-related effects throughout the product’s life cycle, from initial production to final disposal.
There’s obviously a lot involved in promoting safe and healthy environments in the workplace. CPI provides environment, health and safety literature, training programs, and videos about polyurethanes to suppliers, producers, applicators, and other trade associations to help support safe and responsible practices for workers and the environment.
In addition, our library of information, which has over 60 documents available in multiple languages, includes guidance materials on general polyurethane product safety, worker protection, waste disposal, transportation guidelines, industrial hygiene and regulatory compliance.
And it’s not just CPI that’s working toward safety, of course. The entire polyurethanes industry has been working on a variety of fronts to educate workers about safe and appropriate handling, use and disposal of polyurethane raw materials and products.
So, join us this week as we share some of what we do to promote health and safety in the workplace. According to OSHA’s website, Safe + Sound Week is “a nationwide event to raise awareness and understanding of the value of safety and health programs that include management leadership, worker participation and a systematic approach to finding and fixing hazards in workplaces.” OSHA is encouraging organizations of all sizes to participate and “show their commitment to safety to workers, customers, the public [and] supply chain partners.”
For more information, check out CPI’s website or the OSHA website.
