Product Safety Code
Product Design and Improvement
A process that considers health, safety and environmental impacts in the innovation, design, development, and improvement of products, their manufacture, and uses.
- The Covestro diamond process is a business-driven industrial marketing stage-gate® tool that divides process into series of deliverables (stages) and decision points (gates). Projects must fulfill criteria in each stage prior to obtaining management approval to proceed to the next stage. We have embedded product safety and sustainability as deliverables in this process. Discussions begin at early stages with an initial consultation between Business and Product Safety representatives. Product safety deliverable document defines whether new application using Covestro materials:
- is safe for its intended use.
- may be a sensitive use.
- as regulatory concerns/requirements that need additional consideration.
- includes action items.
- The procedure utilizes a checklist that serves as the guidance document to facilitate dialogue during the New Product Use Review (which includes changes to the plant and process safety elements) and will be utilized by experts in Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs (PSRA) during the meetings with the Business Units. The Sustainability process builds as stages progress, starting with a mandatory “screening” of specific sustainability criteria to assess the environmental impact at all life cycle stages and could build to a full life cycle assessment if the project needs it. The concept is to identify potentially positive and/or negative impacts early on in development of the product/application development where changes to the project can still be made.
- Covestro-wide global core process devoted to Product Safety and Stewardship that is audited externally. This process has training modules established with real-world examples that are updated once per year and required for all Covestro employees.
- Company position statement and charter on Responsible Care®.
Responsible Care Policy.pdf
Responsible Care Charter_signed-2016.pdf
