Apple, HP, Dell to eliminate hazardous chemical exposure
Tech takes chemical hazards
On reflection, perhaps Apple should have told us more about its decision to join with Dell and HP in a commitment to work towards eliminating worker’s exposure to hazardous chemicals in its product factories.
Toward Zero Exposure
It’s not widely discussed the extent to which workers in the tech industry are exposed to hazardous substances. Just like other taboos, we all know this risk exists but we tend not to make the association between our shiny iPhone or functional Dell and a huge chemical leak at a faraway factory. All the same, these links exist.
While no one seemed to notice the event, the Clean Electronics Production Network (CEPN) last week announced support from Apple, Dell and HP to its ‘Toward Zero Exposure’ program. They want to boost awareness of the need to improve chemical management processes across the global electronics supply chain.
They are asking companies throughout the electronics supply chain to join their commitment to:
- Prioritize the elimination or substitution of priority chemicals with safer alternatives and continue to protect workers until that is achieved.
- Collect data on the process chemicals used in manufacturing electronic products.
- Advance worker engagement and participation as an essential element of a best-in-class safety culture for managing process chemicals.
- Reach deeper into the overlapping and complex electronics supply chain to reduce worker exposure to hazardous chemicals.
- Verify and report to ensure progress toward implementing the commitments to strengthen accountability to workers, the public, and other stakeholders.
Green America speaks
“These signatories’ commitment represents groundbreaking progress in the protection of workers from hazardous chemicals in the electronics supply chain,” said Alisa Gravitz, CEO of CEPN parent organization Green America.
“The Toward Zero Exposure program’s unique development through CEPN’s multistakeholder consensus process creates an exceptional platform to leverage the enormous effort individual organizations have already put into protecting workers.”
Tools for change
CEPN has developed tools to help support companies working Toward Zero Exposure.
- The Process Chemicals Data Collection (PCDC) Tool, developed and piloted by CEPN members, is a free and publicly available standardized reporting tool that improves the task of collecting and managing process chemicals data.
- The Alternatives Assessment Guide is a concise, high-level guide for identifying and evaluating potential substitutions for Chemicals of High Concern used in electronics manufacturing processes.
- The Qualitative Exposure Assessment (QEA) identifies workers’ potential risk of exposure to harmful process chemicals and helps determine controls and ways to both reduce exposure risk and improve performance.
The first Toward Zero Exposure Program Annual Summary Report will be published in Q2 22.
Photo by Mikael Seegen on Unsplash
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