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Introduction -- Mar. '98
The nickel industry continues to be a global success. But it is under growing regulatory pressure nationally and internationally because of real and perceived impacts of nickel on human health and our natural environment. Consumers are expressing increasing concern about health and environmental issues. This concern extends to workers within the nickel industry who ask about the health effects of nickel materials, products and hygiene in the workplace.
We believe that it is important that the nickel industry in general, and primary nickel producers in particular, be aware of basic environmental health and hygiene (EH&H) facts about nickel materials and products so that they can inform their customers and answer questions. All of us need to be able to separate truth from myth.
This reference manual is a primary source document to answer those questions. It summarizes relevant EH&H issues, information and scientific data in sufficient detail for company personnel to be prepared to answer questions directly, or to pass on questions to more authoritative sources. For example, while the manual does deal with toxicology, it does so only to bring participants to the level of probable knowledge of their customer contacts, and to know, if necessary, where to redirect questions on toxicology to more informed authorities.
The reference manual has seven modules:
A. Due Diligence - Identifies the elements of due diligence for a company to respond to an environmental incident or issue in the courts, such as reasonable care, employee training, etc.
B. Science - Covers toxicity generally and specifically in both the work place and the natural environment.
C. Regulatory Bodies, Recommending Agencies and Associations: Who Are They? - Identifies major law making and regulatory organizations nationally and internationally and reviews what they do and how they interact.
D. Product Movement - Covers the workplace, transport and import/export regulations that control the movements of products.
E. Waste Management & Recycling - Describes generation, management systems, recycling and the regulatory issues that affect waste management and recycling.
F. Product Stewardship and Product Stewardship Tools - Focuses on primary products at the beginning of the product life cycle and recycling at the end. This is the core of the manual, and its principal justification.
G. Company Specific Matters - Provides guidelines on how a company could characterize, deal with and describe its products, packaging and applications within an EH&H context.
While this manual will give participants in the program a good basic grounding in EH&H as it affects nickel, it is only a first step. It must be supplemented with discussions and presentations focusing on the needs and situations of particular companies. In particular, all who go through a training program based upon this manual should keep themselves informed of future developments in science and regulation as they affect the nickel industry and particular companies.
If you have completed this program, we believe that you should be able to:
Maintain and enhance your market access;
Speak knowledgeably and credibly about the EH&H impacts of your company's nickel products; and
Understand the environmental and occupational health regulations currently impacting your products, as well as emerging trends.
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