Product stewardship

Our Product Stewardship systems are designed to ensure that all HSSE aspects of a product are responsibly and ethically managed at every stage of the product’s life cycle. Through our Product Stewardship programme we support the activities and information needs of our customers and other groups involved with our organisation.

Key activities

• Our Hazard Communication systems aim to provide users of our products with consistent hazard information, in their main local languages. In this way we ensure that users have the information they need to manage risks when handling, disposing of or transporting our products.
• We have assurance processes to verify the quality of all modes of transport. In Europe, for example, we use the Safety and Quality Assessment Scheme (SQAS) developed by CEFIC, to ensure high safety and quality standards among our road hauliers. Globally, we use the Shell ‘Safe C’ and CEFIC’s Chemical Distribution Initiative (CDI) schemes to assess our bulk marine carriers.  
• We implement appraisal processes for customer and distributor bulk reception facilities to minimise the risk of incidents occurring during the unloading of our products.
• We also train our own commercial and business employees - as well as our HSSE advisers and experts - so that they can understand and apply HSSE principles in their day-to-day activities and in their interactions with customers.
• Shell scientists are active participants in voluntary initiatives such as HERA (Human and Environmental Risk Assessment) sponsored by CEFIC (European chemical industry) and the AISE (manufacturers of household cleaning products) and HPV (High Production Volume) programmes sponsored by the International Council of Chemical Associations.
• We are also members of various national detergent associations, such as the Soap and Detergent Association in the United States, and actively support these groups’ initiatives around handling and toxicology. These initiatives rely on industry experts to gather and interpret data to demonstrate the hazards and any associated risks of their products. These careful, science-based evaluations serve to reassure regulators and consumers that industry as a whole is behaving openly and responsibly.