Developing a successful way of working
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To implement REACH successfully in your organization, your main challenge will be to change the way you think. You need to make your staff aware that the products they market involve certain risks for people’s health and the environment. That is a major change.
The REACH regulation imposes a complex system of obligations concerning the registration of chemical substances and preparations contained in every product and appliance within the EU. To fulfill all of your obligations, you now need to know exactly who your client is; what your client does with your products; and whether you still want to serve that client. As a downstream user, your main interest is to know what your suppliers will do. Every time you use chemicals in your primary processes, you must consider the challenges imposed by REACH. Drastic changes in your procedures and culture may be hard to avoid.
Changes in your organization
Many challenges are involved in the process of changing to the new way of working. You need to understand the strategic risks REACH imposes and fine-tune your organization’s capacity for risk management and control. For example, you will want to actively avoid supply-chain problems and certain obligations; and some substances that you use may even be withdrawn from the market by its producer because of the new REACH regulation. You have to keep up with your industry as you and your competitors prepare for REACH. What’s more, you need to map the IT processes that govern your administration procedures and adjust them as and when necessary, just as all internal work procedures need to be adjusted effectively before the deadline. The legislation will continue to change, so your administrative system has to be flexible in order to be able to keep up.
Three implementation phases
A structured, global implementation of REACH requires three phases:
- Analysis of your portfolio and the REACH obligations
- Assessment of the implications for all parts of your company
- Selection of concrete actions that will embed your new obligations into your daily business
What can you expect from PwC?
PwC’s specialists can guide you through the entire process of implementing REACH within your organization. We offer various services:
- Business Impact Assessment: We can conduct an assessment of your company with regard to the consequences of REACH for you and your current position in the implementation process.
- Only Representative scan: If you are a producer outside the EU exporting to the Community, we can assess the readiness of your company to appoint an Only Representative. This will relieve your customers from the registration burden and enables you to remain in control of your channel to the EU.
- Awareness Seminars: We can organize meetings specially for providing vital information to those responsible for implementing REACH, making them aware of the specific content of the new regulations and the implications for their own organization and department.
- Coaching: We can support the REACH manager or coordinator within your organization throughout the implementation process.
- REACH Implementation Management: We can provide interim management to help implement REACH in your organization.
- REACH Financial Management: We know that REACH poses an especially tough administrative challenge for those organizations that will have to register many substances. We can help you maximize the benefits for your consortium in line with both your internal REACH accounting manual and specific consortium regulations on cost-sharing.
- Event Identification Updating: We can track down and eliminate all REACH-related risks within your organization.
