Ramping up regulatory compliance support. Who is Chemical Watch?
How does Enhesa’s acquisition of Chemical Watch expand regulatory compliance support for a safer world? CEO Peter Schramme shares insights.
To be truly effective, regulatory compliance support needs to be fully in touch with businesses’ real-world needs and future objectives. In December 2020, Chemical Watch joined the Enhesa group to help us further address the evolving reality of environmental, health, and safety (EHS) compliance in the broadest sense of the word. As the leading global provider of independent intelligence and insights for product safety professionals managing chemicals, Chemical Watch brings clients a critical new perspective. In this exclusive Q&A, Enhesa CEO Peter Schramme shares his perspective on what the acquisition means for Enhesa clients’ compliance support, your global corporation, and moving forward together.
What regulatory compliance support does Chemical Watch bring clients?
Historically, Enhesa’s main focus was regulatory compliance related to operations. What does that mean? We deliver regulatory compliance support that enables multi-national organizations to comply with local regulations, wherever they operate. Every facility, such as a manufacturing plant, warehouse, data center, office, shop, showroom, or you name it, must comply with the local law. Enhesa helps them do that.
Chemical Watch helps businesses in a similar way but in a different area. This team offers companies the product compliance perspective. As their name suggests, Chemical Watch provides dedicated information and content specifically about chemical management. The content includes both regulatory (or, what companies need to comply with) as well as extra-regulatory content, such as journalistic opinions on trends, initiatives, policies, etc. around product management. Chemical Watch’s independent and impartial thought leadership, is developed from insights from opinion leaders, trade organizations, service providers, and consumers in the chemical management realm. These insights go beyond what you should do, to helping you decide what you should think about it.
Q: How does this expanded regulatory compliance support help multi-national businesses be more compliant?
Many multi-national companies not only manufacture products globally but also sell them on the worldwide market – either directly or indirectly through distributors. This could be in automotive, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, big tech, food & beverage, aerospace, etc. That’s the case for most of our existing clients. Clients need to comply to the regulations in the markets where they operate and products need to comply to the regulations in the markets where they’re traded. So companies need expansive regulatory compliance support that spans from the operations all the way through the global market.
In the broad sense of the term, chemicals can be traced back to nearly everything in EHS. Most physical products produced and sold in the market and most operations facilities have a chemical component. Your computer, smartphone, apparel, car – they all have a chemical base. Others have a chemical component in their packaging. Global companies can have EHS responsibilities for these products across all stages of their lifecycle. This includes product design, manufacturing, transport and storage, market placement, and finally “end of life” or recycling and take back. Enhesa provides comprehensive and actionable EHS regulatory compliance support to ensure compliance wherever you operate. Chemical Watch’s independent intelligence and insight add to that, helping businesses create safer products and stay ahead of the dynamic chemicals management agenda.
To you, what stands out about Chemical Watch’s competencies in regulatory compliance support?
Professional development! A very important aspect of being – and staying – compliant is having the right culture across your whole global organization. Investing in employees’ professional development is key to creating that compliance culture. Chemical Watch offers regulatory compliance support in this area through two main aspects: Events and e-learning/training. Their events raise professional standings through networking opportunities, conferences, and topical webinars across all 3 continents. Their e-learning programs provide educational courses in the context of professional development for practitioners, product experts, and EHS personnel.
We’re excited to share these components with clients and bring a new aspect to overall compliance strategy.
What are you most excited about joining forces with Chemical Watch?
Enhesa is the most purposeful business I’ve worked for in my career, and I’m excited that Chemical Watch equips us to fulfill our purpose in more facets of the regulatory compliance realm. For our entire Enhesa group, one sentence covers the strategy behind everything we do: We help transform the future of compliance and sustainability for global corporations – today, tomorrow, across the globe.
Compliance is all about what an organization has to do to be legally compliant, but sustainability pertains to what an organization aspires to do. At Enhesa, we want to shape how well organizations meet those two different objectives. Joining forces with Chemical Watch reinforces our ability to do so. Now with forward-looking content on product safety and chemical management, our regulatory compliance support goes beyond what it means to be safe and sustainable at organizations’ facilities. Together we also enable companies to protect their consumers – and our communities – as they place products into the world market.
Regulatory compliance support that looks – and moves – forward
The future of EHS compliance and sustainability is always shifting, and Enhesa and Chemical Watch are proud to be on the forefront of each evolution. We’ve both dedicated our regulatory compliance support to helping businesses make the world a safer, more sustainable place – and now we’re doing it together. Together as joined companies, together with our clients, together with our community. We look forward to continue serving companies as they strive to be trustworthy and contributing members of society – protecting the health and safety of the environment, their employees and consumers – and our world. Keep watching this space for updates on how we’re advancing on our own journey and important developments to keep in mind as you move forward on yours.