TUV Rheinland lends a hand in chemical management for textiles

TUV Rheinland has extended its lead in the provision of chemical management solutions and services for the textile, fashion and footwear industry, following its accreditation as a global training provider by the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Foundation.

Through the ZDHC Academy, TUV Rheinland will provide brands and manufacturers with ZDHC-certified training to improve their knowledge and promote the practice of responsible chemical management. The training is an extension of the TUV Rheinland Academy’s existing OHS (occupational health &safety ) training programme for the textiles industry.

Targeted at the global market, the first wave of training sessions, entitled “Introduction to Chemical Management,” will take place from October to November – starting with Vietnam and followed by sessions in Bangladesh, Turkey and Italy. Full details of the training program can be found at http://www.roadmaptozero.com/academy/

TUV Rheinland has been actively promoting sound chemical management for nearly a decade, starting with the International Labour Organization’s SCORE (Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises) program and its own FIT FIVE training program that links productivity and quality with CSR. TUV Rheinland has also worked with Germany’s leading provider of international cooperation services, GIZ (Deutsche GesellschaftfürInternationaleZusammenarbeit GmbH), onitsResource Efficient Management of Chemicals (REMC) framework for the apparel and footwear supply chain. One of the most recent additions is a comprehensive DETOX offering, which TUV  Rheinland launched as a direct response to the Greenpeace DETOX campaign aimed at uniting top textile and footwear brands and retailers to achieve zero discharge of hazardous chemicals by the year 2020.

“It might seem easy for manufacturers to produce ‘clean’ finished products by washing and flushing out some of the undesired chemicals into the local sewerage system before delivery, but it’s also extremely short-sighted. Ethical buyers and end-user customers are increasingly looking for assurance that the production process is clean from start to finish, which takes careful testing and quality training to achieve,” said Holger Kunz, Executive Vice President, Business Stream Products for TUV Rheinland.

Kunz noted that approximately a third of the international fashion industry, including some of the world’s biggest brands, are already members of the ZDHC Foundation. More are joining every day. TUV Rheinland’s extensive global network of testing, inspection and certification facilities is now in the process of finalizing accreditation as Accepted ZDHC Laboratories.

“Although the new training program is aimed at enterprises, each course concludes with a stringent examination. Successful candidates receive a personal ZDHC certificate to add to their portfolio of professional qualifications and improve their long-term career prospects,” said Markus Dohm, Executive Vice President, Business Stream Academy & Life Care for TUV Rheinland.

“ZDHC’s vision of using best practices to protect consumers, workers and the environment is in full alignment with our mission of promoting greater quality, safety, and economic efficiency where people, technology and the environment interact. While the focus of this first wave of training is an Introduction to Chemical Management, we are committed to working collaboratively with the industry to develop more in-depth, targeted trainings on additional topics. This will drive global progress towards achieving genuine zero discharge of hazardous chemicals,” Dohm said.