ChemStewards® is SOCMA’s environmental, health, safety and security (EHS&S) performance improvement program. ChemStewards® promotes improving the performance of employee safety, employee and community health, lowering a facility’s environmental footprint and continuously increasing the security of the facility and throughout the supply chain. It is a rigorous, yet innovative program established in 2005 to cater the unique needs of the batch, custom, and specialty chemical industry. Implementing the program builds customer confidence, community trust and strengthens product stewardship throughout the supply chain. Participants receive:
The ChemStewards® Management System (CSMS) follows a Plan » Do » Check » Act cycle. It provides adaptability and fit-for-purpose utility that accommodates the size, complexity and diversity individual member operations.
Verification is a three-step process over a three-year audit cycle based on the year the facility became a member of SOCMA.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Annually |
| Program Element Verification (PEV) and Security Vulnerable Assessment (SVA) | Document Review by ChemStewards® Auditor and Countermeasures of SVA | On-site Audit for each ChemStewards® Facility and Verification of Countermeasures, if necessary | Performance Metrics submission |
| A web-based self-evaluation or gap analysis of the various EHS&S elements of your facility Perform security vulnerability assessment (SVA), if not tiered under DHS, and implement applicable countermeasures deemed necessary to reduce any risk identified to be acceptable One-time event completed in the first year |
A third-party off-site document review of the facility’s management system. ChemStewards uses a checklist format to determine system documentation that creates an easy-to-work-with system. Non-conformances [Pass-Conditionally and Fail] are to be addressed within 6 months of the audit |
ChemStewards®verification is completed by approved and certified 3rd party auditors, as well as certification by audit certification bodies. Certificate issued following completion of on-site verification, good for 3 years. |
Performance Improvement Metrics are required annually. The intention of the reporting is to enhance transparency and company accountability. Trending of data provides benchmarking opportunity and drives improvement in performance for member companies. Data is not shared. |
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“McGean has benefitted greatly through implementation and participation in the ChemStewards Program. We strive for excellence, yet as a small company, at times resources are a challenge. The ChemStewards program has provided a program with support and networking that has helped us become a better manufacturer. ChemStewards has also continued to “raise the bar” with forward thinking to challenge us to improve in many areas, such as process safety.” |
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“Implementing a comprehensive management system that incorporated all of the required aspects of environmental, health, safety and security matters into one system just made practical and financial sense. Being a small company, the three-tier approach provided the needed flexibility to allow us to start at Tier 1 and then be able to continuously improve toward Tier 3. Moreover, being the only EHS&S management system at the time that required outside auditing, we felt that this fact added a great deal of credibility to the system in the eyes of our customers. We believe being true to the core principles of ChemStewards is one of our best methods of keeping our employees and community safe while at the same time providing a key tool for attracting and retaining customers.” |
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“ChemStewards® has provided and implemented an excellent tool kit for CSMS that is very user friendly with lots of how to’s. ChemStewards® staff offers a quick response when contacted. Bottom-line, ChemStewards is an extension of EHS and a value to systems support.” |
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