Product Safety

OMV assumes responsibility for delivering safe, high-quality products. At the same time, we continuously work on exploring ways to reduce our environmental impact during our product life cycle. We take a comprehensive approach to product safety, with technologically advanced solutions used to deliver safe top-quality products, while taking action to ensure responsible use of our products.

Chemical substances, or products containing them, when not properly handled, can pose risks to health, safety, and the environment. These include potentially negative health effects such as sensitization, irritation, or intoxication; physical hazards such as fires, explosions, or exposure to dust; or environmental hazards such as bioaccumulation or persistence. We have established adequate processes and workflows to ensure our compliance with the EU regulations on Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) and on Classification, Labelling, and Packaging (CLP) of substances and mixtures as well as with the Toxic Substances Control Act in the United States. Borealis has a Banned Substances List, which contains more than 220 substances and substance groups that the Group has banned for use in its production processes and products. The Banned Substances List can be found on the Borealis website.

We are committed to maintaining and updating our mandatory registrations so as to keep up with relevant regulatory developments. To this end, we closely follow the guidance published by the European Chemicals Agency and participate in the REACH consortia (Concawe, Lower Olefins and Aromatics, Fuel Ethers, Renewable Fuels, Phenol and Derivatives, Melamine, FARM [Fertilizer And Related Materials], Eurogypsum, etc.) as well as in working groups through oil and chemical industry trade associations. Safety data sheets are available on the OMV and Borealis websites. These documents are regulated under REACH and include comprehensive information on potential health, safety, and environmental issues. In addition, they inform customers and employees about how to handle and use our products safely.

Product safety is particularly important for our subsidiary, Borealis. All incoming chemicals used in Borealis’ products are assessed, rated, and documented to ensure legal compliance before they are approved for use. Local teams then perform additional assessments at each plant to ensure the chemical meets plant-specific requirements and complies with national or community-related legislation. This process ensures that the procurement organization does not purchase any substance before the Product Stewardship team has reviewed and approved it. Once materials are approved for purchase, they are subject to Borealis’ quality control to ensure they continue to comply with the agreed material properties. All materials are documented based on Borealis’ knowledge of the exact composition of the raw material and on detailed information about the material’s hazardous constituents. Proper documentation of the raw materials used is a key element of high-quality Borealis product compliance statements, such as safety data sheets (SDSs), application-related statements such as medical use, food contact, and drinking water, and other statements such as on raw materials origin.

Borealis has adopted a hazardous chemicals strategy. This follows the precautionary principle of continuously assessing the risk potential of all substances used in Borealis’ products to identify critical chemicals no longer permitted to be used or that can be replaced by safer alternatives. This includes all substances which were already classified as substances of very high concern (SVHC) according to REACH and other comparable legislation beyond the EU or which fulfill the criteria to be considered as SVHC in the future. Examples include raw materials based on cadmium salts, octyl- or nonylphenol compounds, or many poly-halogenated organic compounds. The risk evaluation utilizes a tailor-made analysis and assessment tool which ranks the substances according to their overall risk. It considers related HSE risk and regulatory aspects, evolving stakeholder concerns, the technical feasibility of substitution, and the financial consequences of doing so, such as the required innovation costs, approval costs, and modifications to technical equipment. Substances with the highest identified risk are further assessed by the Product Stewardship Committee. The committee selects the substances to be evaluated using the Borealis Risk Matrix, which is a proprietary ranking tool to evaluate risks in detail. These assessments enable Borealis to identify, mitigate, and manage the risks posed by hazardous chemicals. In addition, Borealis is committed to the principles of Responsible Care^® and enforces high product stewardship standards to ensure that its products do not pose a risk at any stage along the value chain. (For more information, see Process Safety).

Working With Customers

OMV aims to market its products in a responsible manner by engaging consumers in lowering greenhouse gas emissions. OMV also works in close collaboration with leading automobile manufacturers, research institutes, and universities to stay at the forefront of fuel technology. Our MaxxMotion premium fuels provide maximum power to vehicles, prolong engine life, and contribute to lowering emissions. Our MaxxMotion100-octane gasoline fulfills the highest fuel quality requirements in accordance with the Worldwide Fuel Charter, the guideline issued by major automobile and engine manufacturers’ associations. ¹ CFPP value according to EN 590

Borealis also offers training and education to customers. Health care is one of the most sensitive application segments in terms of reliability, hygiene, and product consistency. Sharing Borealis’ expert product safety knowledge with value chain partners therefore makes an important contribution to helping customers continuously meet the highest product quality standards. Borealis shares this knowledge via formal customer training sessions and through technical dialogues throughout the year. Borealis also offers education and awareness activities for farmers regarding fertilizers to inform them about the proper use of chemical fertilizers and how to avoid groundwater and soil pollution.