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.

Product safety is also particularly important for our Chemicals & Materials segment, which encompasses our chemicals subsidiary Borealis. When not properly handled, chemical substances, or products containing them, 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.

Specific Policies and Commitments

Our internal Management of Hazardous Substances standard stipulates measures to ensure regulatory compliance and guarantee that risk assessments are conducted for all products or hazardous substances contained in products.

REACH Compliance

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. 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, Co-processed Refinery Products, Phenol and Derivatives, Melamine, FARM [Fertilizer And Related Materials], Eurogypsum, etc.) as well as in working groups through oil and chemical industry trade associations.

Banned Substances

Borealis has a Banned Substances List, which contains more than 220 substances and substance groups that we have banned for use in our production processes and products. The Banned Substances List can be found on the Borealis website.

Responsible Care^®

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.

Management and Due Diligence Processes

Risk Assessments

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 (SVHCs) according to REACH and other comparable legislation beyond the EU, or which fulfill the criteria to be considered SVHCs in the future. 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 Council. The Council 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.

Quality Control

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. Detailed information is documented for all materials regarding their composition and their 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) and application-related statements, such as those on medical use, food contact, drinking water, and the origin of raw materials.

Safety Data Sheets

Safety data sheets (SDSs) 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. A recent topic added to our safety data sheets is microplastics. Microplastics are found in the environment, our nutrition, and the human body. Once in the environment, microplastics do not biodegrade and tend to accumulate, unless they are specifically designed to biodegrade in the open environment or salt water. They are often mistaken for food by birds and turtles, and swallowed particles can lead to injuries or starvation. As it is not possible to completely remove microplastics once they are in the environment, the priority is to prevent plastics leaking into the environment in the first place. Borealis has added instructions on how to avoid accidental release to the environment to all product safety documentation, such as SDSs and Product Safety Information Sheets (PSISs) issued from October 2020 onwards.

2021 Actions

The OMV Group aims to market its products in a responsible manner. Borealis offers training and education to customers. Sharing Borealis’ expert product safety knowledge with value chain partners makes an important contribution to helping customers continuously meet the highest product safety and quality standards. Collaboration in the value chain is also instrumental in mechanical recycling. Together with customers, Borealis is defining the boundaries to guarantee the safety of PCR plastics in different applications, as no established standards are available yet.

Outlook

Our Group objective is to drive sustainability by minimizing potential hazards and risks associated with our portfolio. In 2022, Borealis will focus on implementing the long-awaited amendments to the food contact regulation for plastics.