SEQ policy

• Rhodia Electronic & Catalysis Safety Policy
• Safety management throughout product life-cycle- product Stewardship: product
• Public health and environment
• Quality

• Rhodia Electronic & Catalysis Safety Policy

This policy defines the basic principles that, in addition to compliance with regulatory requirements, govern the conduct of every entity in the Enterprise regardless of location with a system of continuous improvement. These principles allow economic performance to be enhanced with ethical conduct.

Process Safety

To design, develop and utilize manufacturing processes in a manner that minimizes risks; that is, to foresee potential accidents and limit the possible impact on employees, the surrounding population and the environment.

Health and Safety at Work

• To secure safe and satisfactory work conditions for Rhodia Electronic & Catalysis personnel, outside contractors, and temporary employees and to guarantee a high level of industrial safety. • To ensure that each individual receives a level of training appropriate to the hazards entailed by their jobs. • To make every effort to continuously reduce accidents.

TF1: The frequency rate of lost-time accidents, expressed in number of accidents per million work hours.
TF2: The frequency rate of accidents with or without lost time, expressed in number of accidents per million work hours.

• Safety management throughout product life-cycle- product Stewardship: product

The Group is developing a program for evaluating product hazards along their entire life cycle: from conception to manufacturing; from sale to use by end-customer; from end of product life to recycling.
This "responsible product management" (Product Stewardship) program consists of analyzing and minimizing hazards that may be engendered at each stage of a product's life with respect to health, safety, and the environment.
On the one hand, this involves guaranteeing the safety of products in the context of anticipated use and expected performance by the user, intermediate processors and the end-user. On the other, always seeking ways to reduce any possible indirect effects these products may have on man and the environment.
This program requires close downstream collaboration between Rhodia and its partners to ensure that this stewardship can be maintained beyond their own sites.

The five stages in a product's life-cycle

• conception of the product includes selection of raw materials and the manufacturing process. • manufacturing refers to implementing the process at a location either within or outside the Group. • distribution includes marketing and sales, different storage sites, and transportation to the customer. • use of the product by the customer. • end of product-life when the product has not been transformed into a different product, or the final waste treatment generated by its transformation.

Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS's)

Rhodia Electronic & Catalysis's product portfolio contains 350 references which require rigorous and continual management of the corresponding MSDS's. Rhodia has created a "Material Safety Data Sheet" (MSDS) to accompany each of its products. A veritable source of information regarding health and safety, the MSDS contains information concerning the nature of the product, its hazards, safety measures to adopt, and measures to be taken in case of an emergency (just to list a few). They are available in a dozen European languages and cover the entire Rhodia portfolio.

For more information, please contact : www.rhodia.com (our commitment HES)

• Public health and environment

Safety and environment

Rhodia Electronic & Catalysis has been defining and implementing its environmental policy in its various entities for more than a dozen years. This has greatly facilitated progress in the respect for and protection of the environment, at the enterprise level globally and for each site locally.

The goal of this policy is to:

· integrate the environment into all stages of a product, from development
to marketing and sales.

· constantly striving to reduce the environmental impact of its businesses
by promoting pollution-prevention, clean technologies and controlling
accidental pollution

· ensure strict control over waste and effluent disposal and atmospheric emissions.

In addition to maintaining a substantial capital expenditure level, Rhodia Electronic & Catalysis also emphasizes employee awareness and training geared toward better everyday management. Moreover, application of products stemming from Rhodia Electronic & Catalysis' research contributes to an improvement in the quality of everyone's lives.

Baotou Rhodia Rare Earths receives the 1999 Environmental Award

The award of "Advanced Environmental Protection Unit" was given to Rhodia Electronic & Catalysis Baotou plant in China by the municipality of Baotou during an environmental protection conference held in May 1999. The company received this award from the Baotou municipal government in recognition of the high environmental protection standards achieved by this plant.

• Quality

Our customers worldwide, players in high tech industries undergoing rapid change, require the highest level of service from us.

Our capacity for innovation and continual improvement of products and services quality form two major assets for our partners and in Rhodia Electronic & Catalysis' development.

It is our goal to offer our customers:

• high performance products at the forefront of progress in the electronic and catalysis industry worldwide;
  
• competitive costs;
• effective and reactive service;
  
• constant product quality;
  
• long-term partnership built on mutual confidence.

The company's quality system, based on ISO 9001 standards, is an integral part of the Rhodia Electronic & Catalysis strategy to guarantee the customer satisfaction. In order to offer products and services that always create value for our customers, Rhodia Electronic
& Catalysis also intends to foster:

• an innovative state of mind, listening to the present and future needs of our customers;
  
• continual improvement of processes, designed to improve our ability to address our customers' demands as quickly as possible;
  
• integration of international resources (Japan, China, United States, France, Rhodia sales network…),
  
• commitment by Rhodia Electronic & Catalysis teams building on know-how and considerate expertise;
  
• ongoing improvement in safety and in environmental protection.

As part of this program of continual quality improvement, the Baotou plant (Baotou Rhodia Rare Earths) in China has just received certification based on the international standard of quality assurance, ISO 9002.
France's La Rochelle & US Freeport plants have just received ISO 9001 re-certification.
The LaRochelle plant plans on obtaining ISO/TS 16949 certification by the end of2001.

• Contacts

If you want to have more information, please contact us:
ec-general@eu.rhodia.com