While most of the labor of building the computers, phones, and other devices that make our digital lives possible happens far from the headquarters of the name on the box, down an often long and opaque supply chain, industry leaders can have enormous impact on working conditions in distant facilities.
Today, Green America’s Clean Electronics Production Network (CEPN) is pleased to announce the Toward Zero Exposure program, which has been developed with noted sustainability and social responsibility leaders Apple, Dell Technologies and HP Inc. as Founding Signatories.
These companies have pledged to accelerate existing efforts in chemical safety and boost awareness of the need to improve chemical management practices across the global electronics manufacturing industry to eliminate workers’ exposure to hazardous chemicals.
These Founding Signatories invite companies throughout the electronics supply chain to join their commitment to:
- Prioritize the elimination or substitution of priority chemicals with safer alternatives and continue to protect workers until that is achieved
- Collect data on the process chemicals used in manufacturing electronic products
- Advance worker engagement and participation as an essential element of a best-in-class safety culture for managing process chemicals
- Reach deeper into the overlapping and complex electronics supply chain to reduce worker exposure to hazardous chemicals
- Verify and report to ensure progress toward implementing the commitments to strengthen accountability to workers, the public and other stakeholders
“These signatories’ commitment represents groundbreaking progress in the protection of workers from hazardous chemicals in the electronics supply chain,” said Alisa Gravitz, CEO of Green America. “The Toward Zero Exposure program’s unique development through CEPN’s multi-stakeholder consensus process creates an exceptional platform to leverage the enormous effort individual organizations have already put into protecting workers.”
