SGS is pleased to announce a partnership with H&M to deliver a Hazardous Substance Control (HSC) Workshop to their suppliers. This is a pioneering workshop developed by SGS to train personnel and professionals to advance the industry's knowledge and best practices in chemical management. This workshop is a key milestone to support H&M and their supply chain to move one step towards achieving their zero discharge goal by 2020.

The HSC Workshop focuses on chemical management at each critical step in textile production. Large amounts of chemicals are consumed in steps such as dyeing, printing, washing, and finishing. Using the core concept of chemical flow management (CFM), this advanced and interactive workshop will educate participants in chemical risk assessment for specific manufacturing processes. The workshop will be delivered on a modular basis. The practical and user-friendly CFM toolkit from the workshop will help professionals to discover and identify inherent risks before and during production, thus minimizing overall risk.

The HSC workshop brings participants in touch with the latest industry best practices that are brought together by global expertise. Participants will also be able to share experiences with their industry peers so that individual suppliers can enhance their technical competence. As a result, the entire supply chain can play a meaningful role to make positive and qualitative changes in order to move toward the goal of zero discharge of hazardous chemicals.

Ms. Sheila Shek of H&M Global Environmental Supply Chain Responsible said: 'H&M has been continuously working hard on securing the capability of factories in chemical management. In order to enhance the competence level in chemical management of factories, we are working with SGS to organize the HSC workshop. This workshop focuses on key chemical management concepts and tools that can be applied in the production process, which are important and can be practically applied in daily operation of supply chain. We believe this workshop is a crucial step for the industry to achieve the goal of zero discharge of hazardous chemicals.'

Mr. Spencer Yeung, SGS Global Softlines Vice-President commented: 'We are honoured to partner with H&M who share our passion in advancing the textile industry by enhancing technical competence and reducing pollution for a better planet. Every member in the supply chain plays a key role. We expect the trained HSC professionals to use the acquired knowledge to set up an effective chemical management system at their factories. With this approach, we hope that key knowledge and best practices are cascaded down to every stakeholder in the industry, so that long-lasting positive changes and sustainable continual improvements can be made.'

For further information, please contact:

Kris Wan
Global Softlines Development Office
5/F Manhattan Centre, 8 Kwai Cheong Rd, Hong Kong
t: +852 2774 7492
www.sgs.com/softlines

ABOUT SGS

SGS is the world's leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 80,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1,650 offices and laboratories around the world.

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