a comprehensive list and resource webpage to help off-road equipment manufacturers keep track of chemicals of concern, maintain data visibility across their supply chains, and contribute to overall industry compliance, has been made available by aem.
the newly published heavy equipment declarable substances list (hedsl) harmonizes and simplifies the industry’s data collection requirements in response to widespread stakeholder concern over the presence and use of certain chemicals in products, households, workplaces, and the environment in general. aem, in collaboration with multiple association member companies, led the way in developing the list and resource webpage to help industry peers and their supply chains remain compliant and maintain market access.
“the global regulatory landscape continues to grow larger and more complex, with the proliferation of new chemical substance regulations representing one of the largest hurdles for our industry,” said aem senior director of safety and product leadership jason malcore. “in this climate, successful companies will need to understand which chemicals are in their products by adopting robust data collection and information management strategies.”
the onus is on equipment manufacturers to respond to ever-evolving regulations as efficiently and effectively as possible. the bare minimum is to be aware of what legal requirements currently exist. however, manufacturers would be wise to start looking ahead and develop a roadmap for securing the information necessary to stay on top of, and in front of, regulatory developments.
“in practice, oems will need to scour their supply chains to obtain a full disclosure of substances for each material, part, component, and system they source for their product lines,” explained malcore. “on an industry level, this explosion of data requests will create an immense amount of confusion, work, and complexity across the supply chain.”
however, by adopting a single list of known chemicals of concern, with agreed-upon threshold limits and clearly communicated reasoning, the off-road equipment industry can:
- help educate supply chains on the regulatory needs of their customers
- simplify the reporting requests to which they need to respond
- mitigate the impact of regulations
view aem’s heavy equipment declarable substances list (hedsl) webpage to learn more or contact aem’s jason malcore at jmalcore@aem.org.
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