our very first event was a huge success! Focused on the topic of CLP Article 45 Poison Centre Notifications for SAP customers and supported by the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI), we had a great turnout of 93 attendees – more than double of what we expected when we started planning a year ago.

It means one of two things:

1. There is nothing better to do in February in Germany or
2. This is arguably the most significant compliance topic for the world’s leading producers and importers of hazardous products.

The opesus CLP Article 45 workshop, supported by VCI, was held in Frankfurt on 7^th February this year. We kicked it off with a pre-event dinner. Between tapas and beverages, we had a great time catching up with customers, former colleagues, and even made a few new friends along the way.

In the opening presentation Alexander Wegener, CEO of opesus, reminded us of the important work that Poison Centres do – they protect health and save lives. Then Dr. Desel from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) shared the interesting fact of almost 600 calls being made every day. Clearly this is something we cannot take lightly – the advice that Poison Centres give is dependent on the quality of chemical information they have.

Daniel Sompolski from the ECHA Poison Centres Team took us through the requirements of CLP Annex VIII, clarifying which deadlines have to be met by whom. A requirement where a lot of misunderstandings happen; the first deadline of 1^st of January 2020 for consumer use applies even if you don’t directly sell to end consumers. The deadline is also relevant for all companies that have products that end up in a consumer use several steps down the supply chain.

Finding solutions was the theme of the workshop; and Ralf Coenning from SAP talked about SAP S/4HANA for Product Compliance. He also gave an overview on how opesus’ software complements SAP EH&S to provide companies with a comprehensive set of tools to fulfill the requirements of CLP Article 45. Marvin Bahnsen, consultant at opesus, highlighted the software features of opesus EHS Product Notification and presented the timelines of ECHA, SAP, and opesus product development.

After a tasty lunch, two of our pilot customers – Dr. Spanke from BASF and Mr. Steiger from Biesterfeld – shared the challenges and recommendations for companies taking steps to ensure compliance with the CLP Article 45 requirements.

In the final presentation our product manager Markus Pogrzeba offered a detailed look at our findings from over 50 customer workshops. A lot of notes were taken as he pointed out best practices gathered from his extensive experience in consulting at chemical companies (of all sizes and within the complete supply chain).

With all that information presented and discussed, the hours just flew by. We again want to thank all those who have contributed to the great outcome of our workshop by giving presentations, asking questions or just being there. If you are interested in learning  how opesus can help your company comply with the requirements of CLP Article 45, contact us or check out our opesus EHS Product Notification.