Protecting your assets while building a safety reputation
By Kenneth Coffing, ChemTel Inc. Corporate Risk Manager
Emergency Medical Response Number on Product Label
1. Why would a company place a medical emergency toll free number on their product?
2. If my product is not hazardous why do I need a medical emergency number on the product?
3. What legal reason do I have to require an emergency number on my product?
4. Is there a difference between a Customer Service number and an Emergency number?
5. Can my answering machine or my own daytime staff take emergency calls?
6. Who in your company is on-call or technically qualified to answer an emergency call?
The above are Risk Management & Product Liability questions every company should seriously evaluate from safety, legal and humanitarian perspectives. Most every product in the wrong hands misused or combined with other ingredients / chemicals can be abrasive, toxic, hazardous or fatal. This may sound extreme but one parent not monitoring a small child can place your entire company history and/or livelihood at Risk of collapse. Worse yet the courts can find officers of a company civilly or criminally liable under certain circumstances.
The questions above have many potential answers however one may be asked in the Court of Law by council “Mr. Corporation, what did you do within your power to provide the consumer every possible emergency resource to avail our client of the ingredients in the product you produce?” Your follow up answer could be “The law does not require for most products to have on the container/bottle emergency response numbers however Judge our company opted to utilize ChemTel 24 Hour Medical Emergency Response Number on our product to add value and protection to our product”. Because of the prudent decision this little 5 year old girl did not die!
Customer service numbers are intended to answer questions about the uses of a product, warranty or where a consumer can purchase additional products. Are your customer service representatives trained for emergency calls? Can your customer service representatives man the phones 24 hours a day, 365 days a year or translate in 165 languages? Chemtel does exactly that! ChemTel handles emergencies worldwide spanning all nine classes of Hazardous Materials for thousands of companies!
If you feel an answering machine, call forwarding service or cell phone will stand up in court as responsible solution to Emergency situations you are sadly mistaken or misled. The legal system will hang you out to dry when the first serious emergency contacts your company to get a touch tone phone system ultimately to be recorded or answered with a scripted customer service representative with an accent nearly impossible to understand.
Ultimately the company must have technical or emergency staff available should a responder need advice. ChemTel will of course have those contact numbers on file (SIF form) making it possible to reach appropriate staff or consultants on cell, home phone or at their offices immediately. In 99.9% of the typical emergency calls our trained staff can successfully resolve the responders or consumer question by providing electronically MSDS data, scripted details that will benefit the consumer or guidance on sourcing alternate avenues of assistance such as ERG information, poison control or other recognized sources. Over 2 million MSDS including your specific Material Safety Data are kept on file at ChemTel.
Ask yourself; is it image, reputation or quality of product that will keep your company profitable for the next generation? Or could it be solid Risk management to prevent catastrophic losses that will keep you viable? We at ChemTel know from experience that indeed it is usually a combination of all of these factors in most cases. For as little as $250 annual you may protect the legacy built.
ChemTel offers proven successful tools in customized emergency services and compliance solutions.
For information contact Kenneth Coffing, Corporate Risk Manager & Worldwide Business Development Manager
E-Mail: Kcoffing@chemtelinc.com Phone: 1-888-255-3924 or Intl. + 01-813—248-0573 Web: www.chemtelinc.com
Customized Emergency Services / Compliance Solutions