4.1 Product safety assessment

Essity has defined procedures for assessing the safety of goods and final products for their intended use.

Merchandise supplied to Essity must also clear a safety assessment in which information about the merchandise and/or its included materials/components is normally required and assessed the same way as for other goods supplied.

All the assessment procedures follow the principles of general risk assessment. These include elements such as hazard identification, exposure assessment and risk characterization.

Safety assessments are based on legislation and standards relevant to the type of material/component and the intended market. Legislation in the following areas (but not limited to these areas) is relevant to the Essity product portfolio:

  • General product safety
  • Chemicals
  • Food contact 
  • Cosmetics
  • Medical devices
  • Biocides
  • Electrical equipment

Depending on the type of goods, suppliers will be asked to provide required information that may include:

  • SDS (Safety Data Sheet) according to relevant legislation (e.g. REACH Regulation) or other relevant
  • safety information when an SDS is not applicable
  • Information on restricted substances
  • Technical product specification
  • Complete composition list, including CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service) numbers for all raw materials, additives and impurities, e.g. residual monomers
  • Information on toxicological tests already performed (e.g. cell toxicity, skin irritation or sensitization tests)
  • Information on safety performance, including fire rating, and compliance tests performed (e.g. for toys and dispensers)
  • Product information file, according to EU cosmetics legislation

If the supplier prefers, a confidentiality agreement can be signed restricting the use of the detailed information to the persons responsible for performing the product safety assessment, and only for the purpose of assessing health and safety aspects of the goods.

Essity has a restrictive view on the use of animal testing and is committed to reducing animal testing to the absolute minimum. We do not test our products or goods on animals unless required by law and expect our suppliers to have similar policies.  Supplier must inform Essity if animal testing is performed on goods delivered to us.

4.2 Restrictions

Essity has identified chemical substances that are of special concern and are, therefore, subject to specific restrictions. A reference to the list of substances can be found in Annex A2.

The supplier shall inform Essity about all changes of compositions of goods and changes in classification (according to CLP/UN-GHS) of the components/substances contained in the goods, as this could impact the relevant safety assessment.

In addition to the substances of special concern described above, Essity also maintains additional specific requirements for various types of goods, e.g. goods intended for manufacture of hygiene absorbent products, perfumes, merchandise, etc. These requirements will be communicated as appropriate via the Supplier’s Essity contacts.

4.3 Contamination prevention and hygiene control

The production of goods for Essity shall take place under controlled conditions. A contamination risk assessment and related contamination prevention shall be performed in accordance with methodologies laid out in recognized standards/guidelines. The risk assessment shall be reviewed/updated each time a change is introduced in the production process to prevent, minimize or eliminate risks for contamination of the goods supplied as far as possible.

4.3.1 All goods (excluding industrial chemicals and auxiliaries 1,3) 

For all goods (excluding industrial chemicals and auxiliaries) the controlled conditions shall include contamination prevention and controlled hygiene conditions in raw material production and in the handling of raw materials, as well as intermediate and finished goods.

Production of goods shall follow the current GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) applicable for the type of goods involved. Supplier must have in place recognized and appropriate standards for hygiene control in its production processes and premises (including personal hygiene and hygiene control of premises and equipment).

4.3.2 Industrial chemicals and auxiliaries (1,3)

Industrial chemicals and auxiliaries shall be produced according to common industry standards in accordance with quality and traceability requirements which are at least as stringent as those laid out in ISO 9001.

All chemicals must be delivered at the purity and quality levels required by the relevant raw material specification (e.g. for food contact or technical quality, depending on the type of chemical and

how it will be used). 


1 Industrial chemicals refer to all chemicals, e.g. process chemicals and process aids, except functional additives and auxiliaries.

3 Auxiliaries are chemicals that are not directly part of the production process, e.g. cleaning agents, maintenance chemicals or paints.