A world-leading chemicals firm has boosted its presence in the UK with a new facility delivered by national contractor Kier. Infineum officially opened a new Global Centre of Innovation at its UK headquarters near Didcot. The 3,500ft² centre delivers the necessary infrastructure to support Infineum’s technology leadership to enable improved
BASF SE has kicked off a sale process for its construction chemical business, which could fetch about 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), people with knowledge of the matter said. The German company has started to contact select interested parties, a BASF representative said in response to Bloomberg queries, declining to
If your business is involved with hazardous chemicals in any way then you may already be aware of the Global Harmonised System (GHS) – but if it is something new to you, it is very important that you understand it. Whether you are involved with these chemicals directly, or perhaps
A world-leading chemicals firm has boosted its presence in the UK with a new facility delivered by national contractor Kier. Infineum officially opened a new Global Centre of Innovation at its UK headquarters near Didcot. The 3,500ft² centre delivers the necessary infrastructure to support Infineum’s technology leadership to enable improved innovation. It has also created more than 50 new jobs for talented chemists and engineers and includes new laboratories for research and development, collaborative meeting spaces, office space and a new restaurant. Representatives from Kier and key Infineum employees were on hand to celebrate the opening of the new facility. Mark Pausey, managing director at Kier Regional Building Central, said: “We have worked closely and collaboratively with Infineum for the duration of the build. As with all of our projects, we have prioritised safety at every aspect of the build, employing a full-time safety manager and working closely with the clients team of safety professionals. “We are thrilled to be handing this project over, allowing innovation to thrive and employees to research and develop new products in Infineum’s brand-new high spec laboratories.” Laura Salamon, project manager at Infineum, added: “We at Infineum are extremely proud of our new global Centre of Innovation, which is a state-of-the-art new building encompassing new laboratories for research and development equipped with the latest technologies, a variety of collaborative meeting spaces with innovative design throughout, offices and a new restaurant for all employees and visitors. We have received universal enthusiastic praise from all our colleagues about the high quality of the finishes and how well the space was designed, meeting all the project deliverables.”
BASF SE has kicked off a sale process for its construction chemical business, which could fetch about 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), people with knowledge of the matter said. The German company has started to contact select interested parties, a BASF representative said in response to Bloomberg queries, declining to comment further. Carlyle Group LP and building-materials maker Standard Industries Inc. are among potential suitors considering offers for the unit, the people said.It could also attract interest from other private equity firms including Bain Capital, Cinven and KKR & Co., according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The BASF unit generated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 245 million euros last year on 2.4 billion euros of sales, the people said. Potential bidders may seek to value the business at around 11 times earnings, according to two of the people. BASF expanded in construction chemicals through its 2006 acquisition of a Degussa AG unit. The German company has struggled with scale as well as the complexity of the market, since local construction techniques can differ even from country to country. Consolidation in the building-materials industry has strengthened the hand of enlarged companies when negotiating with suppliers of grouts, mortars and admixtures, which are added before or after mixing cement to enhance properties like drying times and water content. BASF Chief Executive Officer Martin Brudermueller announced a strategic review of the business in October, and the company has said it aims to reach an agreement by the end of this year. Any transaction would add to the $34 billion in acquisitions of European chemical and industrial companies announced this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. CVC Capital Partners agreed in January to sell Parex Group to Sika AG for 2.5 billion Swiss francs ($2.5 billion) including debt, valuing the French producer of construction chemicals at 12.8 times earnings. No final decisions have been made, and there’s no certainty the suitors will proceed to submit offers for the BASF business, the people said. Representatives for Bain, Carlyle, Cinven, KKR and Standard Industries declined to comment.
If your business is involved with hazardous chemicals in any way then you may already be aware of the Global Harmonised System (GHS) – but if it is something new to you, it is very important that you understand it. Whether you are involved with these chemicals directly, or perhaps in an incidental way it is vital not only to know what the symbols mean and what they are used for, but also to ensure that any labelling that you are responsible for is carried out correctly. Here we will take a GHS to establish exactly how it could affect your business, as well as examining the steps that you need to take to ensure that your labelling is fully compliant. A brief history Across the world many different countries and organisations have laws and rules about how hazardous properties of chemicals are identified (known as their ‘classification’) and how information about these classifications should be distributed to individuals and companies, such as through labelling and data sheets. For a long time, this was extremely confusing as there was little cooperation or unity between different countries and the bodies that oversaw hazardous chemicals. In some countries a chemical might be labelled ‘hazardous’ while in others it was not considered to be. This can potentially make it dangerous for the people involved, and complicate international trade. What is GHS? It wasn’t until 1992 that the international community developed the Global Harmonised System. The UN has since rolled out the GHS across the world. It is used to classify and communicate whether a chemical has hazardous properties. It does so by defining the risks posed by the specific chemical to health, safety, and the environment. It uses available data to establish processes for chemical classification and ensures that hazardous information is presented in the correct way. Thankfully the GHS has been adopted by organisations and institutions worldwide as it makes the whole process of dealing with hazardous chemicals not only potentially easier and more profitable from a trade perspective, but also safer and more environmentally friendly. Why is it important? It is clear to see that with poor systems in place for understanding hazardous chemicals, the consequences could be disastrous. Ultimately, the GHS came into place in order to provide better protection for people, as well as for the environment. It also makes it much easier for businesses to work within a standard framework for these chemicals. Having a standard labelling system means that there are no language barriers or localised systems that can confuse the situation. Companies, industries and countries are able to work within a unified system that everyone can refer to without the potential for misunderstandings. How can my business become complaint with the GHS? If you work with any kind of chemicals in the process of producing, transporting, or storing then you need to have health and safety labels that comply with the GHS. Ultimately, a GHS-compliant label has the following: A signifying word indicating the severity of the hazardous chemical. This might be “danger” or “warning”. A GHS hazard statement which uses specific words and phrases for the type of A GHS hazard pictogram which provides information about the specifics of the hazardous effects that a chemical can have on human or environmental health. All pictograms are black and white images inside a red diamond border. Explaining the GHS pictograms Created for the fast and effective recognition of chemicals, the GHS pictograms need to be clearly positioned on any materials so that it is easy to read from an appropriate distance. The GHS has nine official pictogram symbols that are used to represent specific hazards. Here we’ll take a look at the pictograms, broken down into their relevant categories: Physical hazards Explosive – unstable and explosive substances are signified with the icon of an exploding ball Flammable – any gas, liquid or solid that has the potential to ignite are signified with a flame Oxidising – any chemical that has the ability to oxidise any other substance is signified with flame over a circle Compressed Gas – any container with pressured gas inside is signified with a gas canister Corrosive – any corrosive substances are signified with a hand and an object being damaged by fluid from a test tube Health hazards Toxic – any substance that has a poisonous effect (either through consumption, inhalation, or physical exposure) is signified with skull and crossbones Harmful – any substance that can cause damage to the skin, damage to the eyes, dizziness, or other reactions, is signified with an exclamation mark Health Hazard – any substances that are carcinogenic, or can be responsible for issues with reproductive, development, or the respiratory system are signified with a figure with a burst in their chest Environmental hazard Environmental Hazard – any substance that can cause harm to the aquatic environment is signified with a barren tree and a dead fish
