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PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL
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1.0Purpose and Scope
This procedure defines the Pressure Sensitive Tape Council’s (PSTC) third-party scorecard verification process for the Responsible Tape Manufacturer (RTM) program. General background on RTM scorecard development and verification may be found in the RTM Program Document and RTM Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Document.
The purpose of third partyRTM verification review is to confirm that adequate stewardship practices are in place for each of the 11elements ofthe RTM program at all applicable facilities for a PSTC Member Company (MC).
2.0Definitions
- MC- PSTC Member Company
3.0Responsibility and Authority
- Third Party Verifier– responsible for organizing and arranging a site visit related to the formal RTM verification process.
- PSTC Member Company – responsible for conducting evaluations of its own applicable facilities and assembling sufficient evidence to demonstrate validity of scores on the RTM scorecard. Also responsible for adequately vetting the RTM scorecards of its tape suppliers to confirm that minimum passing scores have been achieved.
- PSTC Tape Supplier – responsible for responding to PSTC MC’s request for completing the RTM scorecard and providing sufficient evidence to demonstrate the validity of selected scores.
4.0Procedure
4.1General
4.1.1The Third-Party Verifier is responsible for arrangingverification activities, defining the verification schedule, distributing verification summary information, maintaining verification records, and ensuring follow-up on action items that originate from the verification process.
4.1.2Scorecard verification assessments are conducted to ensure that the scorecards for an applicable PSTC MC’s tape manufacturing facilities along with its supplier facilities have sufficient evidence to justify a minimum score of 70% for each major sectionof the RTM scorecard (Environmental Policy, Workplace Policy, and Quality Policy).
4.2Scheduling
4.2.1For existing PSTC MC’s, RTM scorecards are revalidatedonce every three years. Additional verifications may be conducted as deemed necessary by the RTM Committee and PSTC leadership. For instance, major changes to company ownership, personnel, systems, or procedures might require additional verificationsto validatethe acceptability of RTM stewardship practices.
4.2.2For new PSTC MC’s, RTM scorecards are validated within one year of becoming a member. Subsequent revalidations are conducted during the next 3-year cycle of the RTM Program.
4.3Planning
4.3.1The Third-Party Lead Verifiermust confirm that neither he/she nor any member of the verification team has had direct involvement in developing the scorecard being verified. This is done specifically to assure independence of verification activity.
4.3.2All members of the Third-Party Verification Team must become familiar with program requirements by reviewing and receiving instruction on the RTM Program Document and RTM FAQ Document prior to conducting any verifications.
4.3.3Prior to scheduling a site visit, the Third-Party Lead Verifier should obtain background information from the PSTC MC of concern. This information allows the Third-Party Verifier to develop a sense for the magnitude of site assessment activity as well as to determine whether a site visit is even necessary. Such information may include:
- Profile of MC manufacturing facilities (US and outside US)
- Profile of MC supplier facilities (US and outside US)
- Previous Declaration of Conformance and Corrective Action Plans, if applicable
- Summary of scores by category for all facilities
4.3.4RemoteThird-Party Verification can be considered under certain circumstances:
- Single facility MC
- No supplier facilities
- Achieved >70% for each major section of the RTM scorecard (Environmental Policy, Workplace Policy, Quality Policy) in previous verification cycle
4.3.5Prior to scheduling a site visit, the Third-Party Verification Team should select a minimum number of facilities to examine in detail. Remaining facilities can be reviewed in less detail provided that the Third-Party Team is convinced that a consistent process for scorecard development and review is being deployed.
4.4Conducting the Verification
4.4.1The RTM verification is conducted to verify that an applicable site has sufficient evidence to support a passing scorefor each main section of the RTM scorecard (Environmental Policy, Workplace Policy, Quality Policy).
4.4.2Sufficient evidence for validating scores is considered to include such items as cover pages or tables of contents for environmental permits, EHS/Quality procedure documents, monitoring reports, and EHS/Quality program plans. The attached sample RTM scorecard provides examples of acceptable scorecard evidence and explanatory notes.
4.4.3Corrective actions requests may have been issued by the PSTC MC to one or more supplier facilities. In such instances, the Third-Party Verification Team should evaluate the adequacy of applicable corrective actions.
4.4.4Corrective action requests may be issued by the Third-Party Verification Team to the PSTC MC. In such instances, the corrective action must be deemed adequate before Verification Team member can approve the applicable RTM scorecard.
The attached flow diagram provides an overview of the process for RTM scorecard approval.
4.4.5If a PSTC MC disagrees with the nonconformance determination or corrective action request issued by the Third-Party Verifier, they may petition PSTC Leadership for mediation. In such cases, the mediation would be handled by PSTC Leadership working in concert with the RTM Committee to make a timely decision on resolving the dispute.
4.5Documentation and Further Use of Verifications
4.5.1The Third-Party Verifier shall document the results of the verification, which include observations and corrective actions raised during the verification process.
4.5.2A summary of the internalverification results is presented to PSTC MC Representatives at the conclusion of each verificationand, at a minimum, unresolved corrective actions are discussed.
4.6Confidential Business Information and Intercompany PSTC Interaction
4.6.1Use of suppliers is considered highly sensitive business information and mustnotbe shared across PSTC members or with PSTC Leadership. Accordingly, the Third-Party RTM Verification Team will maintain the files with all RTM scorecard records from suppliers associated with each PSTC MC. In these files, the Third-Party Team will code the supplier companies to enhance the privacy with respect to their connection with PSTC MC’s.
4.6.2Within the industry sector, PSTC MC’s often provide tape to other member companies. The MC may elect to either provide a complete scorecard with supporting documentation or provide a signed scorecard only to the requesting MC. When providing only a signed scorecard to the requesting MC, the following steps must be followed:
- Member requests scorecard from Supplying Member Company
- Supplying Member Company provides scorecard to requesting Member Company.
- Requesting Member Company now has sufficient information to complete conformance declaration.
- Requesting Member Company and Supplying Member Company both advise Third-Party Verifier of business interaction.
- Supplying Member Company provides Requesting Member Company Final scorecard signed by third party verifier.
5.0References
5.1 Reference Documents
5.1.1RTM Program Document
5.1.2RTM FAQ Document
5.1.3Sample RTM Scorecard
5.1.4RTM Verification Process Flow Chart