Scientific Officer – Risk Management – European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)




echa-logoThe European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is launching this call for expressions of interest to establish a reserve list for the following temporary agent profile:

Scientific Officer – Risk Management (AD 6)

The closing date and time for submission of applications for this call is 2 May 2016 at noon 12.00 Helsinki time (11.00 Central European Time).

The job

The Risk Management experts will work in the Risk Management Directorate of the Agency in multidisciplinary teams. To support company level and EU-wide regulatory risk management, these teams collect and use scientific and technical information on:

  • Risks of chemical substances;
  • Description of uses;
  • Exposure and emission;
  • Technical feasibility of alternatives to substances of concern;
  • Risk management measures and operational conditions.

The tasks may include developing methods, tools and procedures to support the implementation of the REACH and CLP Regulation and providing scientific and technical support to process risk management dossiers through the ECHA Committees. The Risk Management staff members of ECHA contribute to this work with their experience and competence on risk management gained at company level or in regulatory activities or both. The Risk Management expert will participate in several work areas of the Agency, and specifically in the Risk Management Directorate, as described below, however, this is not an exhaustive list of the possible work areas:

Identify the needs and most appropriate approaches for further regulatory action

ECHA co-ordinates the implementation of the SVHC Roadmap. The Risk Management expert works in teams which:

  • Screen REACH and CLP databases and other information sources to identify substances which may require further regulatory action and to further develop the screening approach;
  • Analyse the different regulatory risk management options to address the identified concerns and to further develop the methodologies and practices used to assess the appropriateness of these options;
  • Support the co-operation and co-ordination between authorities on regulatory risk management activities.

Prepare and process dossiers

ECHA regularly recommends which Candidate List substances should be included in the Authorisation List. The Risk Management expert performs the following tasks:

  • Collects and analyses information on substances used for prioritising the substances and for defining the transitional arrangement for the substances;
  • Supports the Member State Committee’s (MSC) opinion forming on the draft recommendation in close co-operation with the MSC chair and rapporteur.

ECHA prepares dossiers proposing new, or reviewing existing, restrictions. This can be on the basis of a request of the European Commission or in certain cases due to a requirement in REACH for ECHA. An example of such a dossier is for DecaBDE. The Risk Management expert works as part of a team involved in the following areas:

  • Developing the dossier, in most cases the Risk Management expert would be responsible for writing parts of the report;
  • Helping to manage any procurement that is being carried out to support the development of restriction proposals.

In addition to ECHA preparing dossiers, Member States may also propose new or review existing restrictions. In these cases (and after submission of its own dossiers), ECHA provides secretariat support during the evaluation of the responsible ECHA committees: the Risk Assessment Committee (RAC) and the Socio-economic Analysis Committee (SEAC). The Risk Management expert is part of a small team that perform the following tasks:

  • Analysing the dossier prepared by the Member State and comments received on Member States’ and ECHA’s dossiers in the public consultation that accompanies and contributes to the evaluation;
  • Assisting the rapporteurs of the Committees in carrying out their work and liaising with the Member State Dossier Submitter.

ECHA manages the process in which industry submits applications for authorisation of the continued use of substances listed on the authorisation list (Annex XIV of REACH). The Risk Management expert takes part in a small team that:

  • Analyses the applications for authorisation and comments received on the availability of alternatives for SVHCs;
  • Provides updates to the chairs of RAC and SEAC ahead of the discussion on these applications;
  • Provides scientific and technical support to ensure that Agency opinions are supportive of the Commission’s decision making.

Other areas

  • Further developing the Agency’s work on risks resulting from exposure to substances in articles;
  • Further developing the interlinks between regulatory risk management authorities involved in REACH and other EU-wide legislation;
  • Contributing to or carrying out or both internal and external training activities (on the issues mentioned above) and awareness raising in the areas mentioned above.

Location: Helsinki, Finland

Read more and apply here.

Permanent link to this article: http://www.cosmopolitalians.eu/scientific-officer-risk-management-european-chemicals-agency-echa/

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The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is launching this call for expressions of interest in order to establish a reserve list...

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