Industrial Chemicals – REACH | Services
Identification of known uses
EBRC has gained considerable knowledge in surveying downstream user sectors, and thereby can be of valuable assistance in facilitating effective data gathering processes. The data collection process steps can be summarised as follows:
| (I) | Questionnaire design |
| (IIa) | Conduct of survey (questionnaire distribution and follow-up) |
| (IIb) | Data management and closing of data gaps |
| (IV) | Analysis and reporting |
These process steps are briefly summarised below:
(I) Design of questionnaires
According to EBRC’s experience, there are four key aspects to be considered in the design of (downstream user) questionnaires:
- Easy to use: Insertion of dropdown-menus, checkboxes, hyperlinked glossaries and online support via phone ensure consistent, high quality data collection.
- Clear to understand: Use of short and precise questions continuously developed at EBRC during previous surveys.
- Short but sufficient: Emphasis on most important items to save resources and increase user participation.
- Correct and useable: Tailor-made solutions, facilitated by close collaboration with involved parties and pre-testing of questionnaires by internal and external experts.
(II) Survey, data management, and closing of data gap:
All data submissions are treated strictly confidentially, ensuring that any disclosure of information to third parties is either in an anonymised form or only via explicit consent of the data provider. All submissions are recorded by date in specially developed databases enabling rapid and dynamic analyses of most recent information, facilitating data gap analyses and survey updates.
(III) Analysis and reporting:
Depending on the specific needs and lacks in knowledge for a substance of interest, analyses are carried out using the database described above. Results are presented in a citeable format developed during various data gathering processes under the Existing Substances Regulation.