Definitions

Maximum Working Load (M.W.L.) is the maximum static and/or dynamic load at which the product will still function without excessive friction, distortion,wear or permanent deformation of components. Above this load, bearing systems may fail, moving parts may seize and stainless steel or plastic components may begin to bend, stretch or otherwise deform. Maximum working loads should never exceed half of the breaking load, and should never be exceeded in use.

Breaking Load (B.L.) is the load at, or around which, a major failure can be expected to occur to some part of the product’s structure when new. Plastic components may split, rivets may give way, shackles may break, and other metallic components may fracture. No product should be used at more than half of the breaking load, so as to provide a minimum safety factor of two (2).

Customer Considerations

Factor of Safety
An appropriate factor of safety should be applied to Breaking Load figures to suit each application before choosing or specifying a particular product. For many industrial and safety related applications, and for some yachting applications, a factor of safety greater than two (2) should be used or may be required by law or other regulations. It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure that an appropriate factor of safety is used, and it should allow for safety implications, service life, fatigue (as may be caused by wave action, wind stresses or repetitive cyclical loading), type of load, exposure to ultraviolet light, corrosion and stress corrosion (such as in high humidity or chlorine environments). Note that a ‘safe working load’ is not specified as this is dependent on the factor of safety, which must be determined by the user relative to each application.

Useful Life
The useful life of any product is determined by the above factors and must be assessed in each application, and thus no guarantee can be provided for product life, load capacity or any other factor due to the variability in usage. In some jurisdictions government regulations require the replacement of rigging components within certain periods of time, usually every three to five years. You must ascertain whether any such regulations affect you. While every precaution is taken in the product design and manufacturing processes to minimize the effects of corrosion and stress corrosion, there are also preventative as well as corrective treatments that can be carried out after installation. Contact your local representative for further assistance and advice.

Product Information Amendments
All catalog information is subject to specification changes during a product’s life-cycle. Any alterations will be posted on the website - www.ronstan.com, which should be considered the most up to date source of product information.

In addition to your rights implied by law, Ronstan International Pty Ltd warrants the goods manufactured or sold by it to be free of defects in materials or workmanship for three (3) years, and a one (1) year warranty for clothing, cockpit bags, boom tents and watches/timers, and unless otherwise stated, from the date of purchase by the original purchaser except that:

• This warranty shall not apply to any product which has been improperly fitted, improperly maintained, or used in any application for which
  it was not intended.
• This warranty shall not apply to normal wear which can reasonably be expected in normal use of the product.
• Ronstan makes no warranties that its products are fit for a particular purpose.
• Ronstan’s liability shall be limited to the repair or replacement, at its discretion, of the defective goods.
• This warranty shall not apply to products installed in humid ,chlorine environments (eg. covered swimming pools), due to potential stress corrosion and reliance on appropriate cleaning methods.

Philosophy of Quality

Ronstan is committed to a philosophy of “Quality” throughout its business practices and the Ronstan International Pty Ltd plant and head officein Sandringham Australia has been certified as complying with the requirements of AS/NZS ISO 9000:2000 quality management systems for design, sale, manufacturing and distribution of marine, architectural and industrial products.

ISO 9000:2000 is one of the ISO 9000 family, which is among ISO's most widely known standards, implemented by some 760 900 organizations in 154 countries. ISO9000 has become an international reference for quality management requirements in business-to-business dealings.

The ISO 9000 family is primarily concerned with "quality management" and relates to what the Ronstan does to fulfill:

• the customer's quality requirements, and
• applicable regulatory requirements, while aiming to
• enhance customer satisfaction, and
• Ronstan’s liability shall be limited to the repair or replacement, at its discretion, of the defective goods.
• achieve continual improvement of its performance in pursuit of these objectives.

Quality management principles
Listed below are the eight quality management principles on which the quality management system standards of the revised ISO 9000:2000 family are based. These principles are used by Ronstan International Pty Ltd senior management as a framework to guide the organization towards improved performance. The principles are derived from the collective experience and knowledge of the international experts who participate in ISO Technical Committee ISO/TC 176, Quality management and quality assurance, which is responsible for developing and maintaining the ISO 9000 standards.

• Principle 1 Customer focus
• Principle 2 Leadership
• Principle 3 Involvement of people
• Principle 4 Process approach
• Principle 5 System approach to management
• Principle 6 Continual improvement
• Principle 7 Factual approach to decision making
• Principle 8 Mutually beneficial supplier relationships

Key benefits and outcomes inherent in Ronstan's operational activities
LA sample of the numerous key benefits and outcomes of ISO 9000:2000 principles compliance are:

• Providing confidence to interested parties as to the consistency, effectiveness and efficiency of the organization.
• Employing a consistent organization-wide approach to continual improvement of the organization's performance.
• Lower costs and shorter cycle times through effective use of resources.
• Structured approaches that harmonize and integrate processes.
• Performance advantage through improved organizational capabilities.
• Measuring customer satisfaction and acting on the results.
• Systematically managing customer relationships.
• Flexibility to react quickly to opportunities.
  

Ronstan International Pty Ltd Privacy Policy

Respecting your privacy
Ronstan International Pty Ltd, as a member of the Ronstan Group (Ronstan Properties (Australia) Pty Ltd, Ronstan International Inc (USA), Ronstan Denmark ApS (Denmark) and Ronstan (UK) Ltd) ("the Group") is committed to the protection of your personal information. The systems in place in our business (and in that of our business partners including our Group members) ensure that we comply with the National Privacy Principles, the Privacy Act 1988 and all other applicable privacy laws when we collect, store, use or disclose your personal information.Our staff are trained to respect your privacy in accordance with our privacy standards. They are committed to responsible handling of your personal information.

ISO 9000:2000 is one of the ISO 9000 family, which is among ISO's most widely known standards, implemented by some 760 900 organizations in 154 countries. ISO 9000 has become an international reference for quality management requirements in business-to-business dealings.

About our Privacy Policy
This Policy outlines how we protect your privacy. It applies to all your dealings with us, including when these are by post or facsimile, on our web site, or by some other means. This Policy also describes the sorts of personal information we generally collect, hold, maintain, use and disclose from and about you and how we do these things. When you apply for or use our products or services, a copy of this Policy will be available to you. Every time you authorise us to collect, maintain, use and disclose your personal information, we do these things in accordance with this Policy and any privacy statement set out in the terms and conditions of those products and services.

Any privacy information we supply you, including in this Policy may be subject to change from time to time. We encourage you to check our web site at www.ronstan.com or to contact our office to keep up to date with these changes. We will not separately notify you of them.

The type of personal information we collect
The type of personal information we collect and maintain about you depends on the particular product or service for which we require the information, including those relating to your marine, architectural or industrial requirements and your freighting and insurance requirements (if relevant).

The personal information we always collect from you includes your name and generally includes:

• your postal or e-mail address;
• your contact telephone and fax numbers; and
• your financial details (where relevant).

In certain circumstances, including if you are applying for employment with us, we also collect from you:

• details of your employer's name and of your place of work (if applicable);
• other information relating to your identity; and
• any information we consider necessary for the above purposes.

In certain circumstances (for example, in relation to your employment application), the personal information we collect may contain sensitive information about you such as:

• your membership of a professional or trade association or trade union, or
• your health.

We will not collect sensitive information without your express consent or when a legal exception applies, such as when its collection is necessary to prevent a serious and imminent threat to your life or health.

How we collect your personal information
We collect most of your personal information from you personally. This may be by:

• asking you to fill out an administrative or application form;
• when you write to us;
• when you give us your personal information over the telephone or on our or another Group member's web site;
• when you deal with us directly;
• when you deal with our representatives; or
• when you deal through your representative.

Where lawful and practicable, you may deal with us anonymously. It is not necessary, for example, for you to give us personal information in order to make an enquiry about our products. There may be times when we need to obtain personal information about you from someone else such as:

• a credit reporting agency;
• a member of your family (for example as a contact or a referee);
• organisations that provide, manage or administer our products or services or assist us to do these things (for example, our suppliers, contractors and service providers, and consultants);
• our insurers and underwriters;
• your and our agents and representatives;
• your employer (for example to verify your current or previous employment in relation to your employment application);
• your doctor or other health professionals (for example, in relation to a disability which you have disclosed to us in an employment application); or
• individuals and organisations from whom we buy our products or with whom we conduct our business.

This Policy applies to all of these circumstances.

Why you need to provide personal information to us
If you do not provide us with the personal information we require, we may not be able to:

• aprocess your application for employment or your request for our products or services;
• administer our products and services;
• keep you updated about our products and services; or
• tell you about other Group products and services that may be relevant to you.

How we use and disclose your personal information
Generally, we use and disclose your personal information for purposes related or ancillary to the main reason we collect it, such as:

• providing you with a product or service;
• servicing our relationship;
• identifying you; and
• providing you (except when you tell us not to by contacting our Privacy Officer at the address below) with information about other products and services which might serve your personal or business needs.

Depending on the products and services we are providing you, we will usually disclose your personal information to one or more of the following persons who may use it only for the purposes for which we have provided it:

• third parties who assist us to provide you with our products and services (including mail houses, printers of our invoices and originators of our freight documentation);
• other Group entities;
• our or your legal and other advisers;
• organisations involved in developing and maintaining our business infrastructure including our computer, administrative and business systems;
• our marketing consultants;
• financial institutions (including your bank);
• debt collection agencies; and
• persons to whom we are required or authorised by law to disclose information where the disclosure is required in the interests of public health or safety, the protection of public revenue or the prevention or detection of crime. These include government and regulatory bodies such as the Australian Tax Office and credit reporting agencies.

Except where we are required by law to do so (for example to a Court or to the Australian Tax Office) or the disclosure is in the public interest (such as the investigation of a crime) or in our own interest (as in a court action to which we are a party), we only disclose your personal information to others with your express or implied consent.

We generally disclose your personal information to our own and the Group's product and service developers and marketers, so that you can be kept informed of our range of products and services. You can advise us that you do not wish to receive this marketing material at any time and we will stop sending it to you. Otherwise, we rely on your express or implied consent, or the consent of your representative.
Because our Group operates throughout the world, we may need to transfer personal information off-shore to one or more Group members as part of our normal business practice, or in relation to a sale or restructuring of a Group business. These organisations will also use service providers and contractors to process your information. We impose strict security and confidentiality requirements on how these persons deal with your personal information. Group members will use and disclose your personal information only with your express or implied consent.
We will not sell, rent or trade your personal information for marketing purposes without your express consent.

Using Government Identifiers
When we collect your tax file number, or any other Commonwealth agency identifier, we use and disclose it only as required by law and not as a means of identifying your application for any product or service.

Security
The security of your personal information is important to us and we protect it from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure (regardless of whether we store it in electronic or paper form). The steps we take to do this include:

• protecting our premises and systems (including our websites, computer systems and networks), from unauthorised entry;
• maintaining secure storage of personal information paper documents; and
• training our staff to apply and maintain our security standards and privacy policies.

Where we disclose your personal information to other people (such as our contractors and service providers), we seek to ensure that these individuals and entities keep it secure and deal with it in accordance with the National Privacy Principles or their equivalent.

Access
You can ask us to tell you what sort of personal information about you we hold, for what purposes we are storing it and how we collect, use and disclose it. You can make your request on our website or by writing to our Privacy Officer at the address below.

We will take all reasonable steps to answer your questions unless we are exempted by law from doing so, for reasons including your access would unreasonably impact on the privacy of others, or prejudice our negotiations with you in a dispute.

We will usually provide you with the information in a written form such as a photocopy or print out unless a verbal response or giving you physical access to a relevant file may be more appropriate.

We will make every reasonable attempt to respond to your request for access (where we are able or authorised to do so) within 14 days, depending on the complexity of the information you are seeking, how it is held and how you wish us (and we are able) to communicate it to you.

A charge reflecting our reasonable cost of supplying the personal information may apply to access to the personal information that you seek. We will let you know if this is the case and the time payment is required. We will not charge you for merely making an enquiry about our provision of the information. If we are unable to meet your request for access, we will let you know why.

Accuracy
We aim to ensure that your personal information which we collect, use, disclose and store is accurate, complete and up to date. If it is not, you must promptly write to us and tell us. We will update or add to your personal information within a reasonable time of your requesting us to do this, unless we disagree that this needs to be done, in which case, at your request, we will attach to your personalinformation record, a statement noting your view that it is not accurate, complete or up to date.

How long we keep your information
When we no longer need to hold your personal information for any purpose (including but not limited to providing the products and services you want or to satisfy legal obligations), we will take all reasonable steps to destroy it by secure means or permanently de-identify it, unless we have a legal obligation to retain it longer.

If you have any further questions relating to our retention, destruction or de-identification of your personal information please do not hesitate to write to us at the below address.

More Information
We are a member of the Group which includes the entities listed above. Members of the Group may change from time to time. Reference to "we/us" in this brochure means each member of the Group.

If you want to know more about our privacy policy or practices, or have any concerns or complaints about how we apply them, please contact our Privacy Officer by writing to him at the postal address or by fax as set out below.

We will respond to your enquiry or complaint as soon as is possible. We will try to resolve your complaint or address any issue (including correcting any error we have made) within 14 days of your contacting us about it.

It will assist us to help you when you contact the Privacy Officer as below, if you specify the matter/s you wish to raise:

Privacy Officer - Laine McCooke
Ronstan International Ltd Limited
PO Box 81 SANDRINGHAM,
VIC 3191 AUSTRALIA Facsimile:
+61 (0)3 8599 0099

If you are dissatisfied with our response to your questions or your complaint, you have the right to discuss the matter or lodge a complaint about this with the Federal Privacy Commissioner.