https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Chemicals companies commit to Responsible Care

21st March 2014

  

Font size: - +

The South African branch of global chemicals company BASF signed the Responsible Care (RC) pledge with Chemical and Allied Industries’ Association (Caia), in Midrand, in December last year.

BASF Business Centre South Africa and sub-Sahara head Joan-Maria Garcia-Girona together with a BASF executive team co-signed the RC pledge, committing the company to the guiding principles of the pledge.

Under RC, the worldwide chemicals industry is committed to continuously improve all aspects of health, safety and environmental performance and to open communication about its activities and achievements. The RC was launched in South Africa in 1994 by Caia.

“For BASF, the RC is more than a set of principles and declarations. Through the sharing of information and a rigorous system of checklists, performance indicators and verification procedures, it enables the industry to demonstrate how it has improved over the years to develop policies for ongoing improvement. In these ways, the RC helps the industry to gain the trust of the public and to operate safely, profitably and with due care for future generations,” Garcia-Girona says.

BASF’s RC management system comprises the global rules, standards and procedures for environmental and health protection, safety and security for the various stations along the company’s value chain.

BASF’s regulations cover the transportation of raw materials, the activities at its sites and warehouses, the distribution of its products and its customers’ application of its products.

Concrete specifications for implementing these measures are laid out in binding directives, which describe the relevant responsibilities, requirements and assessment methods. BASF regularly conducts audits to monitor its performance and progress and uses these audit findings for continual improvement.

The global BASF group sets itself ambitious goals for environ- mental and health protection, safety and security. The RC guidelines and requirements are constantly updated.

BASF enacted two new global group directives for energy and for emergency response, and defined new worldwide requirements for occupational safety as well as for safety in transportation and storage, in 2012.

Caia executive director Laurraine Lotter says: “We are proud to announce that all our Caia members have voluntarily signed a pledge at CEO level, committing to these guiding principles of the RC. Hence, RC and Caia are playing their part towards saving the earth for future generations.

Meanwhile, South Africa-based chemicals supplier CHC Resources CEO Reshaan Laljith announced in November that the company had become the latest member of Caia to sign the RC pledge, committing the company to implementing the guiding principles of this voluntary initiative of the chemicals industry.

“The RC is more than a set of principles and declarations; it is an ethic and a commitment that seeks to build confidence and trust in industry. This initiative is essential to the chemicals industry as it assists with improving the safety and health of employees and with protecting the environ- ment for future generations.

“All CHC Resources personnel should be aware of and support the RC and must demonstrate that they are responsible and able to care for themselves and fellow workers when performing their daily tasks,” says CHC Resources RC manager Louise Lindeque.

Laljith pledged the company’s commitment to the RC’s guiding principles, noting that, “We are proud and pleased to be a signatory to the RC and are excited about implementing the RC practices and guidelines, as these will add value to our business.

“Being part of the chemicals industry has many challenges of which our industry’s impact on the environment is undoubtedly the most critical. We therefore identified RC as a logical step towards creating the right attitude and culture within our company.”

The CHC Resources was established in 1987 as a chemicals distributor. The company is involved in the sourcing, marketing and distribution of a range of commodity and speciality chemicals for diverse markets including agricultural, mining, pharmaceutical among others.

The signing ceremony was concluded when the RC flag was hoisted and Laljith indicated that, “CHC Resources management and employees will support the RC through working safely, protecting the health and safety of our employees and the public and looking after the environment. We look forward to supporting this initiative throughout all of our company’s operations”.

With over 150 companies that are signatories to the voluntary RC initiative in South Africa, which embraces the devel- opment and application of sustainable chemistry, helping the chemicals industry contribute towards sustainable development, while allowing it to meet the world’s growing need for essential chemicals and the products those chemicals make possible.

Membership of Caia is open to chemicals manufacturers and traders, as well as organisations that provide services to the chemicals industry along its value chain. Caia is the custodian of the RC in South Africa and requires that all its members commit to this initiative.

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

Comments

Showroom

Condra Cranes
Condra Cranes

ISO-certified Condra manufactures overhead cranes, portal cranes, cantilever cranes and crane components: hoists, drives, end-carriages, brakes and...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Booyco Electronics
Booyco Electronics

Booyco Electronics, South African pioneer of Proximity Detection Systems, offers safety solutions for underground and surface mining, quarrying,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.254 0.318s - 271pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now