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Responsible Care Report 2013 showcase Responsible Care in action

15th November 2013

  

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Responsible Care in South Africa  (0.04 MB)

At a special breakfast function on 14 November 2013, the Chemical and Allied Industries’ Association launched its 2013 Responsible Care Performance Report, the 7th in the history of Responsible Care in South Africa.  CAIA, the custodian of Responsible Care in South Africa, collects safety, health and environmental performance data from companies that are signatories to this voluntary initiative of the global chemical industry. The report is aimed at increasing transparency in the implementation and performance of Responsible Care by the South African chemical and allied industries.  CAIA acknowledges that in spite of pleasing results in a number of areas of safety, health and environmental protection in 2012, there are still aspects that will require significant commitment and improvement in the future.

The 2013 Report reflects new trends in the chemical industry by revealing data such as: the volume of production-related effluent discharged to various discharge points, the volume of water recycled, production-related total energy used, and transport incidents causing public disruption. It continues to reflect quantitative and qualitative data on a range of safety, health and environmental performance indicators aligned with the Responsible Care Management Practice Standard requirements and focuses on waste and water management, product stewardship, energy usage, greenhouse gas and other emissions, and incidents relating to the storage and transportation of chemicals.

According to Joaquin Schoch, Chairman of the Chemical and Allied Industries’ Association, the latest report reflects the need for continuous attention to safety in all aspects of the chemical industry’s operations, and specifically during the transportation of chemicals.  Schoch affirmed that the recordable injury rate for employees showed a slight increase in 2012 in contrast to contractors for whom the rate continues to decline.  It is of great concern that the number of fatalities increased from eight in 2011 to eleven in 2012.  Ten of the fatalities were from transport related activities.

Another matter of concern is the occupational disease incident rate for employees that showed an increase in 2012. Work-related diseases are largely preventable through effectively controlling workplace hazards. Responsible Care signatories will therefore pay more attention to measures that will address the underlying causes of these diseases in the future.

In 2012, signatories performed particularly well on reducing the rate of in-house storage incidents. Resource efficiency continued to improve in 2012, with signatories reporting a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from chemical production processes, as well as a significant reduction in the total amount of waste generated per tonne of production. The performance of signatories in the implementation of the Responsible Care product stewardship requirements shows and encouraging 6% increase in the number of companies that have fully implemented the requirements.

It is also pleasing to report that there has been a significant increase in the volume of water that the chemical industry recycles, an increase in the number of signatories that implement waste minimisation programmes as well as an increase in the number of signatory sites that have completed the mandatory 3rd party verification of the implementation of Responsible Care at their facility.

The Performance Report reveals that CAIA, through Responsible Care, continues to drive improvement in safety, health and environmental performance in the chemical industry and encourages chemical companies to be transparent and remain committed to upholding the objectives of the Responsible Care initiative.  CAIA continues to strengthen its implementation of Responsible Care by the development of guidance material for the safe handling and use of hazardous chemicals used in commerce.  The chemical industry in South Africa will continue to make progress in reducing the risks associated with chemicals, while maintaining its economic viability.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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