Company Announcement - Executive president of the Chemical and Allied Industries Association, Deidre Penfold, paid a visit to Modderfontein last week to update members of the Community Awareness and Emergency Response Committee on CAIA’s Responsible Care initiative. The meeting took place at African Explosives’ offices in Longmeadow Business Park.
CAIA has 182 company members comprising manufacturers, distributors, warehouses, hauliers and spill response companies. Of these over 150 are signatories to Responsible Care. Her talk “Celebrating 20 years of CAIA and Responsible Care in South Africa” reviewed the initiative that gave birth to the establishment of CAER Committees such as that at Modderfontein. Responsible Care was first introduced in Canada in 1985. It was adopted in South Africa by CAIA early in 1995 and formalised with the establishment by AECI of CAER committees at its Umbogintwini and Modderfontein factories in 1994 and 1995 respectively.
The principles embodied in the Responsible Care philosophy adopted by chemical industries in several First World countries include:
·A responsiveness to public concerns;
·Commitment to demonstrate continuous improvement and
·An openness to external scrutiny.
Members of the Modderfontein CAER Committee include representatives from communities surrounding the industrial complex and the industries operating in the area. This provides a forum for any community concerns to be addressed in a formal and structured manner.