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In December 1996, the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) published for the first time a Status Report on Responsible Care 1 – the industry’s voluntary initiative to improve our health, safety and environment performance. This was a contribution to support the industry’s presentations that year at the Second Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) in Ottawa and the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) in New York. At that time, Responsible Care Programmes had been launched in 40 countries.
Responses from our stakeholders to the Report were very supportive, but we were asked a number of questions:
Was the Report a one-off or would it be updated?
Would subsequent reports show health, safety and environment performance data?
When would we address the subject of verification?
Would we involve stakeholders in our Programmes?
As Chairman of the Board of ICCA and President of CEFIC, I am happy to say we have listened to your comments and I believe our responses have been positive.
This Status Report will be updated biennially – this is the first update and has been published to coincide with the ILO meeting on "Voluntary Initiatives affecting training on HSE in the Chemical Industry", February 1999. Responsible Care Programmes are now established in 42 Countries, and this Report includes a summary of each of these. We have included performance data, and details of how verification is being approached in countries where Responsible Care is established to the degree where verification is meaningful. Some Programmes already involve stake-holders via National Advisory Panels, whilst others are developing approaches to do so - recognising their local customs and cultures.
The ICCA Board has charged the Responsible Care Leadership Group (RCLG) with the task of ensuring that the initiative continues to develop and that Programmes are ‘benchmarked’ so that we can learn from each other.
I am sure some readers will have ideas for the future development of this Report – if so, then we will be pleased to hear from you.
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BRYAN SANDERSON CEFIC President and Chairman of the ICCA Board |
1 ICCA Responsible Care Status Report - December 1996 edition: still available online - Click HERE
