ICCA Responsible Care Status Report 1998 - International implementation report

International implementation report

Each national association, accepted as an ICCA/RCLG member, has to report annually its progress in the implementation of Responsible Care. The basis for their reports are the eight fundamental features which have been expanded into twenty-three "milestones" (see Table 1 page 11). The progress of national associations against each milestone is rated according to four implementation status levels:

Initiating
Developing plan
Implementing plan
Elements (milestone) in place and on going improvement

These are the three levels described in Appendix 1 plus the "Element in place" level.

The survey results are summarised in Table 1, which gives the score level for the countries for each fundamental feature and milestone. The two graphs show the implementation status percentages for each fundamental feature differentiating the seven countries with "mature" programmes, started eight years or more ago, from the status for all 42 countries, many of whom started more recently.

For details on the individual countries, the state of progress is given in the national reports in Appendix 5.

HIGHLIGHTS

World-wide some 47% of the total 23 elements in the eight fundamental features of Responsible Care have been implemented, level D, with a further 17% at the developing and implementing stages, B and C.

Each national association, accepted as an ICCA/RCLG member, has to report annually its progress in the implementation of Responsible Care.

For the first four fundamental features, from Guiding Principles to Indicators, 68% have been put in place world-wide.

For the subgroup of seven countries with mature programmes, 83% of the elements have been implemented, and work is in progress, at level B or above, on a further 8%.

25 countries have published the required codes/guidelines for implementation. 25 countries are reporting on a range of performance indicators such as emissions, incidents and injuries, and 21 of these are making these indicators public and discussing them with interested parties. 19 countries have established a mechanism for the national association to obtain input on issues/concerns from interested external parties, while 29 have established arrangements for the sharing of knowledge and experience between association member companies.

Countries with mature programmes still have significant potential for continued improvement in the area of verification, while world-wide the Responsible Care initiative will benefit from increased focus on communication with interested parties and on encouragement/sanctions for participating companies.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

The status of individual countries’ implementation will be reported in future when the survey and rating process has been further refined. The survey is already being used internally for benchmarking and to identify countries which would benefit from the help that the membership support subgroup can provide. It will also help identify those countries where the ICCA/RCLG requires more information to demonstrate a continuous improvement in implementation and thus qualify for ongoing membership of Responsible Care.

The ICCA/RCLG is determined to improve the scope of this survey and further down the line, individual countries’ performances will be publicly reported.

Graph 1

Graph 2

Table 1 - Explanation

This table gives for each milestone the number of countries in each implementation status. For instance, if we look at 4b) "Indicators made public and discussed with interested parties" we find that out of the 42 countries:

21 countries have a programme in place (D)
2 countries are implementing plans (C)
7 are developing plans (B)
12 are initiating (A)

Table 1 - 1998 Implementation Self-Assessment

Milestone	A	B	C	D
1 Guiding Principles
a) Association Board (or equivalent) commits to implement Responsible Care	4	0	0	38
b) Guiding Principles agreed and published	4	0	0	38
c) Guiding Principles signed by over 80% of members	7	4	9	22
2 Name and Logo
a) RC implementation plans including use of name/logo endorsed by ICCA/RCLG	4	2	2	34
b) International Responsible care name and logo registered/protected	12	3	2	25
c) Regular use in publications by the association and many member companies	10	3	1	28
3 Code and Guides
a) All initially required codes/guides developed and published	5	2	10	25
4 Indicators
a) Initial performance indicators agreed and member reporting begun	8	6	3	25
b) Indicators made public and discussed with interested parties	12	7	2	21
5 Communications with Interested Parties
a) Mechanism established to obtain input on issues/concerns from interested external parties	12	8	3	19
b) Local consultation processes developed with a substantial number of member companies involved	17	7	5	13
c) Internal/external surveys of Responsible Care awareness conducted and made public	26	5	1	10
d) Processes in place to ensure company/association advocacy meets RC	24	6	3	9
6 Sharing between Companies/Associations
a) Regular meeting programs commenced for both Senior executives and Co-ordinators	7	5	1	29
b) Regular newsletter or equivalent published and feedback obtained	14	3	3	22
c) Frequent examples of companies assisting each other in pairs or small groups	14	5	2	21
d) Association actively seeking Responsible Care partnership arrangements with other industry sectors	15	7	4	16
e) Association providing active support or sponsorship to other country associations	26	5	2	9
7 Encouragement
a) Policy and process for incentives/sanctions agreed and communicated	23	3	2	14
b) Commitment to Guiding Principles made a condition of membership	26	1	3	12
c) Mechanisms in place to recognise high performers and to assist others	21	3	3	15
8 Verification
a) Interim external verification needs established and commenced	21	11	3	7
b) External verification of compliance and performance begun and results made public	31	4	4	3

International implementation report

HIGHLIGHTS

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

Table 1 - Explanation

Milestone

A

B

C

D