Form 20-F 2005

We remain dedicated to our zero-accident objective. As the establishment of an entirely risk-free industrial environment is nevertheless
impossible, it is vital to prepare and train all of our employees to respond as effectively as possible in the event of an accident or other
crisis. Our objective is to establish and test emergency plans that are tailored to the risks involved for every business and activity.
97% of our businesses have revised and tested their emergency plans over the past three years. Industrial hygiene correspondents
have been appointed to coordinate industrial initiatives and to ensure the execution of risk evaluations at all of our sites. These risk
evaluations involve, among other things, identifying chemical, biological, physical and ergonomic hazards, as well as estimating
exposure levels and assessing short-, medium- and long-term risks.
We seek to improve our safety record on an ongoing basis. This requires daily individual commitment by all of our employees,
especially our managers. Accordingly, members of the Executive Committee inspect our sites without prior warning. The results
reflect the efforts expended, as the rate of accidents at our sites has declined each year. Thanks to this improvement, Rhodia ranks
among the best in the industry worldwide. Based upon its historic configuration, with a TF1 of 0.8 and a TF2 of 1.8, Rhodia posted
its best-ever safety performance during 2005. The table below sets forth certain information relating to the accident frequency rate
for the years ended December 31, 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Year ended December 31,
2005 2004 2003
TFI (1) 0.8 0.9 1.4
TF2 (2) 1.8 2.2 3.2
TF1EE (3) 1.1 2.0 2.5
(1) TFI: Accident Frequency Rate resulting in work stoppage, expressed in terms of number of accidents per million hours worked.
(2) TF2: Accident Frequency Rate whether or not resulting in work stoppage, expressed in terms of number of accidents per million hours worked.
(3) TF1EE: Accident Frequency Rate resulting in work stoppage, for companies outside our Group but involved in work at our sites.
Industrial Sites
Managing industrial risks entails identifying and prioritizing these risks in order to implement the necessary preventive and protective
measures based on systematic reviews of processes, installations and workstations. We have developed our own safety and
environmental management system, SIMSER+, which integrates the best existing practices, the requirements of the ISO 14001 or
OSHA 18001 standards and principal international regulations. This system, or a more simplified version thereof with regards to
smaller facilities (our rules and regulations), is implemented at all of our facilities worldwide.
Each facility is audited every three years. In addition, all installations and processes are subject to a security review adapted to their
risks. These reviews are updated every five years, to reflect changes in legislation, our knowledge or the methods of analysis and
modeling tools used to assess impacts. At the occurrence of any material event, a review is carried out or updated immediately.
For this, we have at our disposition a network of trained experts as well as recognized methods of review. Particular attention is given
to facilities qualified as “top-tier sites” under the European Union’s SEVESO Directive (or the equivalent thereof, outside Europe).
This represents 43 sites worldwide, of which 23 are in Europe and 14 are in France. These security procedure reviews allow us to
identify danger, whether it is of a physical, chemical or biological nature, and to assess the risks in light of factors relating to the
occurrence of accidents and the potential targets. In addition, we encourage the exchange of experiences between our facilities
that, for the most part, possess systems for the collection of incidents. A monthly letter, “Security Procedures,” helps develop
these exchanges.
We cooperate with public authorities, through the Union of Chemical Industries (l’Union des Industries Chimiques) and the French
Business Confederation (Le Mouvement des Entreprises de France) for the implementation of the law of July 20, 2003 on industrial
risks and in particular concerning the urbanization surrounding sites that pose risks and the remediation of such sites. After the
pilot study on risks surrounding the Roussillon site, our methodology (DRC 40) was approved by experts in the French Ministry of
Ecology and Sustainable Development.
34 Form 20 - F 2005 - Rhodia