African Petrochemicals Edition 14_5 web

RESPONSIBLE CARE® HELPS GROW A PROFITABLE, SUSTAINABLE CHEMICAL SECTOR
The Chemical and Allied Industries’ Association (CAIA), the overarching body that represents the chemical and related industries
in South Africa, is custodian to a global voluntary initiative.
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This initiative, Responsible Care®, envisages a profitable, sustainable
chemical sector that contributes to the quality of life and the
economy through innovation, production and allied industries
without harm to people, property and the environment, says Deidré
Penfold, Executive Director of CAIA. “This initiative brings a range of
benefits to society while remaining open, honest, accountable and
credible in all its dealings.”
The voluntary initiative is the global chemical industry’s commitment
to sustainability and has been an important part the South African
chemical industry for 23 years since CAIA launched the Responsible
Care® programme in South Africa in 1994.
Through Responsible Care®, CAIA promotes the improvement of the
safety, health and environmental performance of the chemical and
allied industries in South Africa. CAIA members sign the Responsible
Care® pledge that commits them to the guiding principles of this
initiative and undergo regular self-assessments and third-party audits
to ensure compliance.
Penfold says the chemical industry is hard at work contributing
towards South Africa meeting the UN’s 17 sustainable development
goals (SDGs), based on the implementation of eight management
practice standards (MPSs).
“Management commitment, the first of the Responsible Care®
management practice standards is the key to achieving sustainability
and the prevailing ethic that guides the health, safety and
environmental performance of the global chemical industry,” she says.
“Over the past two decades, the Responsible Care® initiative has
expanded its influence in South Africa. In the region of one hundred
and fifty companies are signatories to the Responsible Care® initiative
in South Africa, which shows that the initiative is more than a set of
principles and declarations.”
CAIA considers management’s commitment to sustainable
development an overarching goal. It also assists in fulfilling the
following SDGs: no poverty; zero hunger; good health and wellbeing;
quality education; gender equality; decent work and economic
growth; industry, innovation and infrastructure; reduced inequalities;
peace, justice and strong institutions; and partnerships for the goals.
“Through the sharing of information and a rigorous system of
checklists, performance indicators and verification procedures, it
enables the industry to demonstrate its improvements over the years
and to develop policies for further improvement. Responsible Care®
helps the chemical industry gain the trust of the public and to operate
safely and sustainably – with due care for safety, health and the
environment.”
Environment Committee
To facilitate direct engagement with CAIA members as well as the
provision of substantive and company-specific inputs towards
advocacy initiatives in the environmental arena, an internal
Environment Committee was inaugurated in January last year.
“A need for such a committee was identified following the increasing
volume of environmentally related policy and legislation that is
being developed at the national level. An additional approach to the
association’s existing advocacy strategy was therefore considered
to further enhance the value members receive from CAIA and to
strengthen engagement with government,” says Penfold.
Penfold says the committee’s aim is to provide a cooperative
environment for the sharing of views and the development of
advocacy strategies that meet its members’ needs.
The CAIA Environment Committee thus works towards:
• encouraging the effective strategic review of policy and legislation
so that there is an emphasis on its potential impacts;
• mitigating the temporal and resource burden on companies from an
advocacy perspective;
• mitigating the pressures that increased environmental regulation
places on the cost of doing business, and
• facilitating continuous improvement by Responsible Care®
signatories.
Process Safety Forum
CAIA’s Process Safety Forum plays an extremely important role in the
chemical industry, says Penfold.
“Forum members meet quarterly in Johannesburg to share
knowledge and information on improving process safety. The purpose
of the forum is to provide an opportunity for member companies
to assist one another by sharing best practices as well as concerns
arising from incidents and pooling resources with specific benefits
for smaller companies who don’t necessarily have the resources and
experience.
“In particular, the forum aims to respond to interest expressed on
process safety, promote the Responsible Care® initiative, to encourage
compliance with process safety standards, identify processes and
mechanisms to promote compliance with process safety standards,
encourage the sharing of best practice between Responsible Care®
signatories in line with the Responsible Care® guiding principles,
and decide how to proceed in order to best achieve these aims”, says
Penfold.
Transportation of dangerous goods
The high risks associated with the transportation of dangerous goods
on South Africa’s roads, requires the strictest observation of safety,
health and environmental practices, says Penfold.
Signatory members with CAIA are assisted in the transportation and
related sectors to improve their safety, health and environmental
performance for the storage, distribution and transportation of
dangerous goods.
Through this, Responsible Care® is able to promote sustainable and
safe road and rail transportation operations.
Continuous efforts to improve safety during transportation and the
associated handling of chemicals are part of the overall objective of
both the chemical and transport industry, in accordance with the
guiding principles of Responsible Care®. It achieves this objective by
meeting legislative compliance, and by adopting cooperative and
voluntary initiatives with government and other stakeholders.
“CAIA encourages operators of heavy commercial vehicles and road
transportation companies to introduce a meaningful approach
that focuses on crucial safe operating management practices. This
includes, but is not limited to, driver health and wellness programmes,
effective transport route risk assessment, behavioural based safety for
drivers, effective investigation of transport accidents/incidents and
the appropriate use of the learnings from such incidents,” explains
Penfold.