SABIC wins VNCI Responsible Care Award for 2011
Chemicals Company commended as a trendsetter in transport safety
Sabic has won the Responsible Care award for 2011. The announcement was made during the annual meeting of the Dutch Chemical Industry Federation (Vereniging van de Nederlandse Chemische Industrie (VNCI)) in The Hague. The company was chosen to receive the award because of its efforts to render the transportation of hazardous substances as safe as possible. SABIC has implemented a number of safety policies which go above and beyond the statutory and regulatory provisions. In addition, SABIC also actively involves its suppliers in safety improvements throughout the logistics chain.
Two tangible examples of this are the Rail Safety Policy and the Responsible Care requirement for our haulers. The judging panel decided that by introducing this new safety policy, SABIC has proved itself to be an excellent example of how to implement transport safety. In the view of the panel of experts and also the general public, who were able to cast their vote for the first time, SABIC has set the standard with this safety policy.
Rail Safety Policy
Among other things, the Rail Safety Policy prescribes that the company only uses carriages fitted with crash buffers. The use of this safety feature ensures that the impact of a collision on the tank is smaller, thereby reducing the risk of a disaster. In addition, under the Rail Safety Policy the carriages used are no more than 20 years old. This is also beneficial in terms of transport safety. SABIC was presented with a trophy to mark the occasion and is now in the running for the European Responsible Care award.
Responsible Care
The Responsible Care program is a global initiative introduced by the chemical industry which aims to continuously improve companies’ performance in the field of safety, health, the environment and sustainability. On April 1 of this year, SABIC became the first company in the industry to call for its haulers to commit to Responsible Care. For this purpose, SABIC concluded three-year contracts with its road haulers to reinforce the company’s commitment to safety and sustainability throughout the entire logistics chain. This emphasizes the importance of implementing measures in an efficient manner and of openly discussing not only the successes but also the failures. It is also important to work with the authorities and organizations in order to develop, attain and also to exceed safety standards.
Huub Meessen, Vice President for Europe, says that he is “proud that SABIC’s revolutionary safety vision has been rewarded with the presentation of this Responsible Care award. I hope that our initiatives contribute to new standards being put in place within the chemical industry which will then further increase safety during the transportation of hazardous substances.”
The Responsible Care award will bring the VNCI Responsible Care right into the spotlight. The industry association has been bestowing this award on the most prominent and inspiring candidate since 1999. This year there were nine entries and for the first time in the award’s history the public was able to have its say in an online poll. The independent Responsible Care judging panel, which consisted of representatives from the government, MVO Nederland and the chemical industry, took the result of the online vote into account in its final decision. AkzoNobel and Nyrstar, who were both nominated alongside SABIC, received an honorable mention.
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