Responsible Care
What is Responsible Care?
Responsible Care is the chemical industry’s commitment to continual improvement in health, safety and environmental performance. It is a global initiative. In the UK, Responsible Care covers the whole of the chemical supply chain – from manufacturers, through to distributors and logistics companies. Compliance with Responsible Care is mandatory for all CBA member companies involved in the trading, distribution, handling, movement and storage of chemicals.
How does Responsible Care measure performance?
Since 1993, CBA has measured the chemical distribution sector’s performance. This is a unique and valuable record illustrating the industry’s year-on-year progress.
Member companies are required to provide Indices of Performance covering key aspects of their health, safety and environmental performance. Since 1993, this data has been collected annually, aggregated and published as the distributor Indices of Performance Bulletin. It aims to provide CBA members and their employees, local communities, regulators and other industry stakeholders with a benchmark against which to measure the sector’s year-on-year performance.
Indices of Performance cover:
- Fatalities and Reportable Injuries
- Lost Time Accidents
- Dangerous Occurrences
- Transport Incidents
- Waste Disposal
- Convictions
In 2007, CBA launched a dedicated Logistics Index specifically to measure the health, safety and environmental performance of the growing number of logistics companies in CBA membership. Measuring similar Indices of Performance data is also collected annually, aggregated, and then published as the Logistics Index.
Whilst subject to year-on-year fluctuations, both the CBA’s Distributor Indices of Performance Bulletin and Logistics Index illustrate the long-term benefit of Responsible Care and its ability to deliver significant improvements in the industry’s health, safety, and environmental performance.
Click here for the latest Indices of Performance Report
Click here for the latest Logistics Report
In addition to the Indices of Performance, each year individual Companies must also complete and return a Self-Assessment Questionnaire and an Improvement Plan designed to identify and remove any weakness in a member’s health and safety management system. An alternative to this process is available for companies undertaking third party verification.
Third Party Verification
Many CBA companies also undertake additional assessments of their performance. These provide benchmark standards within the chemical supply chain as well as offering a system of third party verification to Responsible Care.
SQAS (Safety, Quality and Assessment System) is a Europe-wide method of evaluating the safety, security, quality and environmental standards of companies. Within SQAS, the European Single Assessment Document (ESAD) is a system for assessing the health, safety and environmental standards of a chemical distributor’s operations; whilst the Transport Service and Warehouse elements of SQAS provide a similar form of assessment for companies providing transport and warehouse services. For further information, go to www.sqas.org
Responsible Care Award
CBA’s Responsible Care Awards recognise the achievements of member companies beyond basic compliance with the programme. Three Awards are presented annually at CBA’s Annual Lunch at the Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London - for operational sites involved in distributing, manufacturing or blending; office-only companies; and logistics companies. One of these companies receives the CBA’s overall Responsible Care Award in recognition of its achievements.
