CIA announces 'best ever' safety results
18 Oct 2001
The UK chemical industry has reported its best-ever safety results for 2000, with accidents causing lost working hours at an all-time low. However, there were four fatalities on chemical sites last year, and the CIA stresses that it is doing all it can to improve safety.
CIA members reported 558 accidents last year, according to the latest set of Responsible Care indicators of performance. Around 10 per cent were directly attributable to use of chemicals, which is a 2 per cent reduction on the previous year. The 'lost time accident' frequency rate was at an all-time low, with 0.31 reportable accidents per 100 000 man-hours - down from 0.33 in 1999. The LTA rate for contractors was also 0.31 per 100 000 hours, but this is based on data from 73 per cent of CIA members, as opposed to 97 per cent for employees.
Three of the four fatalities were contractors, one who fell from a height, the other two on scaffolding. The other was an employee killed while driving on business. 'These figures clearly underline the need for extra effort within the industry to achieve effective control of contractors' safety performance,' the CIA says.
Environmental figures were encouraging, with discharges to water of 'Red List' substances - 24 compounds deemed particularly hazardous in natural water or effluent - down to 6.5tonnes. This represents a 97 per cent fall since emissions were first reported in 1990. Emissions of volatile organic substances have fallen by 58 per cent since their first reporting date, 1995.
'Our data show significant improvement in many, but not all, areas of safety and environmental performance,' says executive director for Responsible Care, Paul Reeve. The association aims to identify and spread best practice, particularly in application of management systems, to boost future performance.
The CIA is to create a new role aimed at enhancing the public image of the chemical industry. The new 'Reputation Manager' will encourage chemical company sites to increase their level of dialogue with local communities. 'Our public reputation, although recently improved, leaves a lot to be desired, partly because of poor environmental performance,' comments Elliot Finer, the CIA director-general.
