Linde North America has received certification of its Terrell, Texas, air separation plant under the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care® program.
Responsible Care is a globally recognized management system aimed at helping companies improve performance in areas such as safety, health, environment and security.
Implementing the Responsible Care system is a multi-step process. Companies must establish goals and objectives to address any significant hazards or risks associated with their products, processes and operations. They must then do what they have planned, checking progress along the way and taking corrective actions as needed. Communicating with employees and other stakeholders is also considered part of the program.
Responsible Care certification is mandatory for all American Chemistry Council (ACC) member companies, which must undergo headquarter and facility audits by an independent, accredited auditor to verify that they have a structure and system in place that manages and measures performance.
Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) is Linde’s independent auditor.
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The Responsible Care management system offers an integrated, structured approach for driving continual improvement in seven key areas: community awareness and emergency response; security; distribution; employee health and safety; pollution prevention; process safety; and product stewardship.
Linde began the certification process last year with its headquarters facility in Murray Hill, N.J. During 2008, the company also completed certification of eight of its production plants located throughout the US. The Terrell plant is the third of four locations scheduled for certification in 2009 in order to satisfy the ACC’s requirement for membership. Linde plants in Delta, Ohio, and Price, Utah, received certification earlier this year.
“Responsible Care, unlike any other plant process, is a risk management approach that focuses on eliminating, mitigating and/or controlling risk around all activities,” explained Area Manager Jacob Simon. “It provides a mechanism to keep us ever aware of the health and safety of our employees and customers, as well as the preservation of the environment. And for the community, this certification is like a ‘Good Citizenship’ award.”
Implementing the Responsible Care system is a multi-step process. Companies must first plan – identify, assess and evaluate potential hazards and risks associated with their products, processes and operations – and establish goals and objectives to address any significant hazards or risks. Next, they must do what they have planned, checking their progress along the way to measure performance and take necessary corrective actions. Communicating with employees and other stakeholders, including neighbors and customers, along the way also is essential.
“The Terrell plant achieved what is considered a perfect score under the ACC Responsible Care Program,” noted Warren Arenz, Head of Safety, Health, Environment and Quality for Linde North America. “The employees worked very hard to achieve this recognition, which falls right in line with our goals as a high performance organization and our vision to be the leading gases and engineering company. I congratulate them on the great job they did and are continuing to do.”
Linde North America is a member of The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with almost 52,000 employees working in around 100 countries worldwide. In the 2008 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 12.7 billion (USD 15.9 billion). The strategy of The Linde Group is geared toward sustainable earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services.
Linde North America’s Terrell plant, which employs 25 people, has been in operation since 1992. It separates air cryogenically to produce 280 tons per day of liquid oxygen and nitrogen, as well as crude argon.