NewsBrief
No.47 - December 2004		TM

Christmas Edition Issue No.47 December 2004

Another year, another Project List still waiting to be decimated!

The past twelve months have seen extensive additions to your Council’s range of products and services. Our priority is to ensure both Members and non-Members receive the information, products and services they need to continuously improve Safety, Health and Environmental (SH&E) performance, particularly the management of hazardous substances in the workplace, in compliance with the Hazardous Substances Regulations.

2004 will be remembered for two particular issues which will impact on how our Members conduct their business.

First is the imminent 20 th Anniversary of the spectacularly successful global chemical industry’s Responsible Care ® initiative. Launched by Canada almost 20 years ago, Responsible Care ® continues to be a major influence on how global chemical suppliers conduct their business.

Under the auspices of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), Responsible Care ® is credited with a massive improvement in the global chemical industry’s safety, health and environmental (SH&E) performance.

Roundly condemned by participants in the 1992 World Sustainable Development Conference in Rio, the ICCA received a well-merited Special Award from the 2002 Sustainable Development Conference in Johannesburg, acknowledging the chemical industry’s contribution to Sustainability through the Responsible Care ® initiative - much to the chagrin of our critics!

The ICCA formally welcomed new members Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia,Lithuania, and Slovakia last month. This unique global network of 52 national chemical associations, whose Members provide about 90% of the world’s chemicals, believes better product management together with pan-life cycle product support for customers is more efficient and effective than additional regulation.

In response to calls for greater constraints on the use of chemicals, and tighter controls on those who develop and supply them, Responsible Care ® practitioners around the world continue to demonstrate superior SH&E performance in a verifiable process of “Continuous Improvement”.