This Month in Responsible Care History—November
1986 – In the time before Responsible Care (B.R.C), ACC’s (then Chemical Manufacturers’ Association) Board hears a report that member companies have initiated Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) programs at 1063 of 1500 sites in the US. CAER was the forerunner of Responsible Care and the CAER program eventually morphed into the CAER Code in 1989.
1989 – The CAER Code is adopted as the first Responsible Care Code of Management Practices. It covered employee and community outreach and dialogue as well as interaction with local emergency responders.
1990 – The Distribution Code is adopted. It covered transportation issues including loading and unloading activities, interaction with carriers and outreach to responders along transportation routes.
1994 – Haltermann, Inc. conducts the first Management Systems Verification (MSV) pilot in Houston, TX.
2009 Responsible Care Conference—Save the Date!
Don’t forget to save the date for the 2009 Responsible Care Conference April 19-22, at the Gaylord Palms Hotel, in Orlando, Florida. Planning for the 2009 Responsible Care Conference is underway. Registration information for the conference will be forth coming.
New Responsible Care Member Coordinators
We would like to welcome the following member coordinators to the Responsible Care Program: Karen Therrien/BP Lubricants USA, Inc.; John Wood/SABIC Innovative Plastics; Douglas Miertiz/Nalco; John Glassmeyer/Ferro Corporation and Joseph LeMenzo/Chemtura.
New Partners Approved by ACC Board of Directors
The ACC Board of Directors approved two new Responsible Care partners at their November meeting—Enterprise Transportation Company and Premium Environmental Services.
Enterprise is welcomed back to the program after a five-year absence and has named Nolan Everitt as RC Coordinator. They are sponsored by ACC members Eastman Chemicals and Dow and will be a part of the Bulk Truck sector. Premium Environmental Services joins the program in the Services sector as a consulting and risk management company who provides spill management for their clients–primarily motor carriers and insurance providers. They are sponsored by RC14001 certified partner Saia Motor Freight and have named James Sundys as their RC Coordinator.
Bulk Transporter Magazine Highlights Responsible Care Partnership Program
The October 2008 issue of Bulk Transporter magazine included a special report noted on the cover as “Special Report: Fleets Endorse Responsible Care Update” and a seven-page article titled “Flying High—Updated Responsible Care Program Wins Carrier Approval”. Within the article senior managers from seven of our certified bulk truck sector partners (Miller Transporters; Transport Service Co.; Liquid Transport Corp.; Tidewater Transit Co.; Quality Distribution Inc.; Schneider National Bulk; and Superior Carriers Inc.) are each quoted extensively in strong endorsement of the value of RCMS certification to their respective businesses and customers. You can check the article out at the following link: Bulk Transporter: RC Special Report
Partner Steering Group Teleconference Set for November 18
The Partner Steering Group has scheduled a conference call for November 18, 2008 at 2:00 pm Eastern time. Key agenda items include: 2008 Work Plan update and 2009 Plan; governance status and update of BCRC and ACC Board activities and recommendations; metrics changes; and other key action areas for the partner program at this point in the year.
Global Product Strategy Product Stewardship Summaries
GPS—Earlier this summer, the ACC Board challenged all member companies to complete at least one publicly available product stewardship summary by the end of this year. The Board challenge is in response to a recognized need for immediate and sustained industry’s progress under the ICCA Global Product Strategy (GPS). To support members’ effort in with GPS implementation, ACC has posted new, updated materials on GPS implementation on MemberExchange. These new materials include proposed target deadlines for companies to consider as they develop implementation schedules. Please encourage your staff to review these materials as they work to respond affirmatively to the Responsible Care® product metrics in February 2009. The GPS implementation materials can be found at MemberExchange.
Reminder—November 14th Webinar 2:00 PM EST—Display of Updated Performance Metrics Website
The ACC adopted the CCPS version of the lagging Process Safety metric and it is available for use in this 2009 reporting year. Along with this significant change, there have been a few changes to the Product Stewardship page and some other minor changes as well. In an effort to have a smooth opening date to and answer as many questions as possible, the Responsible Care team is hosting a Webinar to demo the updated Performance Metrics Website on November 14th, at 2:00 PM EST. There will be a dedicated email to all Responsible Care Coordinators informing them of the Webinar that will have instruction on how to join and register for the Webinar. If there are any questions that you would like to have answered before the Webinar, please send them to Bradford Johnson at bradford_johnson@americanchemistry.com.
Partner Performance Metrics—Public Website Update Completed
The partner company performance public website update was completed and launched the week of November 3. Last year, the ACC published aggregate Partner performance data on our public facing website, www.responsiblecare-us.com, for the first time. This year, the update contains three years of aggregated data along with other specific 2008 reporting year information by company.
OSHA VPP/Responsible Care Alliance Sunset
The OSHA Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) Alliance with the Responsible Care program was established in November of 2005 for the purpose of formally recognizing the efficiencies between the VPP and Responsible Care programs and to offer credit for the respective programs. A joint effort between OSHA and Responsible Care produced a gap analysis that identifies the efficiencies between the two programs. The Alliance Sunsets November 14, 2008 and OSHA has opted to pursue it’s interest with ACC via the Process Safety Alliance.
Though the current OSHA Alliance with Responsible Care will sunset this month, the gap analysis referring to the efficiencies between the Responsible Care and the VPP program will continue to be recognized by the ACC.
For more information about the sunset of the VPP/Responsible Care Alliance, please contact Tomaysa Sterling.
EPA School Chemical Cleanout Campaign (SC3)
The School Chemical Cleanout Campaign (SC3) is an EPA program that helps schools with chemical management including but not limited to: educating schools on chemical use, cataloging and identification of chemicals, and advice or assistance on chemical disposal. Several ACC member companies have participated in the program and have indicated that the experience has been rewarding. EPA has recently published a new tool that will assist companies and organizations that would like to participate in the SC3 program. Building Successful Programs to Address Chemical Risks in Schools (PDF) is a workbook that contains templates, tips and techniques to help develop or improve participation in the SC3 program for responsible chemical waste management in schools. For more information on SC3, please view the SC3 Partner Fact Sheet and visit EPA’s SC3 highlighted area on their website. If you are interested in expediting your active participation in SC3, please contact EPA’s Kristina Meson, 703-308-8488; with additional questions and to submit your individual company/facility Partnership Agreement. For more information please contact Tomaysa Sterling.
Security Training Opportunity
The Chemical Sector Specific Agency has finalized a contract with Oxley Enterprises to deliver a series of six one-day training courses around the nation entitled: Awareness Training for the Chemical Sector. The training courses are targeted for the Chemical Sector Security Professionals and stakeholders. This workshop provides exposure to essential elements pertaining to the threat of improvised explosive devices (IED’s) and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED’s). The objectives benefit security professionals dealing with explosive incidents and the chemical sector’s ability to deter, prevent, detect, protect against, and respond to attacks that use IED’s.
The workshop will provide the participants with information to:
- Identify options for consideration
- Improved understanding of each agency’s capabilities and limitations
- Improved communications among stakeholders
- Communication, Cooperation, and Collaboration
The training courses are scheduled to start in January 2009, with tentative scheduling as follows:
- Houston, TX – January
- Los Angeles, CA – February
- Dover, DE – March
- Newark, NJ – April
- Detroit, MI – May
- Chicago, IL – June
Please contact Nohemi Zerbi at Nohemi.zerbi@dhs.gov or 703-235-2871 for more information.
New England Transportation Worker Identification Card (TWIC) Deadline October 15.
As you may know, the Transportation Worker Identification Credential Card (TWIC), a biometric security credential, will soon be required for all personnel, including truck drivers, requiring unescorted access to secure areas of ports around the country. New England’s ports compliance deadline requires commercial truckers to have the TWIC card by October 15—and other areas will roll out very soon thereafter—so we need YOU to help spread the word to all professional truck drivers!
Individuals meeting TWIC eligibility requirements will be issued a tamper-resistant credential containing the worker's biometric (fingerprint template), allowing for a positive link between the card and the individual. Compliance dates for possessing TWIC cards are set by Captain of the Port (COTP) zone, but again—New England’s ports compliance deadline requires commercial truckers to have the TWIC card by October 15.
Controlling access to secure areas of port is critical, and we need to count on you to help relay the TWIC message to those who need to know! Below is the latest schedule for COTP zone compliance. All compliance announcements will be made in the Federal Register at least 90 days in advance.
We encourage you to visit http://www.tsa.gov/twic for more information. If you have any further questions, concerning this program, please contact Maurine Fanguy, TWIC Program Manager, Transportation Security Administration at (571) 227-3741 or email her at maurine.fanguy@dhs.gov.
Partner WTS, Inc. Hosts RC Committee for Environmental Symposium and October Committee Session
On September 30 and October 1, Partner WTS, Inc. President Gary Hall and his entire staff hosted the full RC Committee at their HQ in Lewiston, NY for a one day symposium “A Dialogue on Environmental Stewardship and Global Trends” followed by a one day RC Committee meeting to establish a firm basis for 2009 Work Plan and beyond. Speakers at the symposium included Dan Bennewitz of ACC member Arch Chemical, Randy LoHoff of ACC member Marathon, and a review of a non-ACC member (Corning Inc.) novel and in-depth green house gas program. Hats off to Gary and his team for an outstanding, thought provoking and constructive event.
Successful RCMS/RC14001 Workshop Completed at Partner Celadon Trucking Services in October.
30 employees representing 9 partner companies and 6 ACC members attended a condensed two day workshop generously hosted by Celadon Trucking Services in Indianapolis October 14 & 15. The workshop—presented by Greg Rhoads, Dan Roczniak, and Dave Gleason—included in-depth review of each of the technical specification elements and open discussion of experiences to-date through a series of presentations. During the two day workshop, Celadon CEO Steve Russell provided a personal tour of his state of the art HQ and, along with VP Fleet Maintenance Jeff Bryant, presented workshop attendees with an update on status of the motor carrier industry in the USA and Celadon’s award winning “green trucking” program elements. Thanks to Celadon RC Coordinator Tom Burck for making this happen.
Partner Odyssey Logistics & Technology Strongly Underscores Value of RCMS Certification for Their Motor Carriers.
Partner Odyssey Logistics & Technology held three sessions in Charlotte, NC the week of October 27 to present “carrier day” to approximately 60 carriers constituting core carriers for Odyssey business activities from the bulk, LTL, and truckload carrier communities. Dave Gleason presented background and current status review of the RC partner program followed by Odyssey RC Coordinator Ken Howard’s presentation titled “Responsible Care and Odyssey Safety”. Ken focused on what RC means to Odyssey and reviewed Odyssey’s strong focus on recognition of RCMS or RC14001 certified carriers as preferred partners throughout their carrier selection process.
Potential Business Value from Certification—“Preferred Risk” Insurance
In an on-going effort to identify and then capture bottom line business value from achieving management system certification, a survey has been conducted to determine both needs and interests among partners regarding certain EHS&S insurance coverage. An insurance broker has been identified who has interest in working with Responsible Care companies in defining a “preferred risk” status based on the in-depth hazard/risk analyses that are the foundation of the RCMS and the RC14001. Nine individual partner companies have expressed interest in this effort initially, and an orientation/background meeting had been scheduled for these individuals and the interested insurance broker later in the 4th quarter. Due to constraints on travel budgets, this meeting has been deferred to 1Q 2009. In addition, the survey will be expanded to include additional interested ACC members. If you would like to become involved or learn more regarding this initiative, please contact Dave Gleason.
