Huntsman Polyurethanes wins Responsible Care Award

A Chemical Industries Association product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jul 11, 2005

Huntsman Polyurethanes UK, based at the Wilton site in Teesside, received the Responsible Care Award at the Chemical Industries Association's gala Awards Dinner in Manchester on 7 July 2005.

Huntsman Polyurethanes UK, based at the Wilton site in Teesside, received the Responsible Care Award at the Chemical Industries Association's gala Awards Dinner in Manchester on 7 July 2005.

BBC News presenter, Peter Sissons, handed over this top accolade.

Sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry, the award recognises the company's endeavours in the implementation of Responsible Care.

During 2004, the site achieved significant improvements in areas such as waste reduction, energy efficiency, communications, employee participation and occupational safety.

A strong inclusive culture between management and staff, complemented by a continuous improvement ethos, has achieved a high level of commitment; the staff are fully involved in their Responsible Care activities, leading many of the improvement programmes such as reducing waste at source and occupational health and well-being programmes.

Huntsman Polyurethanes was also instrumental in the development and creation of a visitor centre for the Wilton site complex.

CIA head of operations and assurance, Colin Chambers, said: "Huntsman Polyurethane is to be congratulated on its focus on creating business value through continuous improvement and employee involvement in applying the Responsible Care ethic to the company's operations, products and community relations.

"To win this award a company must demonstrate that the Responsible Care principles are totally embedded in its culture, with extensive involvement of the workforce.

"Competition for this award is very spirited and, as in previous years, all the finalists had achieved very high standards.

"The judges were particularly impressed by the passionate way in which Huntsman Polyurethane's management team and employees have worked together to improve its Responsible Care performance".

The finalists were: Ineos Chlor, Runcorn; Rohm and Haas UK, Jarrow; and Uniqema, Wilton.

Responsible Care is a self-imposed commitment by chemical companies worldwide under the auspices of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA).

It is designed to help companies continuously improve the health, safety and environmental performance of their operations, products and stakeholder engagement.

In the UK, where the Responsible Care initiative has been in operation for over fourteen years, compliance with the Guiding Principles of Responsible Care, and self-assessment of Responsible Care management systems, is mandatory for all CIA members.

The UK Chemical Industries Association (CIA) is the premier trade/employers' organisation in the UK chemical industry.

It has a membership of 150 companies, many of which are international, operating from over 200 sites in the UK.

The chemical industry in the UK employs 230,000 highly skilled people nationwide, and accounts for 2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 10 per cent of manufacturing industry's gross value added.

It invests over £2billion annually, representing 14 per cent of total manufacturing investment, with a further £3.5billion being spent on research and development.

It is the UK's top manufacturing export earner, with an annual trade surplus of nearly £5billion on sales of £33billion, of which £29billion is accounted for by exports, with a large proportion going to other countries in the European Union.

Huntsman is one of the world's largest chemical companies.

Its operating divisions manufacture basic products for a variety of global industries including chemicals, plastics, automotive, aviation, footwear, paints and coatings, construction, technology, agriculture, health care, textiles, detergent, personal care, furniture, appliances and packaging.

The Royal Society of Chemistry is the UK Professional Body for chemical scientists and an international Learned Society for the chemical sciences with some 45,000 members worldwide.

It is a major international publisher of chemical information, supports the teaching the chemical sciences at all levels and is a leader in bringing science to the public.