Conference covers sustainability and safety

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Aug 10, 2007

The conference programme includes a series of presentations and a choice of panel sessions led by top-level industry professionals.

Safety management is increasingly viewed as a strategic link to business sustainability - but can a safety programme really help to deliver sustainable growth in the long-term? On 18th October 2007 in Geneva, Switzerland, safety innovator DuPont - in partnership with the Institute for Management Development (IMD) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) - will host a conference in which the inherent link between safety and sustainability will be explored by representatives from a variety of leading international businesses and organisations.

The conference programme includes a series of presentations and a choice of panel sessions led by top-level industry professionals from organisations including: Sustainability Asset Management, Sandoz, Endesa, Institute for Management Development, Toyota Motors Europe, GTZ, US Steel, International Labor Organisation, M.O.L, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Alcan Packaging, Henkel, TNT North Star Foundation, Rompetrol , ABN AMRO and DuPont Bio-Based Materials.

These sessions, which aim to cater for all business needs, will investigate how safety can strengthen sustainability strategies and whether safety requires stakeholder engagement to be sustainable.

It will also examine how safety can be integrated to achieve sustainable operations and whether the business case for safety differs from sustainability.

The science company DuPont is well-placed to host a conference on sustainable solutions for safety and business.

The company has a long history of safety and has transformed itself several times over since it began as an explosives business in 1802.

Chad Holliday, CEO and Chief Executive of DuPont, explained this in a recent speech, "In the DuPont archives there is a handwritten document from 1811 with our first safety rules".

"You also can read our first statement of environmental responsibility, which was created in 1938".

"At the start of our most recent transformation to a science company we said our mission is sustainable growth - putting our science to work to develop sustainable, global solutions, not only for our customers but for people everywhere".

"In the 1970s and 1980s our focus was on internal safety and meeting environmental regulations".

"In the late 1980s and 1990s we added voluntary footprint reductions, going beyond regulatory requirements".

"We looked to increase shareholder value with a goal of zero safety and environmental incidents as we decreased raw material and energy inputs into our products and reduced emissions at our manufacturing sites".

"Now we see ourselves in a third phase of sustainable growth, characterised by a holistic approach that is fully integrated into our business models".

"In this phase, sustainability is broadened to include human safety as well as environmental protection, and it becomes our market-driven business priority throughout the value chain".

"Sustainable growth means creating value for our shareholders and for society by developing products that the market demands - and which also are good for the environment and for the health, safety and well-being of people everywhere".

"Many companies say that what's good for the environment can also be good for business".

"We have the view that what's good for business must be good for the environment and for people worldwide or you are not moving toward sustainable growth".

Registration for a place at the Leaders Forum is open to all individuals, companies and organisations in the EMEA region.

Limited funds are available to support participant registration from nongovernmental and international organisations.