US ACC okays new security code required for members

06 June 2002 21:23  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (CNI)--The American Chemistry Council's (ACC) board of directors approved a new security code Thursday, making enhanced security practices mandatory for its member companies to further safeguard chemical operations from potential terrorist attacks.

The new code contains a number of industry obligations, including:

• Commitment by senior leadership to continuous improvement through published policies, provision of sufficient, qualified resources and established accountability.
• Training and drills for employees, contractors, customers, suppliers and others.
• Consideration of inherently safer approaches such as process changes and substitution of materials as part of the decision-making process at companies.
• Exchange of communications, dialogue and information on appropriate security issues among stakeholders balanced with safeguards for sensitive information.
• Evaluation, response and reporting of security threats as appropriate, as well as analysis, response, investigation, reporting and corrective action for security incidents.
• Implementation of internal audit plans and processes for continuous improvement.

Prompted by last September's attacks, the new security code was formally added to ACC's Responsible Care initiative, the chemical industry's voluntary health and safety improvement program.

ACC officials said they have worked with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other federal and state government agencies to bring the full force of the nation's security expertise together with the industry's scientific, technological and management skills.

"We can be proud that the chemical industry has moved swiftly to adopt a security code that is designed to make America more secure by safeguarding our plants, property, products and information from terrorist or criminal attack and sabotage," said Michael Campbell, chairman and chief executive officer of Arch Chemicals.

"The US chemical industry has achieved impressive progress in improving both employee and public safety, but in this post-11 September world, we have extended these capabilities to address newer security concerns," Campbell said.

"Both industry and government are making an unprecedented commitment to protect the homeland from those who seek to harm us," he added.

ACC member companies already have begun to prioritise their sites and soon will make security assessments. The prioritisation process will be completed by mid-June, according to the group.

Sites will be prioritised into one of four tiers based on risk. Companies then will assess the security at their sites based on this prioritisation. They also will assess the security from the supplier to the manufacturer and all the way down to the retailer and customer as well as their cyber networks.

Once companies implement the security measures identified in the assessments, independent third parties will verify that the physical site security measures have been implemented.

When assessing the security of sites, companies will use methodologies developed either by the federal Sandia National Laboratories or by the Center for Chemical Process Safety.

By: Glenn Hess
+1 713 525 2653

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