Chemical safety requires strong leadership - UK chems body

16 July 2009 10:57  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Industry leaders have to ensure that risks from the chemical sector’s high-hazard processes are minimised, the UK Chemical Industries Association (CIA) said in a statement on Thursday.

The CIA's chief executive, Stephen Elliott, was commenting on the launch of a set of safety principles by the UK’s Process Safety Leadership Group (PSLG).

The PSLG set out eight guidelines emphasising the importance of strong leadership from the boardroom to the factory floor to manage the risks of potentially dangerous industrial processes, the CIA said.

“Companies will now be expected to show real progress towards learning from previous incidents and improving the management and control of process safety hazards,” it added.

“The chemical industry has a good record on process safety and learning from other sectors,” Elliott said.

“In response to the Buncefield and Texas City incidents, we published a best practice guide in 2008 based on detailed research of leadership in our member companies. But we can never be complacent and must always be looking for continuous improvement.

“The process-safety principles launched today are a timely reminder of the responsibility industry leaders have to ensure that we minimise the risks from our high-hazard processes to employees and to the general population around chemical sites,” he added.

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By: Nigel Davis
+44 20 8652 3214

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