Responsible practices in the chemical industry

A still developing country such as China may need to develop greater cultural awareness regarding responsible practices in the chemical industry. Two major obstacles need to be overcome:

- Equipment and technologies are often obsolete. Complex chemical processes are often managed with insufficient, rudimentary installations.
- Unlike their counterparts in western chemical companies, Chinese employees may not have been sufficiently trained in safety and security and thus lack the knowledge and motivation needed to improve the safety conditions of their unit.

With the arrival of major global chemical companies in China, their operations are helping move Chinese plants towards a safer future. Safety standards at their local units are rising to meet the level of those in western plants. As a result, local chemical companies have taken initiatives to rapidly upgrade their own standards and implement new safety procedures for the long-term.

Controlling industrial risks at all sites

In order to provide appropriate prevention and protective measures, the top western chemical companies perform process safety audits to identify hazards and assess the risks associated with their industrial processes.
These companies closely monitor the health and safety of their employees. Chemical, biological, physical and ergonomic hazards are identified. Potential exposure levels are estimated. Short-, medium- and long-term risks are assessed.
Western chemical companies are required to publish their safety records annually, indicating such figures as the frequency rate of accidents with lost time. When expressed as the number of accidents per million hours worked, a ratio of about 2 is considered very good. Companies use the index to track their progress in improving their performance through the measures that they implement.