The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has published the latest Responsible Care performance metrics for its supply chain partners on the Responsible Care Web site, providing easy public access to company-specific and industry-wide data in areas such as environment, energy, safety, security, and product safety.

The Responsible Care Partnership Program was created by the ACC in 1993 to extend the U.S. chemical industry’s award-winning performance ethic throughout the chemical supply chain. Through the Partnership Program, companies that are not eligible to become ACC members but are engaged in the transport, storage, use, or treatment of chemicals, commit to uphold the same Responsible Care practices and obligations as ACC member companies. These include implementing a Responsible Care Management System, having the management system certified by an accredited auditing firm, meeting Security Code requirements, and publicly reporting performance. There are currently 73 partner companies providing services including motor carriers, marine transportation such as barges and tugs, liquid storage terminals, warehouses, logistics management, railroads, and containers for chemical transport.

The new data demonstrate that partner companies have:

* Reduced OSHA recordable incidents by 12% even while growing the partner program significantly since 2005.
* Improved fuel efficiency in the rail sector by 6% since 2005 and reduced Federal Rail Administration (FRA) reported accident frequency rate by 9% over the past year.
* Driven 2.9 billion miles in 2008 and maintained an average accident rate of less than 1 accident per 1 million miles driven.
* Conducted in excess of 10,000 emergency drills in the marine sector in the past year to assure all facilities and employees are adequately trained in emergency response within their critical link in the supply chain.

“Companies participating in the ACC Responsible Care Partnership Program are raising the performance standards of chemical transportation, storage and distribution nationwide,” said Debra Phillips, managing director of Responsible Care. “Our Partners play an integral role in chemistry supply chain and their commitment to openly share their performance data alongside our members, demonstrates our companies’ commitment to the safe management of chemicals throughout their entire lifecycles.”

Visitors to the Responsible Care Web site can see historic data showing how Responsible Care companies and the industry have performed over time. Due to variations in company size, process, and products, these data should be viewed as important indicators of each individual company's progress, as well as broad performance trends across the industry, rather than a basis for company-to-company comparisons.
          
For more information on Responsible Care and the Partnership Program, visit the Responsible Care Web site by clicking here.