The Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA) has announced that 18 member facilities are now exceeding industry standards for performance improvement, further demonstrating the effectiveness of SOCMA’s ChemStewards program which was launched five years ago.

The facilities reaching this advanced level of performance are represented by the following member companies: Baker Hughes, FujiFilm Imaging Colorants Inc., KMCO LP, McGean Inc., Noramco Inc., Optima Chemical Group LLC, Sachem Inc., South Coast Terminals LP, Strem Chemicals Inc., Sun Chemical Corp. Colors and Synthetech Inc.

To qualify for this distinction, known as the Excellence Tier, facilities must surpass key benchmarks for the SOCMA’s Environmental, Health, Safety and Security (EHS&S) program.

“We congratulate these member companies for surpassing the industry standard,” said SOCMA president and CEO Lawrence D. Sloan. “SOCMA launched ChemStewards five years ago to help batch chemical manufacturers optimize their performance, save money and enhance their role as good corporate citizens. We are extremely pleased that in a few short years the program is helping facilities reach superior EHS&S performance.”

Sloan added that approximately 90 percent of manufacturing member facilities are in compliance with ChemStewards to date. To commemorate the program’s five year anniversary and acknowledge the achievement of its members, SOCMA is hosting ChemStewards Week, October 18-22, 2010. Activities include webinars, special acknowledgements and the announcement of the winner of the ChemStewards Video Contest.

ChemStewards is an industry-developed EHS&S program designed for the batch, custom and specialty chemical industry. It is based on a three-tier system with key performance requirements per tier with increasingly levels of difficulty. Tier one is known as Fundamental and tier two is Enhanced Performance – the standard tier for ChemStewards participants. To qualify for Excellence, or tier three, facilities must sign core principles, complete security requirements, meet specific metrics obligations and requirements, have at least one documented management review meeting, and complete a third-party verification of management systems at the Enhanced Performance level.

To maintain their ranking, facilities must sustain EHS&S performance metrics at or above the Excellence criteria. For more information, visit www.socma.com.