Responsible Care

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The logo of the initiative

Responsible Care (German: responsible action ) is an initiative of the chemical industry with the objective of striving for continuous improvement of companies in the areas of environment , safety and health independently of legal requirements and to regularly show this progress publicly. With Responsible Care, the chemical industry would like to make a contribution to solving global (environmental) problems in the areas that fall within its area of ​​responsibility and influence. Internationally, the protected, characteristic logo with two hands around an imaginary chemical compound stands for the initiative.

history

The initiative was a reaction to the poor image that the chemical industry had in the population due to various accidents and books like Silent Spring . After the Bhopal catastrophe , which lowered the industry's already poor reputation even further, member companies of the Canadian Chemical Industry Association (CCPA) developed principles for Responsible Care in 1984. A few years later, these principles were adopted by the European Chemical Industry Association CEFIC with the aim of taken over to implement the program in all national chemical associations in Europe. The chemical industry was thus one of the first to propagate the concept of corporate social responsibility through its interest group . The concept is reflected on an international basis by the International Council of Chemical Associations , founded in 1989 .

The initiative has existed in Germany since 1991. It is managed by the Association of the Chemical Industry (VCI). The trade is involved through a partnership agreement through the Chemical Trade Association (VCH). The Federal Chemical Employers' Association and the trade union IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energie participate through a social partner agreement.

criticism

The initiative was not without critics. For example, King and Lenox (2000) came to the conclusion that taking part in Responsible Care had no effect on the environmental performance of companies compared to non-members, and that companies that work with particularly dangerous chemicals become members of the initiative .

Fields of activity

The general framework of Responsible Care comprises 6 fields of activity:

Environmental protection : Products and production processes should be made steadily safer and more environmentally friendly.

Product responsibility : All information that isnecessaryto assess a product with regard to its effects on health, the environment and safety is determined. The marketing of products will be restricted or even their production will be stopped entirely if, according to the results of a risk assessment, precautionary measures to protect against dangers to health and the environment so require.

Occupational safety / health protection and plant safety / hazard prevention : The safety level of the production processes and occupational safety are constantly being developed.

Transport safety :The transport risk is to be constantly reduced byconstantly improving existing and developing new processes and techniques for transport , transshipment or storage.

Dialogue : Dialogue is an important tool for creating trust and acceptance. Dialogue in the sense of Responsible Care means actively taking up the opinions and wishes of employees, customers and the public and integrating them as far as possible into the company's goals.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A. King, M. Lenox (2000): Industry self-regulation without sanctions: the chemical industry's Responsible Care program . In: Academy of Management Journal , 43 (4), pp. 698-716 ( PDF ( Memento from August 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ))