SAP 2.59/WP.109
SECTORAL ACTIVITIES PROGRAMME
Working Paper
Responsible Care and related voluntary initiatives to improve enterprise performance on health, safety and environment in the chemical industry
By Kevin Munn
Working papers are preliminary documents intended to
stimulate discussion and critical commentsInternational Labour Office Geneva
Contents:
In view of the importance of voluntary initiatives in promoting occupational safety and health principles, particularly with regard to small and medium-sized enterprises, the Occupational Safety and Health Branch is pleased to associate itself with the Industrial Activities Branch in presenting this study.
Since the study was initiated, the ILO Governing Body has decided to hold a tripartite meeting on "Voluntary initiatives affecting training and education on safety, health and environment in the chemical industries" as part of the programme of sectoral meetings. The meeting will be held in early 1999. We hope that by its timely publication the present report will serve as a means for eliciting information and comments from all interested ILO constituents -- governments, employers, and workers -- and from the general public. Such information and comments will be given all due attention in preparing the documents which will be the basis of discussion at the 1999 meeting.
All such reactions should be addressed to the Industrial Activities Branch, International Labour Office, 4 route des Morillons, 1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, facsimile 41 22 799 7967, e-mail sector@ilo.ch.
| B. Klerck Nilssen,
Officer-in-Charge, Industrial Activities Branch. |
J. Takala,
Chief, Occupational Safety and Health Branch. |
AICM Association of International Chemical Manufacturers
ANIQ Asociacion Nacional de la Industria Quimica, AC
APEQ Associação Portuguesa das Empresas Químicas
ARET accelerated reduction/elimination of toxics
ASIQUIM Asociación Gremial de Industriales Químicos
BS 7750 British Standard 7750
CAER community awareness and emergency response
CAIA Chemical and Allied Industries Association
CAP Community Advisory Panel
CCPA Canadian Chemical Producers' Association
CEFIC European Chemical Industry Council
CEP Communication, Energy and Paperworkers' Union of Canada
CEP company environmental reports
CIA Chemical Industries Association
CIQyP Cámara de la Industria Quimica y Petroquimica
CMA Chemical Manufacturers' Association
CMCS Canadian Manufacturers of Chemical Specialties Association
COP code of practice
DIEP Declaration of Intent of the Implementation of Environmental Policy for the Chemical Industry
EMAS Environmental Management and Eco-Auditing Scheme
EMS environmental management system
EPA (US) Environmental Protection Agency
ESH environment, safety and health
GP guiding principle
HACI Hellenic Association of Chemical Industries
HCIA Hungarian Chemical Industry Association
H&S health and safety
ICB Federation des Industries Chimiques de Belgique asbl
ICCA International Council of Chemical Associations
ICEM International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions
ICFTU International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
ICMA Indian Chemical Manufacturers Association
IEC International Electrotechnical Commission
INCHEM Industrial Chemical Association of Zimbabwe
ISO International Organization for Standardization
JCIA Japan Chemical Industry Association
JEC joint union-management environment
JHSC joint union-management health and safety committees
JRCC Japan Responsible Care Council
KPIA Korean Petrochemical Industry Association
KS Kemikontoret Service AB
LCA life cycle assessment
MSV management systems verification
NAP National Advisory Panel
NGO non-governmental organization
NZCIC New Zealand Chemical Industry Council Inc.
OSH occupational safety and health
OSH MS occupational safety and health management system
OSHA (US) Occupational Safety and Health Administration
PACIA Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association
RC Responsible care
RCLG Responsible Care Leadership Group
SC subcommittee
TC technical committee
TRI Toxics Release Inventory
UIC Union des Industries Chimiques
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
VI voluntary initiative
VNCI Vereniging van de Nederlandse Chemische Industrie
VOC volatile organic compound
VPP Voluntary Protection Programme
VROM Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment
WCEL West Coast Environmental Law Association
WG working group
WWF World Wide Fund for Nature
The voluntary initiatives which were studied broadly fall into three categories: Responsible Care©, a unilateral initiative of the chemical industry -- currently adopted in 40 nations -- addressing virtually all aspects of chemical products and operations; national voluntary initiatives, typically agreed between industry and government, establishing a several-years schedule of reduced emissions; and environmental management systems, which detail the standard procedures and policies which would be expected of a firm having cognizance of and control over the environmental impacts of its operations. There are significant differences among these three categories, though all aim to effect improvements in environmental performance.
Responsible Care was initiated in the mid-1980s in Canada, and has since grown to be the primary instrument for the chemical industry's attempts to improve its performance in almost all aspects of its operations. It is a wide-ranging and ambitious effort. With public opinion of the chemical industry clearly negative, the industry recognized the need to improve its image. Responsible Care is claimed to be the programme which will bring profound changes in public communications, operational safety and emergency preparedness, product responsibility, occupational safety and health and many other aspects of industry activities. In short, it aims at radically changing corporate attitudes and prior practices. The literature reviewed for this study revealed that there have been significant and encouraging accomplishments under Responsible Care. It also shows that the movement is in its early stages and still far from achieving its stated goals. Serious problems persist in the areas of credibility and the involvement of non-management stakeholders. The programme has brought major progress in only a few of the 40 countries which have adopted it.
National voluntary initiatives on the environment (usually bilateral industry-government) were found be in widespread use, and in Canada, the US and the Netherlands details were found of comprehensive environmental agreements with the chemicals industry. These appear to be working to the satisfaction of the signatories of these agreements (governments and industry), and their ambitious targets are generally being met. Results to date have shown these agreements to be more efficient than command-and-control legislation in achieving real improvements in environmental performance. However, stakeholders who are not signatories have expressed concerns about this method of negotiating the targets for environmental performance, and typically feel they are not well represented during discussions.
Environmental management systems reviewed include BS 7750, EMAS and the emerging ISO 14000 Series. These are broadly similar to one another, though there are notable differences in environmental-reporting requirements. Commercial actors are widely but tentatively embracing these guidance documents when assessing their internal management structures. Many are hesitant to commit resources to comply with one of these (essentially competing) standards. Issues of certification and credible verification also remain. In the near future, it will become clear which systems guidance is preferred. Some organizations have prepared documents detailing the differences and similarities of these systems to each other and/or to Responsible Care. A certified environmental management system does not necessarily equate to exemplary environmental performance. Development of global occupational safety and health management systems standards has recently been rejected by the international community. However, development of national standards is progressing well in some countries.
In almost all the programmes reviewed, input from workers' representatives was minor or completely absent. Lack of broad participation in these initiatives by workers' representatives tends to undermine the efforts aimed at transformation of the industry on which both they and the employers depend.
The environmental problems facing the chemical industry are profound. Within the context of sustainable development, it has become increasingly clear that historical modes of many chemical industry operations are not sustainable. The potential for developing nations with growing industrial bases adopting these historical practices and thereby exacerbating global environmental problems is ominous. Voluntary initiatives have shown promise as vehicles for achieving superior environmental performance, but to date (and viewed on a global scale) their positive impact has been limited. The future success of these methods is likely to require further steps to enhance their credibility, to demonstrate that they are more than self-serving assertions by the management of the chemical industry. Although there is no simple solution to this problem, such steps may include provisions for independent verification and for environmental reporting, as required e.g. in the Environmental Management and Eco-Auditing Scheme in the European Union, or as practised by local verification teams in Canada. They are also likely to require, in addition to a staunch industry commitment, a broad societal consensus, a multi-stakeholder mandate, if they are to follow through on a promising start. In particular, a more direct association of workers and other non-management stakeholders with the various initiatives of employers could be a significant step towards a wider recognition that the initiatives are being carried out in good faith.
The general public's opinion of industry (not least the chemical industry) has been quite negative when it comes to the environment. Numerous surveys by the chemical industry itself have concluded this,2 and the ever-increasing legislation measures concerning the environmental performance of the industry would certainly not have been so plentiful in the absence of public support. Robert Kennedy, CEO of Union Carbide, noted in 1991: "We [the chemical industry] operate in a situation where we have an almost total lack of trust. People want to know what we're doing now. They want to see our goals, understand them, comment on them, maybe change them."3
It is not surprising that the chemical industry has felt itself under siege. The stream of new legislation has required increasing disclosure of its operations' environmental effects, both real and potential. It is the frequent target of criticism from environmental NGOs. For all the gains it has made in improving its environmental performance (and these gains have been significant), it still has not been able to change its image in the public's eyes.
In the past decade and within a few leading spheres, a fundamental change has been initiated in the approach industry and regulatory agencies take towards monitoring and controlling environmental performance. This approach embraces a cooperative dialogue between the industry and other stakeholders when setting environmental-performance goals. The approach has been largely initiated by industry, who favour using voluntary agreements as a way to improve performance. While not true of all such agreements, the general trend is to commence multi-stakeholder discussions on topics which have recently been the object of prescriptive legislation. That the Eleventh Session of the Chemical Industries Committee of the ILO mandated this study suggests that the future widespread use of voluntary initiatives (VIs) would have far-reaching implications for the nature of relationships between the tripartite partners -- management, labour, government -- both in and outside of the workplace.
Participants in the VI process see many potential advantages to it: governments can more efficiently achieve results through successful voluntary agreements than through command-and-control legislation, due to a decreased need for oversight; community participants can voice their concerns face to face with the company; and companies have a forum for showcasing their achievements and hearing outside concerns. This is very different from a situation where communities are angry and afraid, governments get tough, and industry takes a defensive stance.
While such developments are positive, it is perhaps less positive that workers' representatives have not been effectively included in these discussions. Most current agreements address environmental issues (fugitive emissions, chemical-accident emergency response plans, etc.), with only the Responsible Care programme and one US VI having significant elements for occupational safety and health (OSH). Workers' representation in both these programmes -- as well in the specifically environmental initiatives -- remains very low. Most fully developed VIs are in North America and Western Europe.
It is too early to judge the success or failure of VIs as a mechanism to deliver improvements which are either superior to the classic methods of prescriptive legislation or that will achieve results satisfactory to stakeholders. It can be said that the initial results look good, and the eventual success and continued use of VIs will rest heavily on the commitments of stakeholders to communicate in good faith and reach mutually acceptable solutions.
While the study is not exhaustive, it is the author's opinion, based on a consistency of the available data, that it gives an accurate picture of voluntary initiatives in the chemical sector. Further input, especially from workers' representatives, would be desirable for a more complete view. The same is true for other non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which -- given the tripartite structure of the ILO -- are not well represented in this study, although many of them have good information and constructive opinions on voluntary initiatives.
The author would like to thank Ryo Kawano for his valuable aid in researching and translating documents on the Japanese Responsible Care programme.
1 UNEP, Chemical pollution: A global overview, Earthwatch (UNEP), 1992, Geneva.
2 CMA, Environmental health and safety performance report, 1995-1996, 1996.
3 B. Tippee, The Oil and Gas Journal, 4 May 1991, p. 9.
