The Chemical and Allied Industries‘ Association (CAIA) announced the winners of its 2017 Responsible Care® Award, the 2017 Responsible Care® Haulier Award, the 2017 Responsible Care® Initiative of the Year Awards and the 2017 Responsible Care® Sustained High Performance Award at a gala event that also covered the launch of the CAIA 2017 Responsible Care® Performance Report and the Association’s Annual General Meeting.Responsible Care® is the chemical industries' commitment to continuous improvement in all aspects of safety, health and environmental performance and to report openly to stakeholders and interested and affected parties.
Chemical Initiatives (Pty) Ltd – Chloorkop was the proud winner of the 2017 Responsible Care® Award, while the 2017 Responsible Care® Haulier Award was won by PA Stemmet Vervoer cc. CAIA launched a new trophy for the Responsible Care® Haulier Award last year - designed in natural wood and made by local artisans, a closed, offset circular design captures and depicts the importance of the continuous drive towards improved performance that at times requires a change of gears to achieve.The winner of the 2017 Responsible Care® Initiative of the Year Award in the Company Project division was Fine Chemicals Corporation (Pty) Ltd for its API Facility Expansion Project, while the award in the Corporate Social Responsibility division went to BASF South Africa (Pty) Ltd for its Kid’s Lab Programme.
The Responsible Care® Initiative of the Year Awards, first presented in 2015, are symbolised through the trophy that is presented. An open-ended abstract design, beginning from a narrow base that widens, embraces the local community. With open ends, the continuance of both the Responsible Care® Initiative and the commitment to the community is implied.The Responsible Care® Award and the Responsible Care® Haulier Award look at the greatest year-on-year improvements in the four major categories of Responsible Care® pillars that are safety and health; resource efficiency; pollution prevention and product stewardship,” said Deidré Penfold, Executive Director of CAIA.
A new Award, the Sustained High Performance Award, was given in two categories this year – aimed at recognising sustained high performance across three consecutive years. The categories were based on the number of applicable indicators amongst Responsible Care® signatories. The winners of the first ever Responsible Care® Sustained High Performance Awards were Orion Engineered Carbons (Pty) Ltd and Air Products South Africa (Pty) Ltd – Vanderbijlpark.Penfold said the importance of the Responsible Care® Initiative and the commitment of CAIA’s 133 member companies towards sustainability through the Initiative – to continuously improve safety, health and environmental performance – shows its value very year when the performance of signatories is reviewed.
“CAIA applauds its Responsible Care® signatories for their commitment and achievements and will continue to support members wherever possible,” she said.Rod Humphris, Chairman of the CAIA Board, and Amon Nyamhingura, Responsible Care® Manager, awarded the trophies and certificates to the winners, as well as certificates to the runners-up.In his closing remarks, the Chairman of the CAIA board, Mr Humphris, expressed his concern at the lack of sufficient interaction from Government Departments, and in particular mentioned the Department of Transport, which plays an important role in the chemical value chain, with the huge amounts of hazardous chemicals being transported across Southern Africa.
Furthermore, the improved engagement with the dti over the past year was acknowledged, and the Chemical Sector Strategy for growth, which has been developed by consultants on behalf of the dti, is welcomed. Mr Humphris stated that CAIA looks forward to further engagements on the implementation of the strategy document.He encouraged the various Government Departments and other organisations to engage and use CAIA as a resource as it brings a lot of expertise to the table.
Attention was then turned to NERSA and Eskom where it was clearly stated that CAIA had taken a strong position in opposing the upcoming Eskom-proposed increase of 19.9%. Mr Humphris stressed that an increase is unaffordable at this time in our country, and that one cannot have an organisation whose product is in less demand, wanting to cover not only the cost increase, but also the loss in revenue due to lower sales. The message conveyed was a business one, that costs need to be cut, and if this results in some power stations having to be mothballed, then so be it.
Mr Humphris thanked the CAIA team, the chairs of the various fora and the membership for the hard work and contributions made during the past year and looked forward to continued engagement so that CAIA can assist its members and the wider community.
