Sep 18 2008
Linde North America has received certification of its North American headquarters in Murray Hill, New Jersey, under the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care® program.
Linde North America is a member of The Linde Group, a world-leading gases and engineering company. The ACC is an association of producers, manufacturers and suppliers of chemical products. Linde has been a member of the ACC since 1951.
Responsible Care is a globally recognized management system aimed at helping companies improve performance in areas such as safety, health, environment and security. Certification is mandatory for all ACC member companies, which must undergo headquarter and facility audits by an independent, accredited auditor to verify that they have a structure and system in place that manages and measures performance. Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) is Linde’s independent auditor.
“We are extremely proud and excited about this certification,” said Pat Murphy, president, Linde North America. “While it was very challenging to meet all the criteria for Responsible Care certification, it was a very rewarding experience. Working toward – and receiving – this certification falls right in line with our goals as a high performance organization and our vision to be the leading gases and engineering company.”
The Responsible Care management system offers an integrated, structured approach for driving continual improvement in seven key areas: community awareness and emergency response; security; distribution; employee health and safety; pollution prevention; process safety; and product stewardship.
Implementing the Responsible Care system is a multi-step process. Companies must first plan – identify, assess and evaluate potential hazards and risks associated with their products, processes and operations – and establish goals and objectives to address any significant hazards or risks. Next, they must do what they have planned, checking their progress along the way to measure performance and take necessary corrective actions. Communicating with employees and other stakeholders, including neighbors and customers, along the way also is essential.
“We are committed to sustaining the practices specified in the Responsible Care management system and are very proud of our continued membership in the American Chemistry Council. Our next step is to certify eight additional Linde North America locations later this year,” Murphy said.
The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with more than 50,000 employees working in around 100 countries worldwide. In the 2007 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 12.3 billion (USD 18.7 billion). The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards earnings-based and sustainable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services.
Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. Linde is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.