At Imperial Oil Chemicals (IOC) there are three management systems in place
based on ISO 14001, Operational Integrity and Responsible Care®. These
three systems are linked and supplement one another to provide an overall
management system that supports all the code requirements and ethic of
Responsible Care®. This management system has all components of the plan,
do, check and act continuous improvement process and provides IOC with a
self-healing management process. It must be noted that while IOC is embedded
in the Imperial Oil Limited (IOL) Sarnia complex, not all portions of IOL
operations are required to conform to the Responsible Care® requirements of
the Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association (C.C.P.A.).

Not until near the end of the verification, when the team were able to have a final
caucus, did the team conclude that the company is in fact following the
principles of Responsible Care, but by a shoestring. During the two day visit the
team swayed in either direction of compliant or not compliant.

 

BASF is a multinational company with head offices in Germany. In North America the overall business is
run as a NAFTA entity. However, the Canadian President manages the Canadian part of the company
through the head office located in Toronto, Ontario. This Canadian President is the Responsible Care
Signing Executive. Included under the CCPA’s Responsible Care Ethic are all Canadian facilities and
operations.

The Canadian President is responsible for the administrative and functional areas of the company in
Canada, setting the strategy for the Canadian business. He is also part of the company’s NAFTA
management structure for North America, where continent-wide business strategies and decisions are
planned.

After four days of interviews with managers, employees, and appropriate
stakeholders (e.g. customers, suppliers, facility neighbours), the reverification
team has come to the following conclusions:

- The team has a high degree of comfort that the company’s decision-making
and actions are underpinned by the Responsible Care ethic

The reverification team found that the Responsible Care ethic is well understood and to a very
large degree guides the daily actions and decisions of the National Silicates management team and its
employees. The Executive Contact is deeply involved in the commitment and the process of
Responsible Care and is leading a sound approach to making it even more widespread among
the employees and the public. There are still, as always, opportunities for improvement.