Linde's Ohio Hydrogen Plant Receives Responsible Care Certification
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Murray Hill & New Providence, New Jersey, U.S., January 10, 2011 - Linde North America has received certification under the American Chemistry Council's Responsible Care® program at its Lima, Ohio, plant where the company operates two hydrogen units.
Linde North America is a member of The Linde Group, a world-leading gases and engineering company. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is an association of producers, manufacturers and suppliers of chemical products.
Warren Arenz, head of safety, health, environment and quality for Linde North America, said, "I congratulate the entire team at our Lima plant. This certification falls right in line with Linde's goals as a high performance organization and our vision to be the leading gases and engineering company. With the certification of the Lima plant, Linde completed its 2010 commitment to sustaining the practices specified in the Responsible Care management system. We are very proud of our continued membership in the American Chemistry Council."
In 2010, Linde's headquarters in Murray Hill, New Jersey, re-qualified for Responsible Care Certification. Since 2008, 17 Linde North America plants have been certified under the program. The Lima plant is the fourth, and final, location scheduled for certification in 2010. The Linde air separation plants in Aiken, South Carolina, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Sacramento, California, received certification earlier last year.
Linde operates two hydrogen units at the Lima facility. The first has been in operation since 2000 and supplies nearly 13 million cubic feet per day of hydrogen by pipeline to International Specialty Products' nearby petrochemical plant. The other, operating since 2006, supplies 22 million cubic feet per day of hydrogen via pipeline to the neighboring Husky Energy petroleum refinery. Linde employs 11 people at the Lima site.
Lima cluster manager, Normand Paquette, said, "The Lima operations team was very excited to be selected to participate in ACC's Responsible Care program. The auditors were impressive and the process was very stringent. We are extremely proud to have received this certification. Each member of our team is to be congratulated for a job well done."
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.
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.
The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with almost 48,000 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. In the 2009 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 11.2 billion (USD 15.3 billion). The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards sustainable earnings-based 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.
For more information, visit Linde North America online at www.lindeus.com
