Linde North America's Ohio Plant Receives Responsible Care Certification
Share:
Murray Hill and New Providence, New Jersey, U.S., October 20, 2011 - Linde in North America has received certification of its Lima, Ohio, carbon dioxide (CO2) plant 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.
Tim Wren, 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. We are very proud of our continued membership in the American Chemistry Council."
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.
Since 2008, 18 Linde plants in North America have been certified under the program. The Lima plant is the first to be audited this year, with three additional plants scheduled for audit before the end of the year.
The Lima plant, which has been operating for more than 50 years, produces CO2 for use in food, beverage, metals and chemical manufacturing. It purifies and liquefies some 850 tons a day of CO2 captured from ethanol production that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere. Linde trucks the liquid product to customers in surrounding states and by railcar to Linde depots where the product is off-loaded into trucks for delivery. The plant employs 39 people.
Jack Lake, CO2 supply area manager, said, "Certification in Responsible Care is a significant milestone for the Lima CO2 team. This recognition by an external source demonstrates the outstanding work done here and our team's commitment to excellence. The safety of our employees, customers and surrounding population is paramount in the daily operations at our facility. We are proud to exemplify the Linde and American Chemistry Counsel standards and privileged to display this certification."
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 around 49,100 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. In the 2010 financial year, it achieved sales of EUR 12.9 billion (USD 17.9 billion). The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards long-term profitable 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.
