Linde North America's Texas Plant Receives Responsible Care Certification
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Murray Hill, New Jersey, U.S., July 30, 2009 - Linde North America has received certification of its Terrell, Texas, air separation 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.
Last year, Linde began the certification process with its headquarters facility in Murray Hill, New Jersey. During 2008, the company also completed certification of eight of its production plants located throughout the US. The Terrell plant is the third of four locations scheduled for certification in 2009 in order to satisfy the ACC's requirement for membership. The Linde plants in Delta, Ohio, and Price, Utah, received certification earlier this year.
The Terrell plant, which employs 25 people, has been in operation since 1992. It separates air cryogenically to produce 280 tons per day of liquid oxygen and nitrogen, as well as crude argon. The oxygen and nitrogen are trucked to hospitals, food processors, steel and glass manufacturers, oil refiners and oil and gas fraccing operations in Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The crude argon is transported to a nearby Linde facility for purification.
Area manager, Jacob Simon, said, "Responsible Care, unlike any other plant process, is a risk management approach that focuses on eliminating, mitigating and/or controlling risk around all activities. It provides a mechanism to keep us ever aware of the health and safety of our employees and customers, as well as the preservation of the environment. And for the community, this certification is like a 'Good Citizenship' award."
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.
Warren Arenz, head of safety, health, environment and quality for Linde North America, said, "The Terrell plant achieved what is considered a perfect score under the ACC Responsible Care Program. The employees worked very hard to achieve this recognition, which falls right in line with our goals as a high performance organization and our vision to be the leading gases and engineering company. I congratulate them on the great job they did and are continuing to do."
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 52,000 employees working in around 100 countries worldwide. In the 2008 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 12.7 billion (USD 15.9 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, see The Linde Group online at www.linde.com
