Responsible Care is an initiative managed by chemical associations, developed and adopted along with their member companies to continuously improve environmental, health and safety (EHS) performance of their operations and products in a manner responsive to the concerns of the public. Responsible Care was first adopted as a new model for the management of chemicals by the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC) in 1985 and has since been adopted by chemical associations in more than 60 economies.

Responsible Care is the basis of significant cultural change within the chemical industry which leads to improved performance and new levels of dialogue with the public about issues of mutual concern. The global chemical industry has embraced Responsible Care because it is viewed as “good citizenship” with a positive impact on companies’ economic bottom line and competitiveness. For the individual company, implementation of Responsible Care leads to improved efficiency, lower environment, health and safety costs and improved relations with stakeholders. For the global chemical industry, successful implementation of Responsible Care demonstrates an appropriate public policy which protects its license to operate and its ability to innovate and meet society’s demands for its products. For the public, successful implementation of Responsible Care ensures that the chemical industry will continue to provide beneficial products to society and continually reduce its impacts, while maximizing its positive contributions to human health, the economy and society.

One of the key tenets of Responsible Care is openness and responsiveness to public and other stakeholder concerns about the management of chemicals. Therefore, the chemical industry has a keen appreciation of the need to seek input from the public and other interested groups, include this input in its development of policies, programs and priorities, and report on its progress in these areas.

• Improve the safety, health and environmental performance;

• Use resources efficiently and minimize waste;

• Report openly on achievements and difficulties;

• Engage in dialogue with stakeholders, in particular with the local communities who live and work around our sites;

• cooperate with regulators, set standards that go beyond regulation;

• Provide help and advice to foster the responsible management of chemicals throughout the value chain .

• Following a number of high profile incidents in the late 70s ad early 80s:

• 1972 USEPA bans DDT over environmental and human health concerns

• 1976 hundreds of people are exposed to dioxin after an explosion at a pesticide/herbicide plant in Seveso, Italy

• 1976 Families are evacuated from the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, NY after toxic waste from a chemical disposal site leaches into their home and front and back yards

• 1979 More than 200,000 people are evacuated from Misssissauga, Ontario after a train carrying poisonous chemicals derails

• 1984 >28,000 people die and 50,000 people injured after methyl isocyanate gas leaks from a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India

• 1985 Responsible care was born – all members of CCPA (now chemistry industry association of Canada CIAC) must make a signed commitment to responsible care principles as a mandatory condition of membership.

• 1991 Responsible Care is adopted by the International Council of Chemical Association (ICCA).

• 2006 ICCA launch Responsible Care Global Charter (RCGC) & Global Product Strategy in Dubai with 160 CEO signatures.

• 2010 AICM accepted as ICCA Observer member

• 2016 Responsible Care is adopted by 60 RC associations with activities in all continents.

……

What happened in Bhopal?
Water flowed into tank where stored 42 tons of MIC
Runaway reaction started which caused by pollutants, heat and other
factors.
The reaction accelerated due to rust of non-stainless steel pipe.
Exothermic reaction leads to over 200 ℃ inside the tank following
by pressurized
This forced MIC emergency release and a mass of toxic gas escape into air
Within 45-60 minutes, around 30 tons of MIC discharged into atmosphere
The gas cloud covered approximate 25 km2
No emergency plan (including community)
After accident, no gas information provided to hospital.
After this disaster, the chemical groups around the world did not resist to
communicate with local community anymore.
One environmental test in 2009 shows that:
Obvious chemical residuals around this site where explosion happened.
These toxic substances contaminated groundwater and soil that leading to
lots of people get sick……