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The American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care® program is a voluntary initiative of the chemical industry to continuously improve in the areas of environmental protection, health and safety.

Companies in the chemical industry and associations in more than 50 countries support this initiative.

BASF and its Port Arthur facility — BASF TOTAL Petrochemicals — has the responsibility to provide the safest operations and products for our employees and customers while protecting our communities and the environment.

We consider the health, safety and security of people and the protection of the environment to be our most fundamental responsibilities.

Our core business — the development, production, processing and transport of chemicals — demands a responsible approach. We systematically address risks with a comprehensive Responsible Care Management System (RCMS), which is constantly being further developed.

Here are the principal areas of RCMS focus:

• Product Stewardship: we care for the safety of our products from research and development through production and all the way to our customers’ application. We work continuously to ensure that our products pose no risk to people or the environment when they are used responsibly and in the manner intended.
• Transportation and Storage: we want our products to be safely loaded, transported, handled and stored. Our goal is to prevent incidents along the entire transportation chain — from loading and transportation to unloading.
• Occupational Safety: the safety of our employees, contractors, neighbors and environment remains our top priority. Reducing exposures during production operations is important for every individual working at BASF and we continually work to strengthen the safety culture.
• Health: our goal is to protect and maintain each employee’s health at the workplace and to assist in assuring that BASF products are safe for employees, customers, neighbors or consumers when handled properly.
• Environment: our products and system solutions help conserve resources, ensure healthy nutrition and improve the quality of life. Our efforts to further reduce emissions along the value chain and our climate protection products make an important contribution.
• Process Safety: our process safety standards provide the framework for the safe construction and operation of our plants. We routinely perform in-depth audits of our plants and update safety concepts where necessary. By continuously adapting to the latest technical standards, we are always improving our level of safety from process development to the ongoing operation of our facilities.
• Emergency Response & Security: we are well prepared for crisis situations thanks to our global, regional or local emergency response plans.
• Energy: we are committed to energy efficiency and global climate protection. We increase energy efficiency along the value chain and utilize, for example, modern technologies for generating steam and electricity, energy-efficient production processes, and comprehensive energy management.

For decades, BASF has been steadfast to the principles of Responsible Care, and the Port Arthur site remains committed to fulfilling these responsibilities daily. BASF is dedicated to recognizing and controlling risks and exposures in all areas of our business.

Greg Masica is VP and Site Manager of BASF TOTAL Petrochemicals. For more information, email carol.hebert@basf.com.