Document J3O9m2Jbyz1xdX4DB54Jx7Q36

Talking Points Industry must be a good neighbour `My washing's ruined thanks to you...'. `Our dog's sick--it's your fault...'. `Are my children safe?' `Who can I complain to?' These kinds of complaints and questions are a fact of life for every industrial site manager, but especially for those in the chemical industry, where the public's ignorance and fear are so much greater. It is no good a plant being the safest and cleanest--let alone the most efficient and profitable--if it is not seen to be a good neighbour. That means talking frankly and taking an active part in the community, not hiding behind razor wire and issuing patronising statements. For like it or not, that is the image of the industry in many cases. The Chemical Industries Association (CIA) is well aware of the problem, and the latest offensive in its Responsible Care pro* gramme centres upon being `Responsible Neighbours'. The CIA's regular public opinion surveys (Chem. Br., 1991, 27, 485) have made gloomy reading for the industry. The public is unfamiliar with what the chemical industry does; even if it accepts the industry's contribution to prosperity and well-being this is not considered to miti gate the perceived evils of pollution. The CIA's Responsible Care Advisory Group is about to publish a code of practice to help member companies with their local community relations activities. Jim Whiston, ICI group safety, health and environment manager, who chairs the CIA group, says that `Responsible Care is a col lection . of good safety, health and environmental practices, but more import Get your outreach here antly it is about talking to the community-- both the local community near our opera tions and the broader community including the activists. It is a listening mode'. Being a good neighbour, he feels, is about not being arrogant--`we don't know all the answers'. He also stresses that Responsible Neigh bours is not a `big company' programme. `The guidelines are tailored for every mem ber company, large, medium and small. They have been written by practitioners. The purpose is to stop member companies wasting time. Everything in the booklet has been tried and tested--it is "real reality".' Familiarity breeds favourability The CIA's stated objectives are: To increase community familiarity with chemical industry operations, thus paving the way for increased favourability and acceptance. To build trust between chemical industry sites and their communities by encouraging and supporting the involvement of employees in community activities. To comply with the public's right to know. The last concept may be alien to some chemical industry managers--they may even feel threatened by it--but it is in line with the thinking behind John Major's Citizen's Charter and Giles Radice's and Mark Fisher's right to know bills. Environmental monitoring in particular will become more open, and firms that have begun to publish their performance records (eg Hydro UK, BP Chemicals, ICI and Ciba in the UK) have started a trend that EC eco-audit proposals will accelerate. - fOutreach programme^ . The CIA says that every member oor^^ pany site should have acommumtyg| ! outreach programme to complement^ 6 its-f programme for continuous!* f: improvement of li& heafih, safety | environmental protection perfompp | ance. The outreach programme stmuld I haveeight components: - % Resmlar assessment 'dC rommuhnll concerns. \ ' ' * , ,, s, 7 " Dialogue with the conumunity;|^^B Openness' of information an&Cpi||||j ::: motion of familiaritywiththe sit*^$$ia ' Regular assessment of ^concerns, J Dialogue wiffiemployeefc 5 ... 1 Training in communlcations.,^^^ ,* Regular evaluation of effectiveh^^^ Community outreach programmes are probably more familiar to site managers. Many companies' in-house magazines chronicle the links that their sites have with local schools and groups such as Rotary Clubs or Women's Institutes. The CIA pro vides a formidable checklist of such local organisations, from birdwatchers to cham bers of commerce, not forgetting local politicians, churches, trade union branches, suppliers and contractors. It recommends carrying out surveys to find out what actu ally concerns these groups and then setting up dialogues with them. ' A formal mechanism for dialogue might be to institute a community liaison panel, with representatives from many of these local groups. These panels can be briefed on matters that trouble them, or the company's plans, and act as a focus for local concerns to be made known to the company. Com munity Advisory Panels (CAPs) are now familiar in the US chemical industry--with varying degrees of success, it has to be admitted. The CIA stresses that the site manager should not expect to chair the liaison group; ideally it should be self-gov erning, with the company simply providing secretarial assistance. Whiston says that the task force that drew up the guidelines tried to avoid being prescriptive: `local liaison .... ... .. ........ ... r.. Chemistry in Britain distribution - . ;sillWM "'A* `k'vM Because of an error in printing thejj address labels, a number of RSC memfs bets will have received their Marc&| Chemistry in Britain late, while others^ may have received two copies- .Wc^ apologise for. any inconvenience caused. \ 04 in INI r* m as 00 Q STLCOPCB4037207 Established links Ciba organises its outreach activities at many other chemical companies in the site level. Its Grimsby plant has had a area to call upon. In Grimsby and groups have to be geared to local needs. It is programme of site visits for many years, Paisley this is not the case, and the staff no good the parent company forcing a which is proving its value now that the are very active. model on them. ICI sites without exception plant is being expanded and local people Ciba's Bicycle Pack, a package of have some kind of liaison group, but all on need to be reassured. Both the Maccles- teaching materials for primary school different models'. Tamar Posner, an execu . field site and the Trafford Park site (the teachers having to teach sdence under tive director of the CIA, says that the latter now owned by FMC) have spon the national curriculum, was pioneered association will be producing a video later sored primary school football and net by the Trafford Park site and later went this year to assist companies in setting up ball for the past 25 years, while Trafford national. Other than the bicycle pack, community liaison groups. Park provided one of the country's two which Ciba retained, FMC has con Less formally, the CIA advocates local schools of football excellence for school tinued all the existing community rela sponsorship, sport and charity activities, boys aged 11-14. Scientists from Ciba's tions programmes at Trafford Park. provided that these are not seen as advertis dyestuffs and chemicals R & D operation Ciba's community relations manager, ing gimmicks. It reminds managers that in Manchester get involved in British Sally Seed, says that the company's sites employees at all levels can act as ambas : Association Young Scientists events are already involved with Responsible sadors for the company in these activities. (`BAYS days') at the Catalyst museum Care local networks and expect to be of the chemical industry and Ciba sup- taking the new Responsible Neighbour Good days... : ports school and college events run by guidelines on board. John Fraser, chair The third element of the CIA's booklet will the RSC's Manchester and District man of Ciba's UK operations, was one be a self-assessment questionnaire to help Section. !-:/-' . < fi " of those who successfully campaigned companies work out how well they are per In comparison with Mossmorran, for commitment to the Responsible Care . forming, as well as checklists of things to ' . most of the Ciba sites are long principles to be made mandatory for remember when running community liaison established, & Clayton Aniline .in CIA members. : ' ' - panels, site visits etc. The booklet reminds , . Manchester (founded 1876) being a -<.Ciba's decision to make public its data managers that simply showing people static 'good example. This site predates the:'! on emissions has given it the opportunity chemical plant is not interesting. As anyone / community, so there is less chance of a ; for, dialogue with local communities, who does a lot of such visits can tell you, it is ,:`not in my backyard' response, and its Seed says, but so far it has not gone to the packing lines, where things move, that ,community relations activities are well the extent of setting up CAPs. This con stick in the memory. The CIA's suggestions v established. It even runs a community 'i trasts with the US and Ciba's home town for an open day include a demonstration by :- newspaper. The sites in NW England get | of Basle in Switzerland, where com the fire team, computer-aided molecular ...\ less call to provide speakers for schools munity relations are still dominated by::. modelling, simple chemistry experiments f: and local groups because there are so the Sandoz spill info the Rhine in 1986. (preferably with coloured reagents) and dis . ..'isi.... I\ -is plays of how the factory products go into everyday items. And `remember that the it has established a `good-will' bank to draw And when it is over, remember to debrief workforce ... are the finest ambassadors upon, if it has a reputation for open the local liaison groups and explain the that the factory can have'. ness and if its statements are believed'. It results of the enquiry. recommends that the local community What the Responsible Neighbours code is ...and bad days should be engaged in discussions about not about is public relations campaigns-- The CIA also has sound advice on how to emergency planning. It also advises the booklet points out that `even good com deal with community and media communi preplanning for the communications over munications cannot compensate for a poor cations when there is an emergency. `Your load-dealing with the media, community, environmental or health and safety per company will survive an emergency better if and next-of-kin--if an emergency occurs. formance'. Any programme should be ---- ; within the Responsible Care context of con tinuous environmental and safety improve Clean slate ments, and dealings with the public have to be open and honest. fDavid Wright is head of pubticaffairs at.:.: s$focat football clubs to scout groups. David Wright of Exxon, who is a member Ig-the Fife Ethylene Plant (FEP) at Moss- They generated a whole raft of ideas like ; of the CIA community awareness task '%morran, which Exxon. Chemicals oper- - visiting local schools, providing speakers j force, wams that `you have to remember gates on behalf of a Shell/Exxon joint "at local.events, organising incoming that the majority of decisions are made on gventure. When FEP was built: on :a ,1 visits to tie site. There was such a diver emotional founds--facts are not persuas Igreenfield site in the early 1980s there . sit.y "of ..ideas and offers of hel.p that! a ^ ive. When people ask to be shown the data, gwere both advantages and disadvantages ^> number ofseparate community outreach |forcommunity relations. On the one ,3.-groups (COGs) emerged. Their function what they really mean is "please show me that I can trust you".' He feels that you Iband the local people had no experience is not to do Wright's job for him, but to have to open up the dialogue before there is Jof the petrochemical industry and were support the employees who have volun- an issue to deal with. `Without that, there is Mapprehensive about safety and pollution, peered. They provide school governors, no trust, and without trust the facts will not ffiThe community did not know what . organise work secondment for schools, be persuasive'. He agrees that this could be sethylene was and saw risk without bene-,' collect and donate old computers c.>&|| seen as manipulative, `but to get the data fcfit'.SBut the lack of familiarity was also W...r.i.g..h...t.'.s..f.a..v..o..u...rite event was a c..o..n..c..e..r.t. across you need to know the folk--that is |^an"' advantage, because there was no party involving 45 people on stage and why the chemical industry is receiving "^history of bad practices to live down,' ; 25 backstage (from a workforce of 380). - demands for more and more data, as the ' company could start with a .dean It ended up with people giving up their..' contacts begin to be made'. I Islate. : " i ' ' .4' lunch hours to practise tap dandng. The &Wright's job is complicated by the fact show was entitled Christmas cracker (an ' Wright believes that there are three inter locked concepts at work: awareness, 1 Ithat Fife has two distinct communities.; in joke for an ethylene plant) and was outreach, and involvement. `If you catch . aland in the former mining villages, put on in a local theatre for OAPs. somebody's eye at a cocktail party, that is ^unemployment is high and jobs are the Wright says that not only was it good for awareness--you have seen and acknow ,#prime concern. Along the coast, the community relations, it also helped with ledged each other. If you walk across and former fishing villages have been col- team building and got people involved introduce yourselves, that is outreach. If as onised by young professionals from who might not otherwise have par- a result you come to some sort of agree : Edinburgh, who are concerned with the tidpated. ment, that is involvement'. Whiston says environment. Importantly, Wright feels, the COGs that `Responsible Care is part of Total Wright got together with about 20 site provide a grassroots community rela Quality', and the guidelines agree: `Being a employees whom he had identified as tions programme, involving employees responsible neighbour is ... not just good being active in the community, from' rather than management. practice: it is also good business'. Richard Stevenson ' 270 DSW 137253 STLCOPCB4037208