Blinded by statistics: don't be fooled by injury statistics. They don't tell the whole story.[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Summary * The Baker panel found that the Texas City incident happened in part because BP had failed to develop a corporate safety culture that put a priority on process safety, the management of extreme risks associated with working with highly dangerous compounds. * OSHA OSHA n. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a branch of the US Department of Labor responsible for establishing and enforcing safety and health standards in the workplace. has announced a new inspection regime for process safety management for the petroleum refining refining, any of various processes for separating impurities from crude or semifinished materials. It includes the finer processes of metallurgy, the fractional distillation of petroleum into its commercial products, and the purifying of cane, beet, and maple sugar industry because no other industry sector has had as many fatal or catastrophic incidents related to the release of highly hazardous chemicals. * The chemical and refining industries appear at the moment to grasp the importance of process safety management. ********** Occupational hazards occupational hazard n. a danger or risk inherent in certain employments or workplaces, such as deep-sea diving, cutting timber, high-rise steel construction, high-voltage electrical wiring, use of pesticides, painting bridges, and many factories. abound at oil refineries This is a list of oil refineries. The Oil and Gas Journal also publishes a worldwide list of refineries annually in a country-by-country tabulation that includes for each refinery: location, crude oil daily processing capacity, and the size of each process unit in the refinery. , where workers can be injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. or even killed if conditions are unsafe. BP, one of the oil industry giants, responded to industry safety concerns by keeping track of an array of statistics in an effort to reduce the number of on-the-job on-the-job adj. Acquired or learned while working at a job: on-the-job training. Adj. 1. on-the-job injuries. Those statistics showed, for instance, that at BP the most frequent cause of workforce fatalities was driving-related incidents. In 2003, 70 percent of BP employee and contractor fatalities were driving related, as were 90 percent of the fatalities involving third parties. To combat this problem, BP initiated a companywide effort in 2004 to reduce vehicular accidents. The very next year, however, BP suffered a massive and fatal accident at a Texas refinery that had nothing to do with driving. Fifteen people died and more than 170 were injured in an explosion and fire at BP's Texas City refinery on March 23, 2005. It was one of the most serious workplace disasters in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. in nearly two decades. It didn't did·n't Contraction of did not. didn't did not didn't do stop there. Four months later, on July July: see month. 28, 2005, a hydrogen fire that had the potential to cause additional deaths and injuries broke out at the Texas City refinery, resulting in a Level 3 community alert. A Level 3 alert, which is the second highest emergency classification under Texas City refinery plant procedures, applies when an incident is not under control and protective action might be necessary for the surrounding sur·round tr.v. sur·round·ed, sur·round·ing, sur·rounds 1. To extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle. 2. To enclose or confine on all sides so as to bar escape or outside communication. n. or off-site off-site adj. Taking place or located away from the site, as of a particular activity: an off-site waste treatment operation. off area. And then on August 10, 2005, the refinery experienced another Level 3 incident involving the gas oil hydrotreater. This incident resulted in a community order to stay indoors. What happened? Although BP had achieved significant improvement in its personal safety performance, those statistics didn't tell the whole story, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a January January: see month. 2007 report of the BP U.S. Refineries Independent Safety Review Panel. Worse, they created a false sense of confidence about the company's overall safety performance. The 11-member panel was formed by BP at the recommendation of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board and was headed by former Secretary of State James James, person in the Bible James, in the Gospel of St. Luke, kinsman of St. Jude. The original does not specify the relationship. James, rivers, United States James. A. Baker III. The panel conducted a detailed review of the company's corporate safety culture, safety management systems and corporate safety oversight
Oversight may refer to:
The panel's report found that, in addition to putting too much emphasis on personal injury statistics, BP also failed to develop a corporate safety culture that put a priority on process safety. The company lacked effective process safety leadership and lacked a common, unifying process safety culture. Steve v. t. 1. To pack or stow, as cargo in a ship's hold. See Steeve. Arendt A·rendt , Hannah 1906-1975. German-born American historian and political theorist whose major published works include The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) and On Revolution (1963). Noun 1. , vice president of organizational performance Organizational performance comprises the actual output or results of an organization as measured against its intended outputs (or goals and objectives). Specialists in many fields are concerned with organizational performance including strategic planners, operations, assurance with Houston-based risk management services provider ABS (Automatic Backup System) See backup program. Consulting, worked on the Baker panel report and has met with about 50 companies in the last nine months to help evaluate their corporate safety culture. He says that, over time, many companies become blind to their own shortfalls. "It's it's 1. Contraction of it is. 2. Contraction of it has. See Usage Note at its. it's it is or it has it's be ~have not so much that people are ill intentioned, but with the busyness of business, it gets off their radar screen," Arendt says. "They lose situational awareness Situation awareness or situational awareness [1] (SA) is the mental representation and understanding of objects, events, people, system states, interactions, environmental conditions, and other situation-specific factors affecting human performance in , their risk nerves get calloused cal·lous adj. 1. Having calluses; toughened: callous skin on the elbow. 2. Emotionally hardened; unfeeling: a callous indifference to the suffering of others. over a little bit," he says. A critical review of their process safety management practices can act as "a bit of sandpaper sandpaper, abrasive originally made by gluing grains of sand to heavy paper sheets. Today sandpaper is made primarily with quartz, aluminum oxide, or silicon carbide grains, and is graded according to the size of the grains. to sandpaper the calluses off their nerves," he says. "We can have blind spots, and sometimes you have to have somebody from the outside to take a look at you to help show you the blind spots," he says. "Sometimes companies refuse to look in the mirror. Sometimes they act as though it's a carnival carnival, communal celebration, especially the religious celebration in Catholic countries that takes place just before Lent. Since early times carnivals have been accompanied by parades, masquerades, pageants, and other forms of revelry that had their origins in mirror. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , it makes them look fat and they don't don't 1. Contraction of do not. 2. Nonstandard Contraction of does not. n. A statement of what should not be done: a list of the dos and don'ts. think they are fat," he says. One of BP's blind spots was its reliance on occupational illness and injury rates, which limited its perception of process risk within the U.S. refineries. Personal safety statistics, unlike process safety statistics, are widely tracked, benehmarked and reported, according to the report. BP tracked metrics metrics Managed care A popular term for standards by which the quality of a product, service, or outcome of a particular form of Pt management is evaluated. See TQM. such as fatalities, days away from work, ease frequencies and recordable injury rates. But these metrics bear little relation to the state of process safety, the report said. "BP interpreted improving injury statistics, which are widely tracked in the industry, as an indication of acceptable process safety performance at its U.S. refineries," the panel said in its report. "BP's reliance on this data and its inadequate process safety understanding created a false sense of confidence that BP was properly addressing process safety risks at these refineries," the report said. The panel also found that: * BP did not provide effective process safety leadership in making certain its management and U.S. refining workforce understood what was expected of them regarding process safety performance. * Process safety leadership appeared to have suffered as a result of high turnover of refinery plant managers. * At some of the refineries, BP had not established a positive, trusting and open environment with effective lines of communication "Lines of Communication" is an episode from the fourth season of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5. Synopsis Franklin and Marcus attempt to persuade the Mars resistance to assist Sheridan in opposing President Clark. between management and the workforce. * BP had not always ensured that it identified and provided the resources required for strong process safety performance, including both financial and human resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. . * BP also did not effectively incorporate process safety considerations into management decision-making decision-making, n the process of coming to a conclusion or making a judgment. decision-making, evidence-based, n a type of informal decision-making that combines clinical expertise, patient concerns, and evidence gathered from that affected U.S. refineries. * Workers held the widespread view that profit came before safety. In the report, the panel repeatedly emphasized the difference between personal safety and process safety. Personal or occupational safety hazards give rise to incidents--such as slips, falls and vehicle accidents--that primarily affect one individual worker for each occurrence, according to the report. Process safety hazards, on the other hand, can give rise to major accidents involving the release of potentially dangerous materials, fires and explosions. These major incidents may not happen very often, but when they do happen, they can have widespread repercussions repercussions npl → répercussions fpl repercussions npl → Auswirkungen pl for the company and the surrounding community as well. These incidents can result in injuries and fatalities, as well as widespread property and environmental damage. A major incident also could lead to long and costly litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. , the loss of reputation and significant financial losses. BP has set aside $1.6 billion to compensate victims and was hit with a $21.3 million fine by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), U.S. agency established (1970) in the Dept. of Labor (see Labor, United States Department of) to develop and enforce regulations for the safety and health of workers in businesses that are engaged in interstate regarding the accident. LESSONS PROCESSED To reduce the risk of a major loss, companies in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and oil and gas industries should practice process safety management. Process safety management got its start in the mid- mid- pref. Middle: midbrain. 1980s in response to the infamous in·fa·mous adj. 1. Having an exceedingly bad reputation; notorious. 2. Causing or deserving infamy; heinous: an infamous deed. 3. Law a. Bhopal disaster The Bhopal Disaster took place in the early hours of the morning of December 3 1984,[1] in the heart of the city of Bhopal in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. in India India, officially Republic of India, republic (2005 est pop. 1,080,264,000), 1,261,810 sq mi (3,268,090 sq km), S Asia. The second most populous country in the world, it is also sometimes called Bharat, its ancient name. India's land frontier (c. . In December December: see month. 1984, a Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation (Union Carbide) is one of the oldest chemical and polymers companies in the United States, and currently has more than 3,800 employees. subsidiary's pesticide pesticide, biological, physical, or chemical agent used to kill plants or animals that are harmful to people; in practice, the term pesticide is often applied only to chemical agents. plant released 40 tons of methyl isocyanate methyl isocyanate n. A crystalline compound, C2H3NS, used as a pesticide. gas, immediately killing nearly 3,000 people and ultimately causing at least 15,000 to 22,000 total deaths. It is frequently cited as one of the world's worst industrial disasters. Although process safety management has been around for about two decades, there is still room for improvement, especially in the oil refinery industry, according to some experts. In June June: see month. , OSHA announced it was launching a national program to determine if refineries were complying with its process safety management standard. As part of this program, OSHA says it will inspect 81 refineries over the next two years. OSHA said that the program was prompted by the large number of incidents involving catastrophic releases of highly hazardous chemicals at refineries. Since the process safety management standard was promulgated prom·ul·gate tr.v. prom·ul·gat·ed, prom·ul·gat·ing, prom·ul·gates 1. To make known (a decree, for example) by public declaration; announce officially. See Synonyms at announce. 2. by OSHA in 1992, "no other industry sector has had as many fatal or catastrophic incidents related to the release of (highly hazardous chemicals) as the petroleum refining industry," OSHA said in a directive. In its report, the Baker panel said it was under no illusion Illusion See also Appearances, Deceiving. Barmecide feast imaginary feast served t0 beggar by prince. [Arab. Lit.: Arabian Nights, “The Barmecide’s Feast”] Emperor’s New Clothes that the deficiencies in process safety culture, management or corporate oversight identified in its report were limited to BP. The panel said it believes all companies in the refining, chemical and other process industries should give serious consideration to its recommendations. "You want your top management to really determine (process safety management) is something that is important and set priorities, and the good programs and good resources flow from there," says Scott Berger, director of the Center for Chemical Process Safety. "Even if companies have always been champions of process safety, they should go look again and just make sure that they haven't perhaps assumed that, since no accident has happened recently, that everything is fine," Berger says. Many companies know they need to practice process safety management and understand that it can help reduce the risk of a serious incident, says Dave Seaman
Dave Seaman (born Apr 29 1936) is a British dance music DJ and record producer. He was formerly a member of the DMC Publishing, and editor of music magazine Mixmag. , vice president and engineering manager at FM Global's chemical operations Noun 1. chemical operations - warfare using chemical agents to kill or injure or incapacitate the enemy chemical warfare war, warfare - the waging of armed conflict against an enemy; "thousands of people were killed in the war" . "Most of (our customers) are at the point at which they realize that it makes sense to practice PSM PSM PlayStation Magazine PSM Process Safety Management (chemical industry) PSM Porsche Stability Management PSM Platform-Specific Model(s) PSM Platform Support Module PSM Professional Science Master's and to have a culture at a plant from the operating level to the plant manager--that it makes sense from a business standpoint The Standpoint is a newspaper published in the British Virgin Islands. It was originally published under the name Pennysaver, largely as a shopping-coupon promotional newspaper, but since emerged as one of the most influential sources of journalism in the ," Seaman SEAMAN. A sailor; a mariner; one whose business is navigation. 2 Boulay Paty, Dr. Com. 232; Code de Commerce art. 262; Laws of Oleron, art. 7; Laws of Wishuy, art. 19. The term seamen, in it most enlarged sense, includes the captain a well as other persons of the crew; in a more confined says. "If you practice PSM, not only will you have fewer incidents, you will have fewer releases, your name will be in the press a lot less," he says. "To do that, it means the reliability of your operations has to improve; so it is good for business," he says. Even so, many companies still need to do a better job on process safety, Arendt says. In response to the Baker panel report, many companies are now taking a hard look at their process safety management practices, he says. As part of this self-examination self-examination n. 1. An introspective consideration of one's own thoughts or emotions. 2. Examination of one's own body for medical reasons. , a number of companies have asked Arendt to visit their facilities and perform evaluations. "A lot of companies are trying to figure out how to assimilate as·sim·i·late v. 1. To consume and incorporate nutrients into the body after digestion. 2. To transform food into living tissue by the process of anabolism. these lessons," he says. Although most companies are familiar with process safety management, their performance can stagnate stag·nate intr.v. stag·nat·ed, stag·nat·ing, stag·nates To be or become stagnant. [Latin st after awhile a·while adv. For a short time. Usage Note: Awhile, an adverb, is never preceded by a preposition such as for, but the two-word form a while may be preceded by a preposition. , Arendt says. To get a better understanding of their process safety hazards, some companies are now developing their own metrics for measuring process safety. Traditional safety metrics, such as the number of accidents and injuries, are lagging indicators Lagging indicators Economic indicators that follow rather than precede the country's overall pace of economic activity. See also: Leading indicators and coincident indicators. . Those indicators provide information about injuries from incidents that have already happened. They are not all that useful, however, when it comes to large-scale incidents. "What we are trying to do is prevent a rare event from occurring," Arendt says. "You can't measure the rate at which something happens that almost never happens," he says. Leading indicators Leading Indicator A measurable economic factor that changes before the economy starts to follow a particular pattern or trend. Leading indicators are used to predict changes in the economy, but are not always accurate. , therefore, help to provide information about how well a process safety management system is performing. Some of these leading indicators attempt to measure things such as the: * incident rate * near-miss rate * rate at which there are unsafe acts or a failure to follow procedures * rate at which a company fails to fix problems they know about * rate at which the company fails to identify problems--in other words, an inspection backlog Backlog The total value of sales orders waiting to be fulfilled. Notes: This figure is used mainly in the manufacturing industry. Increases or decreases in a company's backlog indicate the future direction of sales and earnings. * failure to adequately assess the risk The chemical and refining industries have found religion, for now, Arendt says. But he's not sure how long it will last. "Everyone right now is serious about it," Arendt says. "Over time, the urgency and the religion that companies get can decay The reduction of strength of a signal or charge. decay - [Nuclear physics] An automatic conversion which is applied to most array-valued expressions in C; they "decay into" pointer-valued expressions pointing to the array's first element. away," he says. "It will be interesting to see what happens in two or three years." BP, for its part, issued a statement in January saying it will implement the recommendations made by the panel as part of the company's continuing effort to improve its safety culture and to strengthen and standardize stan·dard·ize v. 1. To cause to conform to a standard. 2. To evaluate by comparing with a standard. process safety management at BP's five U.S. refineries. BP has already undertaken a number of measures, including dedicating significant resources and personnel, to improve the process safety performance at the BP refineries. The company also has said it will develop plans for additional action at its U.S. refineries and for applying lessons learned elsewhere. As the Texas City incident shows, however, it is easy for companies to become complacent com·pla·cent adj. 1. Contented to a fault; self-satisfied and unconcerned: He had become complacent after years of success. 2. Eager to please; complaisant. and to believe that they are doing a good job on safety just because their occupational injury rates are improving. "If there's a lesson there, it's that you can't rest, you have to always be vigilant," Berger says. @ On the Web * The Baker panel report on the Texas City refinery incident. * OSHA's inspecting for process safety management--what are they looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. ? * Our exclusive (and downloadable) industry risk report table. www.riskandinsurance.com PATRICIA PATRICIA Practical Algorithm To Retrieve Information Coded In Alphanumeric PATRICIA Proving and Testability for Reliability Improvement of Complex Integrated Architectures PATRICIA PApilloma TRIal Cervical cancer In young Adults VOWINKEL lives in New Jersey. She can be reached at riskletters@lrp.com.
Industry risk report CHEMICALS
Environmental and product liability risks can easily erode the good
standing and the healthy balance sheets of any chemical company. As a
result, many have set aside tens of millions of dollars in reserves to
cover their liabilities. In addition, some manufacturers conduct
annual risk assessments to make sure they have a viable remediation
strategy that takes into account the changes in the legal and
regulatory landscape to which companies are exposed.
Company Name Location CRO
Lyondell Chemical Co. Houston, Texas Mark Wilson, Assistant
Treasurer
PPG Industries Inc. Pittsburgh, Pa David McClain, Director,
Insurance and Fleet
Services
Huntsman Int. LLC Saft Lake City, Lee Skidmore, Assistant
Utah Treasurer
Air Products and Allentown, Pa. John Lafferty, Risk and
Chemicals Inc. Insurance Management
Praxair Inc. Danbury, Conn. Steve Angel, Chairman
and CEO
Rohm and Haas Co. Philadelphia, Pa. Luis Pereira, Director,
Insurance and Real Estate
Sherwin-Williams Co. Cleveland, Ohio Gerald Berkshire, Corp.
Director Risk Management
Eastman Chemical Co. Kingsport, Tenn. Peter Roueche, Manager,
Risk Management and
Insurance
Monsanto Co. St. Louis, Mo. Don Spurlock, Director,
Risk Management
Ashland Inc. Covington, Ky. David Huff, Corporate
Insurance Director
2006 Total No. of
Company Name CFO Revenue Employees
Lyondell Chemical Co. Kevin DeNicola $22.22 billion 10,905
PPG Industries Inc. William Hernandez $11.03 billion 32,200
Huntsman Int. LLC J. Kimo Esplinis $10.62 billion 15,000
Air Products and Paul Huck $8.85 billion 20,700
Chemicals Inc.
Praxair Inc. James Sawyer $8.32 billion 27,042
Rohm and Haas Co. Jacques $8.23 billion 15,800
Croisetiere
Sherwin-Williams Co. Sean Hennessy $7.81 billio 30,767
Eastman Chemical Co. Richard Lorraine $7.45 billion 11,000
Monsanto Co. Terry Crews $7.34 billion 17,500
Ashland Inc. J. Marvin Quin $7.23 billion 11,700
Primary
Company Name Broker Captives
Lyondell Chemical Co. Withheld Withheld
PPG Industries Inc. Withheld Withheld
Huntsman Int. LLC Withheld Withheld
Air Products and Withheld Withheld
Chemicals Inc.
Praxair Inc. Various Tradewinds Insurance Ltd.
(Bermuda)
Rohm and Haas Co. Willis and ABD Rohm and Haas Vermont
Financial Co. (Vermont) Rohm
Services Inc. and Haas Bermuda Co.
(Bermuda)
Sherwin-Williams Co. Withheld Withhel
Eastman Chemical Co. Withheld Withheld
Monsanto Co. Willis, Aon, Monsure Ltd. (Bermuda)
Marsh
Ashland Inc. Withheld Ashmont Insurance Co.
Inc. (Vermont)
Company Name Risk Exposure:
Lyondell Chemical Co. A subsidiary of Lyondell, Houston Refining
LLP, depends on PDVSA, an affiliate of the
national oil company of Venezuela for much of
its crude oil supply. As such, the company's
crude oil supply is subject to political
volatility in that nation. In addition,
Lyondell anticipates difficulties in settling
any contract disputes with an entity whose
management does not reside in the U.S. In
addition, the company is highly leveraged.
PPG Industries Inc. PPG's primary legal liability exposure stems
from ongoing asbestos lawsuits. Chiefly, PPG
faces exposure from its manufacture of thermal
insulation in a joint venture with Pittsburgh
Coming Corporation. As a chemical company, PPG
is also subject to the volatility of natural
gas prices.
Huntsman Int. LLC Huntsman is a manufacturer of MTBE, or methyl
tertiary butyl ether. MTBE is a gasoline
additive that has been found to pollute
groundwater supplies. Restricted in the U.S.,
Huntsman continues to sell MTBE to countries
outside the U.S. Lawsuits alleging MTBE
contamination have been filed against some
MTBE manufacturers. Huntsman is not a
defendant, but could become one. The firm's
Gulf Coast operations in the past have
suffered hurricane damage and could do so in
the future.
Air Products and As a manufacturer and supplier of pressurized,
Chemicals Inc. highly volatile gases such as hydrogen and
helium, Air Products is vulnerable to
environmental hazards such as hurricanes at
its Gulf Coast operations, and earthquakes at
its operations in Southern California. The
company estimated its 2006 exposure for
environmental remediation at certain sites at
between $52 million and $70 million.
Praxair Inc. The company's predominant risks are identified
in such areas as product and project sourcing,
safety, operational risk and customer
concerns. its operational risks are in the
area of property (plant and equipment),
business and customer interruption, vehicle
liability and workers' compensation.
Rohm and Haas Co. The company is the subject of various lawsuits
alleging environmental harm from its
operations. Those actions include a November
2006 class-action filing in U.S. District
Court in Western Kentucky, which seeks damages
stemming from Rohm and Haas' Louisville
operations. Additional filings allege
environmental damage from the company's
Ringwood, Ill. operations and damages
associated with operations in Pennsylvania.
Sherwin-Williams Co. As a paint manufacturer, Sherwin-Williams has
numerous legacy legal liabilities stemming
from the manufacture and use of lead-based
paints. Active legal actions against the
company include lawsuits by the State of Rhode
Island and similar actions by various cities,
smaller municipalities and school districts.
Eastman Chemical Co. Like many chemical manufacturers, Eastman
Chemical accrues liability for contamination
at its manufacturing sites. The company's
year-end obligation for such remediation at
the end of 2006 as reported in its annual
report was $47 million.
Monsanto Co. Monsanto, which innovates in the field of
plant biotechnology, views itself more and
more as a technology company and less and less
as a chemical company, according to Risk
Management Director Don Spurlock. With that in
mind, Spurlock said the company views its
chief risk as intellectual property theft.
Ashland Inc. Ashland is exposed to asbestos litigation
claims. The claims stem primarily from
indemnification obligations undertaken in 1990
in connection with the sale of the Riley
Stokes Corporation, a former subsidiary of
Ashland. As a result of the transaction,
Ashland is responsible for and faces financial
exposure for those liabilities.
Company Name Risk Strategies
Lyondell Chemical Co. Lyondell maintains property, business
interruption and casualty insurance that it
believes are in accordance with customary
industry practices, but it is not fully
insured against all potential hazards,
according to its 2006 annual report. The
company also pursues transactions that it
believes will result in synergies, the
creation of efficiencies or the generation of
cash to reduce debt.
PPG Industries Inc. At the end of 2006, PPG had set aside $376
million for environmental liabilities of which
$94 million is for current liabilities. PPG
plans to battle increasing prices for raw
materials globally by seeking alternate supply
sources and by raising its selling prices.
Huntsman Int. LLC Huntsman has developed policy and management
systems to enable it to comply with various
state and federal health, safety and
environmental regulations. The company carries
property damage and business interruption
insurance and has collected on such policies
for hurricane and fire damage in recent years.
Air Products and According to Air Products 2006 annual report,
Chemicals Inc. "The Company's policy is to obtain public
liability and property insurance coverage that
is currently available at what management
determines to be a fair and reasonable price.
The Company maintains public liability and
property insurance coverage at amounts that
management believes are sufficient to meet the
Company's anticipated needs in light of
historical experience to cover future
litigation and claims."
Praxair Inc. Praxair conducts a Global Enterprise Risk
Assessment annually to identify the major
risks for its various businesses and to
establish risk mitigation actions. The risk
factors are determined and ranked based on
both the potential dollar impact as well as
the likelihood of an occurrence.
Rohm and Haas Co. Rohm and Haas had reserves of $141 million for
environment-related costs as of Dec. 31, 2006.
The company also uses in-house staff to
forecast costs of future remediation. The
company also has established reserves to
provide for the cost of geographic
repositioning of manufacturing sites for
strategic purposes.
Sherwin-Williams Co. At the end of 2006, top-level executives at
Sherwin-Williams conducted an evaluation of
the company's disclosure controls and
procedures. Based on that evaluation, the
company's CEO and CFO determined that
Sherwin-Williams' disclosure controls and
procedures were effective to ensure that the
company is in compliance with federal
securities regulations.
Eastman Chemical Co. The company has obtained insurance that
applies to a portion of the company's defense
costs and payments, settlements or judgments
in connection with asbestos-related lawsuits.
Monsanto Co. Spurlock said he considered good stewardship
of Monsanto technology to be the company's
greatest asset. For example, he said the
company's signature herbicide, Roundup, has
been on the market for 35 years and has yet to
experience a "single meaningful issue."
Ashland Inc. Ashland retained reserves for environmental
remediation of $199 million as of Sept. 30,
2006. The company regularly adjusts its
reserves as environmental remediation
continues. The company has retained Hamilton,
Rabinovitz & Alschuler Inc. to assist it in
developing and updating reserve estimates for
future asbestos claims.
COMPILED BY DAN REYNOLDS FROM THE FOLLOWING SOURCES: HOOVER'S, RISK
AND INSURANCE MANAGEMENT SOCIETY INC. DATABASES; COMPANY FILINGS AND
REPRESENTATIVES.
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