Created in Canada in 1985, the Responsible Care programme is a voluntary initiative of the chemical industry on a worldwide scale. Through this programme, companies commit themselves to permanently improving their performance in the areas of health, safety and environmental protection. Companies also commit to measuring their impact and communicating to the public with complete transparency about their performance in these areas.
In the early years, attention was paid mainly to industrial site pollution and worker safety and health protection. Later came concerns about the environment, then the safety of products and consumer protection. Today, the purview has spread to the evaluation of so-called "cocktails of substances" as well as to long-term exposure of the population to infinitesimal doses of certain substances.
Responsible Care covers several areas: from safety to the environment to manufacturing to the transport of raw materials and finished products – to taking into account a product’s intrinsic properties and its implications on matters of safety, health and the environment. Responsible Care is also a matter of transparency as to product performance and sector activities in openly communicating about these matters to different concerned parties or "stakeholders" (unions, local communities, authorities, NGOs, the general public, etc.).
In short, this program has as a mission translating concerns of the sector into concrete actions to meet the requirements of sustainable development. It is also a tool that allows the sector to follow and develop its industrial activities ("licence to operate") as well as to offer products and services responding to public demand ("licence to sell").
Through its commitment to Responsible Care, the chemical industry proves that it operates conscientiously and responsibly. This commitment also emphasises its desire to follow, indeed even to anticipate, changes in legislation to better protect the environment and the population. The chemical industry knows that it is always possible to do better and is continually devoting more effort to health, safety and the environment. The industry aims to win public confidence and is constantly improving its image. All this requires enormous human and financial investments. But the chemical industry has made the sacrifice and is firmly committed. At present, the chemical industry is the industrial sector that posts the best results in matters of safety, health and the environment. Between 10 and 15% of all investment in the sector is devoted to the protection of health and nature.