18 SOCMA Member Facilities Exceed ChemStewards® EHS&S Benchmarks

Qualify for "Excellence" Ranking

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA) announced today that 18 member facilities are now exceeding key ChemStewards® benchmarks, qualifying them for the program's highest ranking, known as the Excellence Tier. To date, 10 percent of facilities participating in the environmental, health, safety and security (EHS&S) program have qualified for this distinction.

The 18 facilities are represented by the following companies:

• Baker Hughes
• Gabriel Performance Products
• Grace (Synthetech)
• Johann Haltermann
• KMCO
• McGean
• Noramco
• Optima Chemical
• Strem Chemicals

"We congratulate all 18 facilities on their hard work throughout the year to optimize their performance and achieve this ranking," said ChemStewards Managing Director J. Holland Jordan, Ph.D. "SOCMA members are continuously striving for superior EHS&S performance and embrace the ideals of continuous improvement."

ChemStewards is an industry-developed EHS&S program designed for the batch, custom and specialty chemical industry. It's based on a three-tier system with key performance requirements per tier with increasing levels of difficulty. Tier One is known as Fundamental, and Tier Two is Enhanced Performance – the standard tier for ChemStewards participants. To qualify for Excellence, or Tier Three, facilities must sign core principles, complete security requirements, meet specific metrics obligations and requirements, have at least one documented management review meeting and complete a third-party verification of management systems at the Enhanced Performance (Tier Two) level.

To maintain their ranking, facilities must sustain EHS&S performance metrics at or above the Excellence criteria. To read the ChemStewards White Paper, click here.

About SOCMA

SOCMA is the only U.S.-based trade association dedicated solely to the batch, custom and specialty chemical industry. Since 1921, we have represented a diverse membership, making us the leading authority on this sector. www.socma.com

ChemStewards® is SOCMA's flagship environmental, health, safety and security (EHS&S) continuous performance improvement program. ChemStewards was created from industry's commitment to reducing our environmental footprint. Industry created ChemStewards to meet the unique needs of the batch, custom and specialty chemical industry. www.chemstewards.com

Contact:
Jenny Gaines
Manager, Public Relations & Media
(202) 721-4123
gainesj@socma.com

SOURCE Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates