Oil and Gas
country. However, it takes much more than good pay to start the ball rolling. Organisations need to go beyond the financial incentive; important as it may be. The safety and health of the employee must not be compromised under any circumstance. Not only that, but care must be extended to his/her family. It is the collective impact of organisations embracing the true values and principles of CSR that lift the whole country. GPIC’s experience has shown that Bahrainis, educated, trained, and properly looked after can compete with the best in the world and even surpass them. Winning two of the highest Safety, Health and Environment Awards: the Sir George Earle Trophy from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) UK and the Robert W. Campbell Award from the National Safety Council of the United States, are but two examples. traditional understanding of corporate philanthropy. It has taken on the form of proactive, hands-on engagement, to assist in meeting the myriad social sector needs, in education, health, development of skills, poverty alleviation, women’s empowerment and improvements in local infrastructure. BGreen: Can you cite few examples of the projects and programmes that reflect your CSR contributions? AJ: All our projects have been designed with forethought to ensure that they can be sustained over long periods of time; the Charity Vegetable Garden, the Fish Farm, and the Bird Sanctuary are but a few examples. Furthermore, our CSR programmes are multi-faceted to cover the widest sectors of the society and designed to penetrate to the lowest level of each sector. BGreen: How important should CSR be to each nation in the GCC? AJ: CSR is a moral responsibility before anything else. Organisations have a very important role to play in the welfare of society. A happy and loyal employee creates a happy workplace and a happy family. A happy family forms a happy society and eventually a prosperous
www.buildgreen.ae
BGreen: GPIC is a founder member of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) based in Dubai, which has a globally recognised environmental programme: the GPCA Responsible Care. Mr. Abdulrahman Jawahery, as the Chairman of the GPCA Responsible Care committee, what is GPCA Responsible Care Initiative? AJ: The GPCA Responsible Care Initiative is the chemical industry’s comprehensive Health, Safety, Security & Environment (HSSE) performance improvement initiative. Originally conceived in 1984 by the Canadian Chemical Producers Association, the initiative was brought to the United States by American Chemistry Council (ACC) in 1988. Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) adopted the Responsible Care Initiative in 2009 thereby bringing this important initiative to the Gulf and Middle East region. Responsible Care Initiative continues to strengthen its commitments and enhance the public credibility of the chemical industry. Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) indices have been taking notice of Responsible Care Initiative companies.
For example, the FTSE Good Index (managed by the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange) has (noted) a significant overlap between Responsible Care Initiative requirements and FTSE Good environmental criteria. Additionally, FTSE has identified the strong possibility of streamlined inclusion on the FTSE Good Index through Responsible Care Initiative implementation, should that be something your publicly-traded, large or mid cap company strives to attain. BGreen: How did this initiative develop? AJ: GPCA member companies would implement Responsible Care Initiative to effectively manage their operations. The idea of establishing a management system approach within Responsible Care Initiative has evolved from several factors. They include: • Management systems are increasingly recognised as key performance drivers by industry and Government. • Businesses are already implementing management system models for organising their internal activities and delivering improved performance. • The need for the industry to demonstrate to stakeholders that it is meeting its Responsible Care Initiative obligations through an independent third-party certification process. Experience with management systems across many business sectors demonstrates that their application provides the most systematic and consistent method for delivering higher levels of performance in environmental, health, safety, security, quality and other areas. The management systems are typically structured around the Plan-Do-Check-Act model; this provides an “engine” to drive performance and continual improvement. The management system itself is a set of organised policies, procedures, work instructions, and practices that express a commitment around a core set of objectives and values. Read the full interview, as well as extensive information on the Responsible Care Initiative online at www.buildgreen.ae.
June 2012
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