Companies Build Strong Relationships with Neighbors
Effective EHS&S communication builds trust through transparency and timeliness
Cynthia Challener/Vermont
THE GENERAL public has greater access to information about chemicals than ever before, but that has not meant that people have fewer questions for the chemical manufacturers in their midst. On the contrary, their questions are only more sophisticated, a development the chemical industry must keep in mind when communicating about environmental, health, safety and security (EHS&S) performance.
In such an atmosphere, building relationships with surrounding communities, honest discussion of issues and plans to address them, and timely information are more important than ever to a successful communications program.
"Tremendous changes have occurred over the past 10 years that have required chemical companies to modify their approaches to communicating about EHS&S," says Debra Phillips, managing director for Responsible Care at the American Chemistry Council.
The internet and email have made it possible for the public to gain access to much more information with much less effort than previously possible. As a result, this group of stakeholders is not only more sophisticated, but more interested in longer-term issues. They also expect very quick reactions.
"Previously, people wanted to know about short-term problems like odors near a plant, employment decisions or discharges," Phillips explains. "Today, they are aware of biomonitoring and other similar activities, and they want to know how their children and grandchildren might be affected. Chemical companies must appreciate the increased sophistication of these external stakeholders and talk about the issues they are concerned about."
But the emergence of sustainability as a fundamental business approach has provided chemical firms with an umbrella beneath which they can present a more cohesive story.
"In the past, there was a tendency to piecemeal," says Phillips. "But now companies can leverage the knowledge that people have developed around sustainability to get their overall message understood."
Even as the tools for communicating and the information being communicated have changed, certain aspects of EHS&S reporting have remained the same. "Most importantly," asserts Phillips, "companies must recognize the concerns of the public and address them, whether they are about odor, emissions, carbon footprint or energy consumption."
Surveys conducted by the ACC have shown that the public perceives in a far more positive light firms that discuss their plans and goals for managing EHS&S issues, even if they fall short of the targets they set.
"The specific approach varies from company to company. What resonates with the stakeholders is being upfront and as visionary as possible," Phillips remarks.
"Having spokespeople available to address any concerns from the public and proactively communicating developments within this area also contribute to maintaining credibility with the public," adds Edward Madzy, director of product stewardship and regulations at BASF.
For W. R. Grace & Co., transparency, openness and honesty are the most critical components of communicating with the public. "Firms need to make EHS information readily available, and be open and honest with customers, regulators, neighbors and other stakeholders when communicating performance in all areas of environment, health and safety," says Karen Ethier, vice president of environment, health and safety for the company.
Having a consistent message is important, too. "Ensuring the consistency and accuracy of information across all sources, whether it's in external and internal reports, on the web or at public and industry events, is a key consideration for effectively communicating EHS&S performance with the public," says BASF's Madzy.
ID YOUR STAKEHOLDERS
Properly identifying your stakeholders, knowing what is important to each, and selecting the appropriate tools for communicating with these different groups lead to more effective communications efforts, according to Steve Russell, chairman and CEO of Celadon Group, a trucking company that has earned the highest score available to carriers participating in the US Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay Transport program.
Immediate action is critical, particularly in difficult situations. Companies that communicate right away about what has happened and what is being done to solve the problem do far better than those that wait a day or two to develop a polished message.
To get their message out to stakeholders, companies continue to make use of more traditional communication methods as well as using new technologies. In addition to providing information on their websites, they participate in various groups including community advisory panels, local emergency planning committees and local business associations, and they also work hard to develop relationships with local legislators, business leaders, teachers and others.
In doing so, they face a variety of challenges, from managing communications for very diverse operations and local cultural expectations to getting local people interested in participating in a dialogue. At Grace, says Ethier, sharing best practices in EHS communication among its global sites and offering direct support from the corporate EHS department to individual locations has helped to address some of these issues.
At Sartomer, community participation is part of a plant manager's job, and all employees are encouraged to get involved in community activities," notes Joanne Cortese, Sartomer's manager, quality, environmental, health, and safety. "It takes time to develop a relationship, but if you are willing to put the effort in, eventually you do establish a connection with the community, and from that you build up a level of trust."
SPARSE INFORMATION
The specific information that companies communicate to the public does vary. In general, though, it is important to provide information on product safety, health and safety performance, environmental performance and security measures, covering the entire spectrum of both positive and negative results.
Part of building trust with local communities, though, is providing officials with a higher level of information than the general public, according to Cortese. "For example, we inform the community when we are considering changes to our facilities, and we do this even in advance of applying for permitting, so that we can get feedback before making any commitments," she says.
At the same time, some information should not be shared, and the public needs to be made aware of the importance of keeping this information private.
"Any information that would compromise a company's competitive advantage among its peers or could create a security threat should not be revealed," states Russell.
In general, companies find that people understand this need to preserve confidential information.
"Most local contacts are business people as well, and they recognize the need for confidentiality. If there is trust established, they understand the need to withhold certain key details and are comfortable with the level of knowledge we do provide," says Cortese.
Sartomer's efforts to establish that level of trust have paid off. In one community, a local organization has asked the company to contact other businesses in the area about participating in a program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In another location, there initially was strong resistance to having the company build a plant. Today those same people look to Sartomer as the "go-to-company" when they need a business leader. "It has been quite rewarding to see these relationships change and develop and grow into a very positive force for Sartomer and the surrounding communities," Cortese says.
BASF, W. R. Grace, Sartomer and Celadon all participate in the ACC's voluntary Responsible Care program and find that it is another effective means for communicating their commitment to improving their EHS&S performance.
"We hope that the chemical industry will move towards adopting one standard for communicating about these issues," says Ethier.
Cortese would also like to see more efforts taking place at the grass roots level.
"If more actions were taken to work directly with communities," she says, "we would see greater acceptance of the industry by the public, and wider spread recognition of how significantly the business of chemistry benefits daily life."
Cynthia Challener/Vermont
THE GENERAL public has greater access to information about chemicals than ever before, but that has not meant that people have fewer questions for the chemical manufacturers in their midst. On the contrary, their questions are only more sophisticated, a development the chemical industry must keep in mind when communicating about environmental, health, safety and security (EHS&S) performance.
In such an atmosphere, building relationships with surrounding communities, honest discussion of issues and plans to address them, and timely information are more important than ever to a successful communications program.
"Tremendous changes have occurred over the past 10 years that have required chemical companies to modify their approaches to communicating about EHS&S," says Debra Phillips, managing director for Responsible Care at the American Chemistry Council.
The internet and email have made it possible for the public to gain access to much more information with much less effort than previously possible. As a result, this group of stakeholders is not only more sophisticated, but more interested in longer-term issues. They also expect very quick reactions.
"Previously, people wanted to know about short-term problems like odors near a plant, employment decisions or discharges," Phillips explains. "Today, they are aware of biomonitoring and other similar activities, and they want to know how their children and grandchildren might be affected. Chemical companies must appreciate the increased sophistication of these external stakeholders and talk about the issues they are concerned about."
But the emergence of sustainability as a fundamental business approach has provided chemical firms with an umbrella beneath which they can present a more cohesive story.
"In the past, there was a tendency to piecemeal," says Phillips. "But now companies can leverage the knowledge that people have developed around sustainability to get their overall message understood."
Even as the tools for communicating and the information being communicated have changed, certain aspects of EHS&S reporting have remained the same. "Most importantly," asserts Phillips, "companies must recognize the concerns of the public and address them, whether they are about odor, emissions, carbon footprint or energy consumption."
Surveys conducted by the ACC have shown that the public perceives in a far more positive light firms that discuss their plans and goals for managing EHS&S issues, even if they fall short of the targets they set.
"The specific approach varies from company to company. What resonates with the stakeholders is being upfront and as visionary as possible," Phillips remarks.
"Having spokespeople available to address any concerns from the public and proactively communicating developments within this area also contribute to maintaining credibility with the public," adds Edward Madzy, director of product stewardship and regulations at BASF.
For W. R. Grace & Co., transparency, openness and honesty are the most critical components of communicating with the public. "Firms need to make EHS information readily available, and be open and honest with customers, regulators, neighbors and other stakeholders when communicating performance in all areas of environment, health and safety," says Karen Ethier, vice president of environment, health and safety for the company.
Having a consistent message is important, too. "Ensuring the consistency and accuracy of information across all sources, whether it's in external and internal reports, on the web or at public and industry events, is a key consideration for effectively communicating EHS&S performance with the public," says BASF's Madzy.
ID YOUR STAKEHOLDERS
Properly identifying your stakeholders, knowing what is important to each, and selecting the appropriate tools for communicating with these different groups lead to more effective communications efforts, according to Steve Russell, chairman and CEO of Celadon Group, a trucking company that has earned the highest score available to carriers participating in the US Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay Transport program.
Immediate action is critical, particularly in difficult situations. Companies that communicate right away about what has happened and what is being done to solve the problem do far better than those that wait a day or two to develop a polished message.
To get their message out to stakeholders, companies continue to make use of more traditional communication methods as well as using new technologies. In addition to providing information on their websites, they participate in various groups including community advisory panels, local emergency planning committees and local business associations, and they also work hard to develop relationships with local legislators, business leaders, teachers and others.
In doing so, they face a variety of challenges, from managing communications for very diverse operations and local cultural expectations to getting local people interested in participating in a dialogue. At Grace, says Ethier, sharing best practices in EHS communication among its global sites and offering direct support from the corporate EHS department to individual locations has helped to address some of these issues.
At Sartomer, community participation is part of a plant manager's job, and all employees are encouraged to get involved in community activities," notes Joanne Cortese, Sartomer's manager, quality, environmental, health, and safety. "It takes time to develop a relationship, but if you are willing to put the effort in, eventually you do establish a connection with the community, and from that you build up a level of trust."
SPARSE INFORMATION
The specific information that companies communicate to the public does vary. In general, though, it is important to provide information on product safety, health and safety performance, environmental performance and security measures, covering the entire spectrum of both positive and negative results.
Part of building trust with local communities, though, is providing officials with a higher level of information than the general public, according to Cortese. "For example, we inform the community when we are considering changes to our facilities, and we do this even in advance of applying for permitting, so that we can get feedback before making any commitments," she says.
At the same time, some information should not be shared, and the public needs to be made aware of the importance of keeping this information private.
"Any information that would compromise a company's competitive advantage among its peers or could create a security threat should not be revealed," states Russell.
In general, companies find that people understand this need to preserve confidential information.
"Most local contacts are business people as well, and they recognize the need for confidentiality. If there is trust established, they understand the need to withhold certain key details and are comfortable with the level of knowledge we do provide," says Cortese.
Sartomer's efforts to establish that level of trust have paid off. In one community, a local organization has asked the company to contact other businesses in the area about participating in a program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In another location, there initially was strong resistance to having the company build a plant. Today those same people look to Sartomer as the "go-to-company" when they need a business leader. "It has been quite rewarding to see these relationships change and develop and grow into a very positive force for Sartomer and the surrounding communities," Cortese says.
BASF, W. R. Grace, Sartomer and Celadon all participate in the ACC's voluntary Responsible Care program and find that it is another effective means for communicating their commitment to improving their EHS&S performance.
"We hope that the chemical industry will move towards adopting one standard for communicating about these issues," says Ethier.
Cortese would also like to see more efforts taking place at the grass roots level.
"If more actions were taken to work directly with communities," she says, "we would see greater acceptance of the industry by the public, and wider spread recognition of how significantly the business of chemistry benefits daily life."
quoted from: www.ICIS.com
