Health and Safety Executive

HSE Chair speaks on Process Safety and Performance Measurement at Cefic Responsible Care Conference

E05108         October 2008

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Chair Judith Hackitt reminded senior managers and safety professionals to put leadership and effective process safety and performance measurement high on their agenda.

Giving a keynote address at the Cefic Annual Responsible Care conference on October 23, Ms Hackitt said: 'Directors and senior managers need to monitor the effectiveness of internal controls to avoid major losses and incidents. Process Safety Performance indicators can provide assurance that major hazard risks are under control, and this is just as applicable and important for Small and Medium sized businesses (SME's). Carefully chosen indicators can monitor the status of key systems and provide an early warning should safety critical systems deteriorate. The importance of good corporate memory and the ability to learn lessons from others cannot be over emphasised".

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has recognised that the HSE is a forerunner in this area and has reflected HSE's approach in their recently revised guidance on Developing Safety Performance Indicators.'

  • An increased assurance on risk management and a protected reputation
  • Demonstrated the suitability of their risk control systems
  • Avoided discovering weaknesses through costly incidents
  • Stopped collecting and reporting performance information which was no longer relevant - thereby saving costs; and
  • Made better use of information already collected for other purposes, e.g. quality management

The annual Cefic Responsible Care Conference attracts between 100-150 delegates from 28 National Chemical Industry Associations and their member companies throughout Europe. The conference is focusing on the improved involvement of SME's in Process safety and performance measurement, occupational Health Provision and Resource efficiency, subjects which have been part of the Responsible Care Initiative for many years and remain as topical as ever.

Notes to editors

HSE has launched a national initiative to encourage the implementation of process safety performance indicators, to share good practice and to provide information which can be used to identify common and underlying causes of incidents and events. An online forum through which companies can exchange ideas, provides guidance on the establishment of performance measures and provides for on-line sharing of information on incidents and events can be viewed at

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Updated 12.01.12