May 3, 2023
As Safety Day approaches on May 5, it is time for us all to reflect on the importance of Environmental, Health & Safety (EH&S) programs.
Trinseo’s 2030 Sustainability Goals highlight personal safety and environmental protection as top priorities because they significantly impact our employees and the communities where we operate. Our goals reflect these priorities through achieving one or more years of zero recordable injuries for employees and contractors globally by 2030, as well as eliminating opportunities for waste and spills into the environment.
Regarding the safety of those that work at our facilities, we have made significant progress in reducing injuries. Trinseo has achieved an injury rate of 0.28 per 200,000 hours worked, which puts Trinseo in the upper echelons of the chemical industry for safety. As proud as I am of this low injury rate, it leaves room for improvement. I want our employees to come to work and know their safety is our priority, always, every day.
What many may not realize is that EH&S requirements and guidelines are often built on hard-learned and life-changing lessons of the past. EH&S events can impact everything we hold dear and can also have impacts that go beyond our operations.
Lessons Learned
EH&S relies on lessons learned from industry history that enables us to keep improving our standards to help protect our employees, our communities, and the environment.
These experiences have shaped how our industry operates, including how we build our manufacturing facilities. We understand that responsible operations are paramount to success, and this includes delivering safe manufacturing environments for our employees and communities.
In March 2023, Trinseo experienced an accidental release of latex emulsion product at our Altuglas LLC manufacturing plant in Bristol, Pennsylvania. We reported the event and cooperated closely with local, state, and federal authorities on the response to minimize the impact to the environment and the community.
This incident serves as an opportunity to continue to seek and implement process improvements throughout our operations globally. We recognize that responsible operations are essential for maintaining the health and safety of our employees and the communities where our facilities operate, and we are dedicated to meeting that commitment.
Moving Forward
Our past lessons inform our future actions and allow us to move forward to improve and do better. We must continue to effectively communicate EH&S practices, policies, and changes to employees.
At Trinseo, we are providing personal connections to our EH&S initiatives through discussions about how workplace injuries can impact employees’ lives or how our operations interact with our communities. We are talking about it from the top down to help us continue to improve—from our global company wide video calls to team meetings on-site and discussions with our customers and communities—we continue to emphasize the importance of safety. Sometimes, these are difficult conversations, and sometimes it’s just a friendly reminder to hold the railing on the stairs. However, they are all important steps to working safely and protecting people and the environment.
EH&S plays a vital role in company culture, morale, and productivity. As we continue to build toward our 2030 Sustainability Goals, we want to set the expectations for our employees and communities that we are prioritizing safety and environmental protection.