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Occupational Health & Safety
We continue to pursue excellence in occupational health and safety to better protect our employees, contractors, neighbors and the environment from hazards.
Our employees are our most valuable asset, and it is our responsibility as an employer to provide a safe work environment and promote wellness across the workforce. This focus on health and safety has been deeply ingrained at Cabot throughout our history and serves as a central theme in our culture. Our goal is for all employees to return home in the same condition as when they arrived at work.
As part of our Drive to Zero initiative, we have set a long-term goal of having no injuries at our facilities worldwide. Recognizing that it may take many years to achieve this ambitious goal, we also established a nearer-term target of being represented in the top 10% of our peer chemical companies for safety performance. To help meet these goals, we provide training to all employees on safety procedures that meets or exceeds all applicable government regulations and internal standards.
People Safety
In calendar year 2023, we achieved industry-leading safety performance, with a Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) of 0.20, placing Cabot in the top decile of manufacturing companies. As we cultivate a learning organization, we are continuously sharing and applying best practices across all our global sites with a focus on line-of-fire, bodily motion and hazard recognition.
Process safety
Process safety is a critical aspect of our commitment to protecting workers and our communities as well as preventing property damage and releases to the environment. In calendar year 2023, we achieved an exceptional year for process safety, with no Tier 1 Process Safety Incidents and an overall reduction in process safety incidents. For the second year in a row, we have exceeded our 2025 Sustainability Goal to reduce significant process safety incidents 50% below 2019 levels. We are encouraged by these trends while staying vigilant in our pursuit of identifying additional opportunities to prevent future incidents.
Operational Excellence
By acting responsibly and promoting safety and environmental excellence throughout our organization, we have established a leadership position among global chemical manufacturing companies with a record of world-class SH&E performance. With a mindset of continuous improvement, we remain focused on further advancing our SH&E performance and our ability to improving the safety of our products and processes.
Audit and Assessment
Our comprehensive safety, health and environmental (SH&E) audit program helps promote regulatory compliance while also serving as an opportunity to share best practices and learnings across our network of plants. Guided by our Corporate SH&E Compliance Audit, Assessment and Corrective Action Program Standard, we develop our annual audit schedule using a risk-based approach which includes consideration of factors such as time since last audit, site SH&E performance and tenure of SH&E resources. Our audits are conducted by teams of internal subject matter experts who are supported by external resources, as needed. Each audit includes an evaluation of facility procedures, practices and site conditions to manage compliance with national, state/provincial and local SH&E regulations, internal company standards and industry recognized best practices.
Corrective actions are established for any gaps and closure of those actions is tracked to completion. In 2020, comprehensive SH&E audits were conducted at six locations.
In addition to Corporate SH&E audits, we participate in annual external audits in conjunction with our commitment to Responsible Care and ISO. Our manufacturing facilities also implement annual self-assessment programs as part of our ongoing efforts to continuously evaluate and advance our SH&E compliance performance.
Emergency Management
Cabot is committed to the safety of our employees, contractors, visitors and communities. As part of that commitment, we work to ensure safe and reliable operations at our facilities. We also make sure we are prepared in the event of an emergency at our facilities or the surrounding area. Cabot's Emergency Management program is defined by our Emergency Management Planning Standard which sets out minimum requirements for all our facilities. Included in the Standard are expectations for the identification of risk and potential emergency events; development and implementation of a written Emergency Management Plan, with annual reviews; annual training for all employees and teams on the elements of the plan and testing through drills, exercises and other methods; communication of the plan to local emergency responders and emergency response contractors to ensure sufficient resources will be available if needed.
Cabot has also implemented a Corporate-level Emergency Response and Crisis Communication Plan which identifies a crisis team, defines roles and responsibilities of the members of the team, details steps and communication responsibilities during a crisis event and provides tools and resources for a thorough emergency response.
Chemical Management
We place special attention on the management of chemicals at our locations as part of our commitment to the safety of our employees and communities, as well as our obligations as a member of Responsible Care. We outline our minimum expectations related to storage, handling and transportation of chemicals at our locations in a corporate standard. Compliance with these expectations is regularly evaluated as part of our SH&E audit process. Elements of our program include detailed procedures for maintenance and inspection of tanks and equipment as well as training requirements to ensure employees, contractors and transporters involved with bulk chemical transfer and storage are trained in the environmentally safe operation, maintenance and inspection of bulk chemical storage tanks, pipelines and transfer areas. We also provide training on our emergency response plans, including through the use of drills, to ensure employees, contractor and transporters are familiar with our emergency response procedures and are aware of their responsibilities during an emergency.
We require contracts with all bulk chemical suppliers and transporters that outline expectations for their transportation and operating procedures as well as use of equipment appropriate for the task. These measures help us to manage our risks as well as ensure compliance with applicable regulations, permits and standards
As part of Cabot’s Enterprise Risk Management program, significant risks are assessed, and appropriate mitigation strategies are reviewed. Transportation risks are included in this process. For those transportation risks that could present more significant outcomes, Cabot has contracted with outside consultants to audit and recommend improvement opportunities which are then acted upon to ensure that these risks are controlled and reduced to the lowest acceptable level.
Contractor Management
Contractors play an important role in the operation of our facilities. We treat any safety incidents related to contractors in the same manner as we would an employee-related incident. In fact, Cabot includes any contractor injuries in our safety incident rates to make sure we are managing all incidents with the same level of rigor.
Before partnering with a contractor, we conduct a thorough prequalification process which includes an evaluation of past safety and environmental performance. Contractors are assessed on their capabilities to manage the specific hazards and risks associated with the work, the qualifications of their team and their SH&E systems.
Each facility provides a comprehensive safety orientation to all contractors prior to beginning work. Retraining is required annually. In addition, contractors must demonstrate they have successfully completed any task-specific training required and that they possess all required qualifications and trade licenses.
Compliance with Cabot's requirements is monitored with field safety observations and auditing of the site's contractor safety management system.
Carbon Black Facilities Recognized for Global Safety Leadership
Through its Safety Performance Recognition Program, the International Carbon Black Association (ICBA) identifies facilities across the globe that have excelled in protecting the carbon black industry’s most precious resource: its workforce. Nineteen of our carbon black manufacturing sites across our global network have been recognized by the ICBA for its outstanding safety performance in 2023, with eighteen of our facilities receiving the gold award, the highest recognition available and one receiving the bronze award. A total of 35 ICBA member manufacturing facilities were recognized for above average safety performance, with Cabot achieving the highest percentage of awards at the gold level.
Cabot’s leadership in safety performance was recognized by the National Safety Council (NSC). Our CEO and President, Sean Keohane, was named among a select list of “CEOs Who ‘Get It.’” NSC honors CEOs whose safety strategy encompasses risk reduction, performance measurement, safety management, solutions, and leadership and employee engagement.
Performance
View our latest sustainability report to learn about our progress and goals.
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