- From 2006 to 2007, the most recent reporting year, distribution incidents increased 3 percent among Responsible Care member companies, while the volume of materials shipped increased by 1 percent for the business of chemistry.
- In 2007, more than 816 million tons of chemical products were shipped by domestic truck, rail, water and other modes of transportation.
- Since 1995, the total number of reportable distribution incidents1 among Responsible Care member companies2 declined by 43 percent, while the volume of chemicals shipped increased 16 percent for the business of chemistry3 overall.
- Through Responsible Care, companies are required to evaluate their transportation companies prior to hiring them and then work closely with them to assure safe and secure delivery of their chemical products.
- ACC members work closely with their transportation partners through a program called TRANSCAER®, which seeks to educate and prepare companies, communities and emergency service personnel to respond to a possible hazardous material transportation incident. Each year, TRANSCAER® provides thousands of emergency responders and local officials, at hundreds of sites nationwide, unique hands-on emergency training experiences.
- With the addition of the Severity Rating System, roughly all of the incidents are minor in nature. More than half of the distribution incidents were rated as negligible, meaning that less than 10 pounds of material was released, no injuries occurred and minimal product and property damages were incurred as a result of the incident. In fact, only one of the 1,224 incidents received a severity rating of 1. 99 percent of all incidents were either Negligible or Level 4 or Level 3.
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Reportable Distribution Incidents1 Data for Responsible Care Companies2 and Volume of Chemicals shipped by the Business of Chemistry3
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1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
Responsible Care Companies
Reportable Distribution Incidents |
2,142 |
2,237 |
2,310 |
2,189 |
2,353 |
2,227 |
2,162 |
1,528 |
1,508 |
1,402 |
1,096 |
1,183 |
1,224 |
Business of Chemistry
Products Shipped (million tons) |
705 |
716 |
731 |
736 |
758 |
785 |
763 |
773 |
779 |
799 |
778 |
784 |
816 |
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Reportable Distribution Incidents1 Data for Responsible Care Companies2 displayed by Severity Rating
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| The above pie chart is for the 2009 Reporting year, based on incidents that happened during the 2007 Calendar Year. |
2007 |
| Number of Negligible Incidents |
742 |
| Number of Level 4 Incidents |
292 |
| Number of Level 3 Incidents |
178 |
| Number of Level 2 Incidents |
11 |
| Number of Level 1 Incidents |
1 |
*Note Level 4 is the least severe*
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About These Data
Sources: Association of American Railroads, Bureau of the Census, Reebie Associates, US Army Corps of Engineers, American Chemistry Council analysis.
For more information on hazardous materials incidents, contact the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Hazardous Material Safety.
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Notes
1Reportable Distribution Incidents: Incidents involving hazardous material or hazardous waste reported by carriers to the Department of Transportation (DOT) on Form 5800.1, as required by DOT in 49 CFR 171.16.
2Responsible Care companies: Refers to members of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), which, as part of their obligations under the Responsible Care program, submit annual performance data that is made publicly available on this website.
3The Business of Chemistry: Based on the U.S. government’s North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 325. Includes inorganic and organic chemicals, synthetic materials, specialties, agricultural chemicals, pharmaceuticals, soaps and detergents, and other chemical products. Where company-specific data are not available, particularly in the area of economics, business of chemistry data are used to approximate Responsible Care companies. Responsible Care companies represent a sub-segment of the business of chemistry.
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