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Security is a top priority for the U.S. chemical industry, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) member companies have took a leadership role in security in 2001 when they adopted the Responsible Care Security Code (the Code), an aggressive plan to further enhance security of our facilities, our communities and our products. This bold step taken by the ACC member companies did not go unnoticed by the non-member companies and government agencies.  The Code has been recognized by federal and local government agencies and has been used as a model security program for other trade associations.  ACC member companies have continued to play a leadership role in the area of security through maintaining and upgrading their security systems and working with federal government agencies to provide an overall framework for chemical facility security.  ACC members continue to implement the Responsible Care Security Code, and look toward improving this management practice to stay in the forefront of protecting people, products, and property. 

The Code - which addresses facility, cyber and transportation security - requires companies to conduct comprehensive security vulnerability assessments (SVAs) of their facilities, implement security enhancements, and obtain independent verification that those enhancements have been made. The Code also requires companies to create security management systems, which are documented to provide quality control and assurances.  Implementing the security Code under a strict timeline is mandatory for ACC members and Responsible Care Partner companies

» Download the Responsible Care Security Code (PDF)

ACC carefully tracks its members’ implementation of the Security Code and publicly discloses their performance. Latest statistics gathered demonstrate that:

• To date, 99.25 percent of the ACC members have completed the RCSC on schedule.
• 100 percent of the companies with the March 31, 2007 deadline have now completed full Security Code implementation.
• Of the ACC members required to report on the security metrics prior to 2005, 99.58 percent of Responsible Care facilities completed security vulnerability assessments, the first stage in implementing the Security Code, on time. The remaining 0.42 percent completed the process within 60 days of the deadline, and assessments of all Responsible Care facilities (more than 2,000 nationwide) are now complete. 
• Of the ACC members required to report on the security metrics prior to 2005, 94.75 percent of Responsible Care facilities completed third-party verifications of their security enhancements on time. This step of Security Code implementation requires that facilities bring in third-parties to affirm that the company has implemented the physical security enhancements that were determined necessary as a result of their security vulnerability assessments. 100 percent of Responsible Care facilities have now completed third-party verifications. 
• Companies that have joined ACC since 2005 are also required to implement the RCSC and have approximately three years to fully implement the Code and any security enhancements identified by their SVAs.
• Since September 11, 2001, Responsible Care companies have invested more than $6 billion to enhance security at their facilities. 

Learn more about the Responsible Care Program:

• Measuring and publicly reporting performance
• Applying the modern Responsible Care management system to achieve and verify results