Introduction to RC14001
Technical Specification

Introduction-Responsible Care

Responsible Care is the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC’s) comprehensive environmental,  health, safety and security (EHS&S) performance improvement initiative. ACC Member and Partner companies implement Responsible Care to effectively manage their operations and products and respond to stakeholder concerns. Implementation of Responsible Care is an  obligation of membership for ACC member and Responsible Care Partner companies to 
implement Responsible Care occur within their U.S. asset base as defined by the Council’s  dues formula Partnership dues formula, respectively.

Responsible Care companies are working toward the vision of no accidents, injuries or harm to  the environment. Companies use the Responsible Care, management system to help guide  responsible EHS&S performance; to achieve legal requirements; to meet their own targets and goals; and to address stakeholder concerns. Responsible Care companies view themselves as  members of their communities. Working with community advisory panels and other public  forums, they communicate with neighbors and other interested members of the public about  their operations and progress. An effective Responsible Care management system focuses on  managing and reducing risks while improving efficiency by providing a way to integrate EHS&S  performance. This leads to bottom-line benefITS in resources and costs. 

RC14001

The RC14001 Technical Specification set forth below combines the elements of the American  Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Responsible Care initiative with those of the Environmental  Management System –Specifications with Guidance for Use Standard, ISO14001, adopted  by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1996 and as amended in 2004.  RC14001 enable a company to obtain, through an application and audit process, a certification  that ITS management system conforms to both the ISO14001 and Responsible Care  requirements.

During the past decade there has been a proliferation of various types of environmental  management system guidelines developed by trade associations, non-government organizations,  government agencies and others. In response to a desire by companies with international  operations for a set of environmental management system guidelines which would be recognized  and applicable worldwide, in 1996 ISO adopted the ISO14001 Environmental Management 
System standard. ISO 14001 is part of a group of ISO14001 standards relating generally to  environment matters. As discussed more fully below, like Responsible Care, the ISO14001  standard provides a series of procedural equirements and goals, allowing the individual  company considerable flexibility in fashioning a management system to comply with them. Some  ACC member and Responsible Care Partner companies already have facility with  environmental management systems which have with either been certified as conforming to  ISO14001 or which substantially conform.

Because of the worldwide recognition of the ISO14001 standard, and its resulting popularity  with a variety of stakeholders, some companies may wish to have one or more of their facilities’  EMSes certified to ISO14001. In order to avoid duplicative audITS for both Responsible Care  and ISO14001, this Technical Specification embodies the elements of both, thereby allowing a  single certification for both requirements.

This Technical Specification has two components. The first is the actual text of ISO14001. The  second component contained in corresponding boxed areas are the additional Responsible  Care elements required under the RC14001 scope. The ISO14001 component of RC14001 is  required by American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Registration Accreditation  Board (RAB), which are the organizations which, acting together, provide accreditation for 
entities to certify that an organization’s EMS meets the requirements of ISO14001. This  Technical Specification has been developed in close consultation with ANSI-RAB.  Procedurally, the ANSI-RAB National Accreditation Program provides accreditation to  certification/registration bodies that perform certification or registration audITS for purposes of  providing organizations with an accredited certificate of conformance.

ACC believes that the use of this Technical Specification by ITS Members and Responsible Care  Partners can assist them in achieving the desirable goals and objectives set forth in both  Responsible Care and ISO14001. It is applicable and available on a worldwide basis. The  external auditing and certification program which is available to a company is designed to  provide objective verification, transparency and credibility with employees, customers,  suppliers, regulatory agencies and members of the general public.