Production

Strategy

• Global safety standards
• Strengthening risk awareness
• Comprehensive incident analyses and global experience and information exchange

The safety of our employees, contractors, neighbors and the environment is our top priority. This is why we have set ourselves ambitious goals for occupational and process safety as well as health protection.

We stipulate globally mandatory standards for safety, security, and environmental and health protection. A worldwide network of experts supports us in their implementation. We regularly monitor progress toward our goals as part of our continuous improvement process.

Risk-conscious working behavior is promoted for every individual through measures like systematic hazard assessments, specific and ongoing qualification measures and global safety initiatives.

We analyze accidents, incidents and their causes in detail at a global level to learn from these. Hazard analyses and the risk minimization measures derived from them are an important prevention tool. We also promote regular dialog across different sites to strengthen risk awareness among our employees and contractors, to learn from examples of good practice and in this way, continually develop the safety culture.

Based on our corporate values, leaders serve as safety role models for our employees.

Global safety initiative

• Global Safety Days focus on order, cleanliness and discipline

Our global safety initiative was established in 2008 and plays a key role in the continuous development of the safety culture. With over 930 activities at around 360 sites, our 2017 Global Safety Days focused on order, cleanliness and discipline to help reduce the risk of accidents. At the Ludwigshafen site alone, 13,000 employees and contractors registered to participate. This involvement and lively discussion make a major contribution to our safety culture.

Occupational safety

• Employees and contractors worldwide instructed on safe behavior

We have made it our goal to reduce the worldwide lost-time injury rate per one million working hours to 0.5 at most by 2025.¹ To prevent work-related accidents, we promote risk-conscious behavior and safe working practices for every individual. We are constantly refining and enhancing our requirements.

In addition to the legally required briefings, we also held training courses on safe procedures in 2017 to strengthen risk awareness among our employees and contractors and prevent work-related accidents. At the Ludwigshafen site in Germany, our training center has offered continuous further education on diverse safety and security topics for employees and contractors since 2010. Some 22,000 participants received training in 2017.

In 2017, 1.4 work-related accidents per one million working hours occurred at BASF sites worldwide (2016: 1.5²), reducing the proportion of chemical-related accidents to 5% (2016: 9%). The rate of work-related accidents for contractors was at 1.5 in 2017 (2016: 1.5).

Unfortunately, there were two fatal work-related accidents in 2017. In 2016, four incidents occurred with a total of eight fatalities (seven in the same year). BASF is performing a comprehensive analysis of the incidents and using the findings to derive appropriate measures.

One employee of a contractor died during demolition work in McIntosh, Alabama, in November. The cause of the accident is still being investigated by BASF and the relevant authorities in Alabama. In November, one employee of a contractor died as a result of a traffic accident at the Shanghai-Pudong site in China. The cyclist was hit by a truck. The exact cause of the accident is still being investigated by BASF and the relevant local authorities. Refresher training on traffic safety was held for employees of contractors at the site following the accident. We will review additional measures based on the results of the investigation into the cause of the accident.

In September 2017, one employee of the BASF fire department succumbed to injuries sustained in the accident at the North Harbor at BASF SE in Ludwigshafen, Germany, in October 2016. An explosion and subsequent fires occurred during work on a pipeline. Four employees of the BASF fire department and one barge crewman lost their lives in or as a result of the accident. Twenty-eight people were injured. According to a report on the cause of the fire commissioned by the district attorney’s office of the city of Frankenthal, Germany, the explosion and subsequent fires occurred during work performed with an angle grinder. It states that one employee of a contractor cut into the wrong pipeline, triggering the chain reaction that caused the explosion. The report rules out other causes or technical defects at the North Harbor plants. BASF continues to support the relevant authorities in their investigations.

Lost-time injury rate per one million working hours

Process safety

• Plant protection plans to reduce process safety incidents
• Network of experts and global training methods foster dialog

Process safety is a core part of safe and efficient production. We meet high safety standards in the planning, construction and operation of our plants around the world. Some of these go beyond local legal requirements.

Our global process safety standards provide the framework for the safe construction and operation of our plants as well as the protection of people and the environment. Our experts have developed a protection plan for every plant that considers the key aspects of safety, health and environmental protection – from conception to startup – and stipulates specific protection measures for each.

We use the number of process safety incidents per one million working hours as a key performance indicator, following to a large extent the definition set by the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC). In 2017, we recorded 2.0 process safety incidents per one million working hours worldwide (2016: 2.0). We pursue continual improvement by investigating every incident in detail, analyzing root causes and using the findings to derive suitable measures. We have set ourselves the goal of reducing process safety incidents to a rate of no more than 0.5 per one million working hours by 2025 ³.

In order to maintain the highest level of safety at our plants across their entire life cycle, we review the implementation of our protection plans in all facilities at regular intervals and depending on hazard potential. We periodically perform in-depth audits of our plants and update their safety concepts where necessary. Our training methods are constantly refined and enhanced to increase risk awareness.

We are working on increasing the availability of our plants and determining the optimum point in time for maintenance measures. The aim is to further reduce unscheduled shutdowns with a digitalization pilot project. Implementation began in 2017, starting with the steam cracker in Ludwigshafen and other plants at the following sites: Ludwigshafen, Germany; Antwerp, Belgium; Schwarzheide, Germany; Port Arthur, Texas; Geismar, Louisiana; and Freeport, Texas. We also plan to implement this at further plants around the world.

We play an active role in improving process safety around the world in a global network of experts, through our involvement in organizations such as the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) and the European Process Safety Centre (EPSC), and by fostering dialog with government institutions.

Health protection

• Global corporate health management standards
• Focus in 2017: Lung and respiratory health

Our global health management serves to promote and maintain the health and productivity of our employees. Our worldwide standards for occupational medicine and health protection are specified in a directive that is implemented by a global network of experts. This was once again supported by numerous emergency drills and health promotion measures in 2017.

We measure our performance in health protection using the Health Performance Index (HPI). The HPI comprises five components: recognized occupational diseases, medical emergency preparedness, first aid, medical surveillance examinations and health promotion. Each component contributes a maximum of 0.2 to the total score. The highest possible score is 1.0. Our goal is to reach a value of more than 0.9 every year. With an HPI of 0.97, we once again fulfilled the ambitious goal of exceeding 0.9 each year in 2017 (2016: 0.96).

Our 2017 global health campaign focused on lung and respiratory health. Employees received an individual recommendation based on a self-evaluation, including lung function testing or consultation with a physician as necessary. The health campaign was offered by over 450 sites worldwide.

We raise employee awareness of health topics through offers tailored toward specific target groups. The BASF health checks form the foundation of our global health promotion program and are offered to employees at regular intervals.

Emergency response and corporate security

• Regular review of emergency systems and crisis management structures
• Comprehensive protection measures against third-party interference

We are well prepared for crisis situations thanks to our global crisis management system. In the event of a crisis, our global, regional or local emergency response plans and crisis management structures are engaged, depending on the impact scope. We involve situation-related partners and suppliers as well as cities, communities and neighboring companies.

We regularly check our emergency systems, crisis management structures and drill procedures with employees, contractors, and local authorities and emergency rescue workers. Through 202 drills and simulations in 2017, we instructed participants in our emergency response measures. We analyze the potential risks associated with investment projects and define appropriate emergency response plans.

We also protect our employees, sites and company know-how against third-party interference. This includes, for example, addressing potential terrorist risks in the communities around our sites.

We inform business travelers, transferees and employees about appropriate protection measures prior to and during travel in countries with elevated security risks. After any major incident such as a terrorist attack or a natural catastrophe, we have the possibility of more quickly and accurately locating and contacting employees in the affected regions through a standardized global travel research system. We discuss safe conduct in crisis situations with leaders and employees and train them on this.

Aspects of human rights related to site security, such as the right to liberty and security of person, are a component of the global qualification requirements of our security personnel. Respect for human rights is a mandatory element of any contract with service providers of the BASF Group who are active in this area.

Our investment projects include performing comprehensive analyses of potential risks and defining appropriate protection measures. In 2017, we standardized the use of security services in further countries in order to increase effectiveness and efficiency.

Around the world, we work to sensitize all employees about protecting information and know-how. For example, we further strengthened our employees’ awareness of risks in 2017 with training, case studies and interactive offerings. We have defined mandatory information protection requirements to ensure compliance with our processes for protecting sensitive information and perform audits to monitor this.

Our worldwide network of information protection officers comprises more than 600 employees. They support the implementation of our uniform requirements and conduct seminars on secure behaviors. We provided information protection instruction to more than 72,000 participants in 2017. In addition, we published standardized Group-wide recommendations for the protection of information and knowledge.