FOCUS ON SAFETY AT BRENNTAG - SOLUTIONS FOR OUR FUTURE

The watchword that binds every Brenntag employee together is safety. As part of the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) "Solutions for our Future" current affairs programme, ITN reporter Nick Wallis visited Brenntag Midlands site in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. The film starts at Brenntag UK and Ireland’s latest acetic acid filling and dilution facility - a pristine environment for handling food grade ingredients safely. Brenntag Midlands facility is one of 20 Brenntag sites in the UK and Ireland, where hundreds of chemicals are stored, mixed, tested and moved around on a daily basis. Technical operators carry out their responsibilities with professional skill and care. Employees are always encouraged to put forward their ideas to enhance the safety of their working environment.

Commenting on the paramount importance of safety culture, Russel Argo, Regional President Brenntag UK & Ireland, said: “Safety first is the primary cultural goal of the company and certainly as the leader of the UK and Irish business it certainly is the top priority for me. It is about investing in safety equipment, investing in Personal Protective Equipment- but it’s even more about cultural change and making sure people identify risks, whether it be the supervisors looking after their own teams or the individuals themselves seeing risks and asking for them to be changed or changing them themselves.”

Taking the time to discuss safety is an essential component in the drive to continue pushing standards forward. Alistair Hunter, Head of Safety at Brenntag UK & Ireland, spoke about one of the ongoing initiatives at Brenntag: "BEST stands for Brenntag Enhanced Safety Thinking, and is our global safety culture survey. Within Brenntag we are going to every one of our employees and asking them what they think of Brenntag’s approach to safety so that we can take that feedback on board and improve. Improve our systems, improve our systems improve the way we’re communicating with people and improve the way we’re managing people.”

Brenntag offers a range of value-added services including product mixing and blending, formulation, repackaging and just-in-time delivery. Online inventory management offers frictionless compliance and real-time order-tracking. Helen Allinson- James, Head of Life Sciences, commented: "We have an amazing team of people in our technical services team who support the distribution depots to make sure that the customers get the information that they want to be able to be compliant. It is part and parcel of us meeting our individual customer needs, so much as we do paperless delivery notes, we can also provide certificates of analysis, certificates of conformity, batch traceability, additional test protocols as well, additional labelling and so all of that Brenntag works with the customer to be able to say ‘what do you need?’ and we’ll make sure your product arrives like that.”

Brenntag’s ability to develop and deliver the right solutions for its customers is long-established. The ongoing commitment to sustainability, compliance, product integrity, old fashioned customer service and a relentless determination to put safety first is what sets Brenntag UK and Ireland apart. During the filming day on site the ITN crew met a number of Brenntag employees, including Omiel Gordon, Saskia Adams, Tara Reid, Andrew Leach, Erin Scott, Stuart John Blake, Lauren Mills, Michael Towell. Omiel's comment emphasises the company's focus on safety: "Brenntag are very very serious about the safety precaution when you’re working with chemicals, so I would say out of 10? Ten! Brenntag is Number One.”

Solutions for our Future is a programme launched by Chemical Industries Association (CIA) and ITN Productions, reporting on the contribution made by the chemical industry to the UK economy. Introduced by national newsreader, Natasha Kaplinsky, Solutions for our Future takes a look at companies within the chemical industry that drive change, improve standards and innovate within the UK chemical industry. Explaining the CIA's commitment to its member companies, who are addressing global issues, recruiting talent and providing the economic backbone that drives the UK economy, Steve Elliott, Chief Executive, CIA said: “Solutions for our Future shows real, on the ground examples of how our sector is working to deliver benefits for all of society. Our programme showcases strong examples of chemical companies and their workforces, alongside organisations that we work with, that are providing answers to the great challenges we all face."