Process safety is a high priority at Merck. If the safety systems in the production processes fail, any chemicals released can impact the environment to widely varying degrees. Process safety comprises the planning, construction, proper operation, change and shutdown of production facilities and warehouses. Our global Plant and Process Safety standard, which we adopted in 2008, specifies that relevant EHS issues must be taken into account for the entire life cycle of a plant. This concept includes an overview of potential risks and the corresponding protective measures. For self-manufactured products, the global Merck standard entitled Management of Documents for Manufacturing also defines the documentation of environmental protection measures and risk analyses. The Group-wide operating procedure Risk Management Process specifies how to identify, evaluate and handle risks.
In 2009, we established process safety indicators to continually improve the level of process safety and to be able to observe and define trends in development. An initial evaluation of the indicators showed that our focus on inspection, selection of suitable safety systems for processes and employees, as well as employee training is the correct approach. Process safety is an interaction of people and machines. For this reason, Merck places very high value on providing employees with training and regular advanced training.
Environmentally related events did not occur during the reporting period.
