Letter from the Site Leader

Letter from the Site Leader — Robert Lacroix

Robert Lacroix,
Western Canada Operations
Site Leader

I am pleased to share with you Dow’s 2005 Western Canada Operations (WCO) manufacturing site Public Report. In this, our fifth edition, we build on our longstanding commitment to maintain transparent, accountable and responsible operations in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. The report highlights and shares our progress and challenges from the past year relative to the three elements of Dow’s Triple Bottom Line philosophy — social responsibility, economic viability and environmental integrity.

2005 was an exciting year for WCO’s community involvement as we took part in a number of partnerships that provided tangible benefits in the Fort Saskatchewan area. We brought air quality education to local junior high schools in collaboration with the Fort Air Partnership, area school districts and Alberta Environment. We helped create a greener community through financial support and volunteer hours contributed to the City of Fort Saskatchewan’s Urban Forest Project. And, through our long-standing relationship with Chrysalis, we worked to ensure access to safety equipment for disabled individuals while in their workplaces. As in previous years, Dow employees also gave back to our community through contributions of their personal dollars and time through the Employee Charities Campaign and our Employee Involvement Program in which employee volunteerism is recognized financially by Dow. Dow is proud of the tremendous community spirit demonstrated each and every day by our dedicated employees.

As a site, we made significant progress in the area of Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) and made a great contribution to Dow’s successes against its 2005 EH&S Goals. Globally, our performance improvements against these voluntary targets yielded some tremendous results — primarily when considered from the perspective of what didn’t happen. Compared to 1994, nearly 13,000 people didn’t get hurt within Dow. We prevented more than 10,500 leaks, breaks or spills, we eliminated more than 150 injury-causing or fatal motor vehicle accidents, and we didn’t have 1,100 process safety incidents. Bottom line, we didn’t have a disaster anywhere on the globe!

Here at WCO, we made our own achievements against the 2005 metrics, with the following being some of the most notable:

Loss of Primary Containment — we reduced the number of leaks, breaks and spills on site by 85 per cent since 1994. This means we recorded nine incidents in 2005 compared to 59 in 1994.
Injury and Illness Rate — we achieved our best ever safety performance in 2005 when measured by the number of injuries on site, recording four personal injuries for the year — a 91 per cent reduction in injuries and illnesses since 1994, which surpassed the global goal of 90 per cent
Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) — improvement projects and reductions in flaring and fugitive emissions have helped us reduce VOC emissions by 54 per cent since 1994.

Overall, WCO is making positive strides in improving our overall EH&S performance while we continue on our journey to Target Zero. I am very proud of the efforts and dedication of both Dow employees and contractors to bringing us closer to making Target Zero a reality.

On the whole, North America continues to face high and volatile energy and feedstocks costs. As a result of this challenge, The Dow Chemical Company’s plans for growth are focused primarily in areas such as the Middle East and China. Therefore, we can’t expect to see plans for new plants or expansion here at the Fort as we operate within what I call the new business reality. Today, and in the coming years, we must measure our success by our competitiveness within the North American market. This means we will continue to focus on being the very best at what we do today by controlling costs, sustaining excellence in EH&S performance and continuing to maximize our production capabilities. I have confidence in the people and the plants here that we can rise to this challenge and achieve success in this changing petrochemicals landscape.

On behalf of all employees at WCO, Dow maintains its commitment to building relationships with our community and many stakeholders. We will continue to improve upon our social, economic and environmental performance in order to improve quality of life for us all. While we continue on this journey, I welcome and ask for your feedback on our operations and activities in the Fort Saskatchewan community. This input is essential in helping Dow identify and respond to issues that are top-of-mind in the area, and more than that, helps us to make decisions that benefit all. Because our most important license to operate isn’t a piece of paper — it’s being a welcome and contributing member of this great community that supports us year after year.

Robert Lacroix
Site Leader
Dow Western Canada Operations


Letter from the Site Leader 2015 Sustainability Goals About Us Economic Prosperity Environmental Stewardship Corporate Social Responsibility Dow Corporate Report 2005 Dow Public Reports from Around the World The Dow Western Canada Operations Public Report 2005		Letter from the Site Leader — Robert Lacroix Robert Lacroix, Western Canada Operations Site Leader I am pleased to share with you Dow’s 2005 Western Canada Operations (WCO) manufacturing site Public Report. In this, our fifth edition, we build on our longstanding commitment to maintain transparent, accountable and responsible operations in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. The report highlights and shares our progress and challenges from the past year relative to the three elements of Dow’s Triple Bottom Line philosophy — social responsibility, economic viability and environmental integrity. 2005 was an exciting year for WCO’s community involvement as we took part in a number of partnerships that provided tangible benefits in the Fort Saskatchewan area. We brought air quality education to local junior high schools in collaboration with the Fort Air Partnership, area school districts and Alberta Environment. We helped create a greener community through financial support and volunteer hours contributed to the City of Fort Saskatchewan’s Urban Forest Project. And, through our long-standing relationship with Chrysalis, we worked to ensure access to safety equipment for disabled individuals while in their workplaces. As in previous years, Dow employees also gave back to our community through contributions of their personal dollars and time through the Employee Charities Campaign and our Employee Involvement Program in which employee volunteerism is recognized financially by Dow. Dow is proud of the tremendous community spirit demonstrated each and every day by our dedicated employees. As a site, we made significant progress in the area of Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) and made a great contribution to Dow’s successes against its 2005 EH&S Goals. Globally, our performance improvements against these voluntary targets yielded some tremendous results — primarily when considered from the perspective of what didn’t happen. Compared to 1994, nearly 13,000 people didn’t get hurt within Dow. We prevented more than 10,500 leaks, breaks or spills, we eliminated more than 150 injury-causing or fatal motor vehicle accidents, and we didn’t have 1,100 process safety incidents. Bottom line, we didn’t have a disaster anywhere on the globe! Here at WCO, we made our own achievements against the 2005 metrics, with the following being some of the most notable: Loss of Primary Containment — we reduced the number of leaks, breaks and spills on site by 85 per cent since 1994. This means we recorded nine incidents in 2005 compared to 59 in 1994. Injury and Illness Rate — we achieved our best ever safety performance in 2005 when measured by the number of injuries on site, recording four personal injuries for the year — a 91 per cent reduction in injuries and illnesses since 1994, which surpassed the global goal of 90 per cent Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) — improvement projects and reductions in flaring and fugitive emissions have helped us reduce VOC emissions by 54 per cent since 1994. Overall, WCO is making positive strides in improving our overall EH&S performance while we continue on our journey to Target Zero. I am very proud of the efforts and dedication of both Dow employees and contractors to bringing us closer to making Target Zero a reality. On the whole, North America continues to face high and volatile energy and feedstocks costs. As a result of this challenge, The Dow Chemical Company’s plans for growth are focused primarily in areas such as the Middle East and China. Therefore, we can’t expect to see plans for new plants or expansion here at the Fort as we operate within what I call the new business reality. Today, and in the coming years, we must measure our success by our competitiveness within the North American market. This means we will continue to focus on being the very best at what we do today by controlling costs, sustaining excellence in EH&S performance and continuing to maximize our production capabilities. I have confidence in the people and the plants here that we can rise to this challenge and achieve success in this changing petrochemicals landscape. On behalf of all employees at WCO, Dow maintains its commitment to building relationships with our community and many stakeholders. We will continue to improve upon our social, economic and environmental performance in order to improve quality of life for us all. While we continue on this journey, I welcome and ask for your feedback on our operations and activities in the Fort Saskatchewan community. This input is essential in helping Dow identify and respond to issues that are top-of-mind in the area, and more than that, helps us to make decisions that benefit all. Because our most important license to operate isn’t a piece of paper — it’s being a welcome and contributing member of this great community that supports us year after year. Robert Lacroix Site Leader Dow Western Canada Operations
	The Dow Western Canada Operations Public Report 2005 : Letter from the Site Leader Dow Home Privacy Statement Terms of Use Accessibility Statement Site Map Copyright © The Dow Chemical Company (1995-2009). All Rights Reserved.