CIA awards dinner

The UK chemical industry demonstrated its outstanding achievements in health and safety and its continued commitment to the pursuit of excellence at a Gala Awards Dinner held July 8.

The Chemical Industries Association (CIA), which organised the event, introduced three new awards for 2003, covering Manufacturing Improvement, and Training & Development, to its suite of awards, which cover Responsible Care and Site Safety through to Innovation and Young Person of the Year. There was also a special award for Outstanding Achievement. The host for this event at the Hilton Hotel, London, was the BBC News Presenter, George Alagiah.

A total of 14 presentations were made across nine Awards as follows:

SOCSA Innovation Award - sponsored by Faraday Partners - Pro-Bio, Crystal and Impact -To recognise outstanding innovation involving younger staff within a member of the Specialised Organic Chemicals Sector Association (SOCSA) - presented to Andrew Harrison, a plant operator and process champion at Rhodia Pharma Solutions in Cramlington, Northumberland.

Speak Out! and Listen - Speaker of the Year Award - sponsored by Fanfare Marketing - For the most effective and prolific voluntary speaker registered under the CIA's Speak Out! And Listen programme - presented to Dr Chris Pickles, of Clik Knowledge Transfer, in Warrington, Cheshire, in the experienced speakers category; and Michael Nightingale, from Wokingham, Berkshire, in the new speakers category.

Young Person of the Year Award - sponsored by BASF - To identify a young ambassador for the chemical industry who will be a role model for other young people - presented to Maranda Thomson, an analytical development chemist with GlaxoSmithKline in Montrose, Scotland.

Industry Reputation Awards - sponsored by BP - To encourage support for the CIA's chemical industry reputation strategy, and participation in its reputation programmes - presented to BIP, based in Oldbury, West Midlands, in the category covering companies operating from more than one site, and exchem organics, of Harwich, Essex, in the category for companies operating from a single site.

Training & Development Award - sponsored by USDAW - To recognise the best examples of improved business performance through good practice in the training and development of staff - presented to Octel Corp, of Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.

Manufacturing Improvement Award - sponsored by PICME - To highlight the expertise of UK-based chemical manufacturers' operating teams in improving productivity both rapidly and sustainably - - presented to DuPont Sabanci UK, of Redcar, Cleveland, in the continuous or high volume manufacturing category, and jointly to Rhodia Pharma Solutions, of Cramlington, Northumberland, and Contract Chemicals, of Knowsley, Merseyside in the batch or speciality manufacturing category.

Platinum Site Safety Award - sponsored by Marsh - To recognise outstanding safety performance by a CIA member company's manufacturing site - presented to the Bristol site of DuPont (UK).

Responsible Care Award - sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry - To identify best practice in the implementation of Responsible Care as a means of encouraging others - presented to Solutia UK, based in Newport, South Wales, in the large sites category, and BIP Organics, of Middlewich, Cheshire, in the small sites category.

And finally there was a special Outstanding Achievement Award - To recognise an individual who has shown outstanding leadership and personal dedication resulting in measurable and lasting benefits to the chemical industry - presented to Tom Swan, owner and chairman of Thomas Swan & Co Ltd, of Consett, Co Durham.

CIA Director General, Judith Hackitt said: 'We initiated the Awards Dinner with three specific aims: to raise the profile of our awards; to provide a showcase for excellence; and to create a real sense of pride for our industry, which has very many achievements to its credit. For the third time we are once again celebrating the very real successes of our members across a wider range of activities.'

CIA president, Dr Tony Bastock, in noting the Awards' contribution to the industry's reputation, said: 'I am proud of the tremendous contribution we have made to the improvement in human health and quality of life. We know there are still areas for improvement; we are aware of the challenges that still face us, but we are in no doubt that we will tackle them. The achievements we celebrate tonight will be a clear signal to the policy makers of our willingness to embrace our responsibilities and to meet and even exceed their ever-increasing expectations.

'All the awards presented tonight have the common theme of Sustainable Development and enhancement of our reputation, and I deliberately rank them in that order, because unless we can demonstrate our commitment and contribution to Sustainable Development, we cannot improve our reputation. And improving our reputation and gaining public trust is so vital to the future success of this industry.

'Trust will be hard to gain and maintain and depends entirely on our performance as judged by the public, not by us.'