RESPONSIBLE CARE | [ 133 ]
SHANKER KUPPUSWAMY CEO, NICER GLOBE
DEVELOPING RESPONSIBLE STAKEHOLDERS
The World Bank report estimates the crash costs at Rs. 5.96 lakh crore or 3.14 per cent of gross domestic product
S
afety, security and sustainability are always mentioned in any discussion on the chemical industry. In official meetings/gatherings/seminars these are buzz words. As much as it is expressed with intent & commitment, it also underlines the message of concern. This concern is not unfounded considering the nature of the product, its exposure and its vulnerabilities. The Indian chemicals industry stood at US $178 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach US $304 billion by 2025 registering a CAGR of 9.3 per cent. The demand for chemicals
is expected to expand by 9 per cent per annum by 2025. The speciality chemicals constitute 22 per cent of the total chemicals and petrochemicals market in India. The opportunities for the industry are huge and certainly, there is a need to ensure that operations on the ground match the intent. So, the intent often stated by the business leaders and the regulators shall have to be effectively demonstrated at the ground level as well. Talking about safety and security, where do our responsibilities end? Certainly not at the gate of our premises but till the product reaches its destination. Sure, we have insured our transportation, which may redeem the monetary losses, sure we have a contract with the transporter to take utmost care and caution, but is the transporter adequately equipped or trained to handle the product safely and securely? More often than not, we would not be able to respond to this question affirmatively as we may not know the actual driver or number of trips that he has done to the principal, as this is not effectively monitored or reviewed. When an incident occurs and if the driver or transporter failed to act responsibly, it shall be an act of omission of the principal. It will lead to a bad reputation and in today’s world, this will be amplified across the world in no time. India tops the world in road crash deaths and injuries. It has 1 per cent of the world’s vehicles but accounts for 11 per cent of all road crash deaths, witnessing 53 road crashes every hour; killing 1 person every 4 minutes. In the last de-
Road accidents, Number of persons killed and injured in the last five years 2015- 2019 Total Number of Road Accidents (in numbers)
% change
Total Number of Road Accidents (in numbers)
% change
1,46,133
Total Number of % Road Accidents change (in numbers)
2015
5,01,423
2016
4,80,652
-4.14
1,50,785
3.18
4,94,624
-1.13
2017
4,64,910
-3.28
1,47,913
-1.90
4,70,975
-4.78
2018
4,67,044
0.46
1,51,417
2.37
4,69,418
-0.33
2019
4,49,002
-3.86
1,51,113
-0.20
4,51,361
-3.85
Source: https://morth.nic.in/road-accident-in-india
5,00,279
