Let's say you're a manager or a decision-maker at your plant, and you need answers to some questions to help you do your job better. You'd like those answers to be authoritative, from an industry peer you can respect, and you need discretion.
Fortunately, the Texas Chemical Council (TCC) has a tool that can help, appropriately called the Anonymous Inquiry Program.
"This is a really great benefit for TCC members," said Steve Skarke, vice president of Kaneka North America, during a presentation at the 32nd Annual Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Seminar held recently in Galveston, Texas.
"We have a lot of things we have to deal with in our jobs in terms of process safety, industrial health, environmental protection, and all those regulatory issues," Skarke said. "We may not really be sure if we're dealing with these things exactly the way we need to. You may wonder what other people are doing and how that's working out for them."
Skarke pointed out that some companies are hesitant to share some information.
"Our attorneys are saying, 'No, we can't talk about that. We can't release that information,'" he said.
That's where the anonymity aspect of the Anonymous Inquiry Program proves to be especially beneficial.
"We can use a third party like TCC to filter this information," Skarke explained. "And they provide this anonymous service to take the questions, get them out to a larger audience, get some answers, compile those and send them back to us. We never know who says what. We don't know what came from your company and what didn't."
The program is also valuable, Skarke continued, because it allows TCC members to easily benchmark across other TCC member companies and share best practices.
"So, if it's a particular regulatory issue you're trying to deal with, you want to know what's happening in other companies, how they are solving that problem and what things they have seen," he said.
How the program works
Explaining the mechanisms of the online program, Skarke said a TCC member sends an email to a TCC committee liaison, and that liaison sends the inquiry to committee members the question corresponds to.
"For example, if the question came to the occupational safety committee, that question is going to go out just to the committee's members," he said.
Committee members then send responses to that question back to the TCC liaison.
"Sometimes you get one, two or three answers. Sometimes you get a lot. It just depends," Skarke said. "It's completely optional for members to respond to questions. It's up to them if they feel they have something to offer and want to participate. Of course, we really want to stimulate and encourage more people to participate in this process."
Responses are then compiled by the liaison and sent back to committee members anonymously.
The inquiries and responses are posted on the TCC website and archived for TCC member access.
Various issues addressed on the website pertaining to regulatory compliance, safety best practices, electronic safe permits, the authority to issue permits, fatigue management, safety equipment, and apparel, stand-downs for lightning strikes, glove usage, equipment operator physicals, jewelry and personal effects policies, vendor references and much more.
To access inquiry responses, log on to the TCC member website at www.texas chemistry.org. The committee portal is available exclusively to TCC members and requires a TCC member password.
"So let TCC help you with this and get your questions answered," Skarke concluded.
