EHS Compliance Audits

EHS compliance audits are an integral part of the group's EHS management system. All 68 Johnson Matthey operated manufacturing and research and development facilities from across our operations in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia are included in the audit programme. 87 audits have been carried out over the last three years (23 in 2000, 32 in 2001 and 32 in 2002). Formal exit interviews with site management are a feature of the audits, as is routine follow up of outstanding issues. Group EHS audits are led by fully qualified corporate staff who are supplemented by EHS professionals from our operations who are audit trained and participate in cross-site auditing. This makes best use of valuable resource and promotes the sharing of best practice between sites.

Audits review conformance with the group EHS management system and compliance with national legislation. The audit frequency for each site is established as a function of the scale, inherent risk and past performance of the operation. Sites are audited every one, two or three years depending on the level of risk. Large and complex sites are audited every year.

The Group Occupational Physician visits Johnson Matthey sites to evaluate the content, performance and standards of occupational health and hygiene programmes, where applicable. This also includes monitoring the nature and quality of services provided by external occupational health providers supporting local sites.

The group EHS management system also requires sites to implement their own local EHS audit and inspection programmes. Typically these programmes are managed by site staff although external consultants are engaged as required. The quality of the programmes is reviewed during group EHS audits.

ISO 14001 Certification for Environmental Management Systems

Our operating units are moving towards ISO 14001 certification. At present 11 sites are certified to the standard with a further six sites in the final stages of assessment. 29% of our staff work at sites with ISO 14001, representing some 2,300 people. Over the past year four ISO 14001 certified sites have joined Johnson Matthey through the aquisition of Synetix, at Clitheroe and Chilton in the UK and Oberhausen and Emmerich in Germany. These best practice management systems, with the discipline of external certification provide one of the drivers for continual improvement both operationally and as a means of improving resource efficiency, reducing costs and environmental impact.

Responsible Care

Much of the Johnson Matthey business operates in the chemicals sector. In the UK we have been active in the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) Responsible Care initiative. Responsible Care is a commitment to continuously improving EHS performance and open communication of activities and achievements. It includes employee involvement, product stewardship and annual reporting to the CIA.