Safety Leader
WHAT ABOUT OUR SAFETY?
Over the past year, Euro Chlor and its members have remained committed to the safety of everyone in our value chain.
To support this, we have continued collecting and monitoring data as part of our third ten-year Sustainability Programme (2021-2030). We also continue exchanging learnings on safety issues and corrective actions in all relevant Working Groups. These teams are developing new initiatives to ensure a safer work environment for all.
There remains room for improvement, but we will continue striving to become an industry ‘Safety Leader’.
WHAT THESE DATA TELL US…
Over the past few years, we saw a worrying increase in safety incidents. One of the reasons for this decline in safety performance may have been the early retirement of experienced personnel at all levels of the value chain and their replacement by colleagues who may not be as familiar with the safety protocols and plant specifics. This was particularly notable around the pandemic, which disrupted normal operations and may have led to a decline in safety knowledge and practices.
During lockdowns, companies also faced significant challenges in providing effective training to their staff due to the technical nature of the courses. This challenge was compounded by an increase in incidents around loading and unloading operations; particularly noticeable amongst contractors who may not have received the same level of training as full-time employees.
With the help of its member company technical experts, Euro Chlor proposed several safety initiatives. Some improvements have been seen as a result, which are detailed in this section.
PROCESS INCIDENTS AND LOSSES AND LOSS OF PRIMARY CONTAINMENT (LOPC) INCIDENTS
In 2024, we saw a 22% decrease in our process incidents and losses compared to 2023, with 3.53 incidents per million tonnes of chlorine produced (4.51 in 2023). In absolute numbers, this means a total of 28 process incidents reported in our annual sustainability survey. Except for some fluctuations during COVID, this brings us back to ‘stable’ pre-pandemic levels. More efforts are now required to reach the record level of 2007 (1.04) and beyond.
Since the start of our third Sustainability Programme in 2021, we report a breakdown of LOPC incidents for each of our chemicals. Similar to 2023, most incidents in 2024 were related to caustic soda and, to a lesser extent, hydrochloric acid. These occur mainly during loading and unloading operations.
Process incidents and losses 
LOPC incidents and other process incidents
Incident reporting
After two years of declining incident reporting rates, the reporting rate only reached 61% in 2024 (compared with 73% in 2023).
Consistent incident reporting discipline is vital as it allows Euro Chlor’s technical groups to have a comprehensive overview of safety issues across our industry.
Incident reporting
LOST TIME INJURIES (LTIs)
Following an increase around the pandemic, the LTI frequency rate returned to its 2015 level. Since COVID we have seen an encouraging decrease in the number of LTIs for member company staff and contractors, falling from 2.42 per million working hours in 2023 to 1.87 in 2024. Whilst this is an improvement since we started to monitor this key performance indicator (KPI) in our first Sustainability Programme in 2001, we must continue our efforts, especially amongst contractors where an increasing share of the incidents occur.
Chlor-alkali LTI frequency rate
TRANSPORT INCIDENTS FOR CHLOR-ALKALI RELATED PRODUCTS
Our transport safety data showed two transport incidents occurring in 2024 (one involving caustic potash and one hydrochloric acid). Zero incidents remains the ambition.
Number of transport incidents
TRANSPORTATION OF CHLORINE
For safety reasons, chlorine is (mostly) converted and used on-site or transported via pipelines to neighbouring customer sites. The total volume of chlorine transported via the different modes since the start of our first Sustainability Programme in 2001 is expressed in absolute tonnes.
In 2024, off-site chlorine transport (not including pipelines) slightly decreased when compared with 2023, representing 3.9% of total chlorine production.
Chlorine transported outside industrial sites
(excl. pipelines)
TRANSPORTATION OF CAUSTIC
Unlike chlorine, most of the produced caustic is transported off-site. The graph shows the volume of caustic transported via the different modes (in absolute tonnes) since we started collecting these data in 2020. In 2024, the total volume of caustic transported through public areas reached 13.9 million tonnes (compared to 13.1 in 2023).
Road and ship equally remained the primary modes of transport in 2024 (each accounting for 34% of the total transported volume).
Modes of caustic transport in the public area
WHAT WE HAVE DONE TO IMPROVE…
New tools to enhance safe loading and unloading of chlor-alkali products
A major area of concern for Euro Chlor remains the loading and unloading of chlor-alkali related products. As early as June 2020, Euro Chlor members took action by committing to a series of on-site measures for safe handling practices by customers and transport companies. This commitment was later translated into a comprehensive document (GEST 18/494) which is available, upon request, in several European languages.
Whilst the situation has improved, (un-)loading incidents still occur. As a result, in 2024 Euro Chlor developed a short animated video to assist with training. Available since January 2025 on the Euro Chlor YouTube channel with subtitles in multiple languages, the video provides a checklist to help drivers/ site operators keep themselves safe during the loading and unloading of our products.
In the coming months, Euro Chlor will be assessing how to further promote this video and ensure its content remains relevant. The team has already received suggestions for improvement and will produce an updated version.
Occupational safety; maintaining mercury awareness in European chlor-alkali
Historically, mercury was used in the production of chlor-alkali at some European sites. In 2017, this use was phased out under European law but, due to its properties, mercury may remain in the form of droplets on surfaces such as old pipe work, soil, concrete and wood.
As this residual mercury can later be disturbed during construction and maintenance, Euro Chlor’s Health Working Group has published a ‘mercury awareness leaflet’. This document contains specific advice for plant personnel, managers and occupational physicians who may later come across hazardous legacy mercury.
The mercury awareness leaflet is available via the Euro Chlor team.
Extensive high-quality safety training sessions available online
In 2021-2022, Euro Chlor conducted two rounds of twelve safety training sessions. These extensive sessions of 90 to 120 minutes covered both the physical properties and potential hazards associated with chlorine and caustic, as well as the safety aspects related to different construction materials and pieces of equipment.
The recordings of these trainings and the presentations are now accessible to our members via the General Technical Committee (GTC) and Safety & Transport Working Group (GEST) SharePoint libraries.
Whilst new live training sessions are being considered, Euro Chlor’s Technical & Safety Manager, Thomas Vanfleteren, remains available to answer any questions arising from the recordings. As part of the planning for these new sessions, the GTC is exploring the possibility of using AI/ VR tools to develop trainings in multiple languages which are adjustable to the configuration of each production site.
Making sure our Technical & Safety library reflects the latest best practices
The Euro Chlor GEST Working Group has continued its activities by updating five safety documents over the past twelve months. These reflect the current best practices across the industry.
You can find all technical documentation via https://www.eurochlor.org/technical-safety/technical-documentation/.