Health, Safety and Environment

In 1995, the Merck Group set up the Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) policy based on the group’s Mission Statement and the chemical industry’s Responsible Care © initiative. The implementation of these binding guidelines constitutes a top-management issue at Merck Thailand.

The state-of-the-art Chemicals Distribution Center is an important step towards implementing the HSE policy at Merck Thailand. The storage of chemicals is not only in accordance with Thai standards, but also in line with standards developed by the Association of the Chemical Industry in Germany (VCI) and with German regulations for hazardous substances. Since the inauguration of the facility in 1995, no major working accident has been registered.

Another aspect is the safe transport of chemicals to the customers. For this purpose, Merck Thailand relies on its partner G&U Logistics, a leading chemicals logistics specialist. Its Singaporean based parent company has been awarded the Singapore Chemical Industry Council's GOLD Responsible Care© Award 2001.

In a further effort to implement the HSE policy, Merck Thailand has launched in 2000 the Retrologistics Project at the Chemicals Distribution Center. To ensure the proper recycling of its packaging material, Merck Thailand re-collects and cleans empty plastic and glass bottles from its customers. After controlled crushing, the material is sold to the plastic and glass industries.

Under the theme “We care for the safety of the new generation of Thai chemists” Merck Thailand has initiated the Let’s Care Safety Camp. The objective is to propagate Merck's "care" philosophy among final-year students of chemistry and chemical engineering departments from universities across the country. During 3 days students gain experience in handling chemical reagents properly, in initiating the right procedures in case of an emergency and in using methods to design a safe working environment.