No matter how many preventive measures are taken, accidents and environmentally relevant incidents can never be completely ruled out. At WACKER, we make sure we learn from such events to prevent their recurrence.

Since 2011, we have used the criteria of the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) to assess safety and environmentally relevant events (see diagram). These include substance spills, fires and explosions, as well as events that have no adverse impact on people or the environment, e.g. if all of a spilled substance was contained by the catch basin or the sewer system and was eliminated by in-plant wastewater treatment facilities.

In 2012, we recorded 29 CEFIC-rated safety and environmentally relevant events throughout the Group (2011: 20). There was one particularly relevant event in the reporting period. On May 11, 2012, a chlorosilane mixture leaked from a flange in the piping network at the Burghausen site. The plant fire department used water mist to damp down the cloud of hydrochloric acid gas. Measurements immediately afterward failed to reveal any impact outside the site.

Also in the reporting period, seven events drew complaints from neighbors or led to a notice issuing from the authorities, yet were not CEFIC-rated.