Facts and Figures

In 2018, we adapted our reporting on accidents and process safety incidents to the recommendations of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) and the German Chemicals Industry Association (VCI). We now apply new reporting thresholds and use the number of process safety incidents per 200,000 working hours as a key performance indicator. We have set ourselves the goal of reducing process safety incidents to a rate of no more than 0.1 per 200,000 working hours by 2025. ¹

In 2020, we recorded 0.3 process safety incidents per 200,000 working hours worldwide (2019: 0.3). We pursue continual improvement by investigating every incident in detail, analyzing root causes and using the findings to derive suitable measures.

Effectively reducing process safety incidents starts with knowing the potential risks. Around the world, we promote initiatives to discuss incidents and their causes, as well as to sensitize others to potential safety risks. In North America, for example, a key priority in 2018 was detecting all leaks. At the Ludwigshafen site in Germany and at other European sites, the focus was on sharing measures to improve operational safety. In addition, our training methods are constantly refined and enhanced to increase risk awareness.

¹ Our previous goal of reducing process safety incidents to a rate of no more than 0.5 per one million working hours (BASF and temporary employees) by 2025 largely followed the definition set by the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC). In 2017, the process safety incident rate per one million working hours was 2.0.  Hours worked by BASF employees, temporary employees and contractors.