Linde North America headquarters and National Operations Center receive ACC's Responsible Care Certification

MURRAY HILL, N.J. and NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J., July 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Linde North America's headquarters in Murray Hill, New Jersey, and its National Operations Center (NOC) in Stewartsville, New Jersey, have received Responsible Care Certification from the American Chemistry Council's Responsible Care® program.

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Linde North America is a member of The Linde Group, a world-leading gases and engineering company. Responsible Care is a globally recognized best practice initiative to improve safety, health, environment and security performance by member companies throughout the world. Certification is granted by ACC to those companies that demonstrate adherence to a strict set of standards that are designed to improve safety, health, environment and security performance.

"We are extremely proud to receive this certification at our headquarters for the third time," said Patrick Murphy, president of Linde North America, which has been a member of ACC for nearly 65 years. "Working toward -- and receiving -- this certification falls right in line with our goals as a high performance organization and our vision to be the leading gases and engineering company."

Linde's Murray Hill location received its initial certification in May 2009. Since that time, the company has completed certification of 26 of its production facilities located throughout the US. Four more Linde plants are scheduled for certification later this year.

The NOC facility has been in operation since 2008 and is the nerve center for Linde's manufacturing and distribution operations. From this location, which employs nearly 250 people, Linde performs supply planning, remotely operates air separation and carbon dioxide plants, schedules delivery of its products to thousands of customers throughout the U.S., and schedules installation and maintenance of its cryogenic customer stations.

Mike Armstrong, head of the National Scheduling Center, said, "Qualifying for Responsible Care Certification is a very important part our ability to offer excellent service and support to our customers in North America. I congratulate all the employees at the NOC for the hard work and professionalism that was critical for Linde to receive this award."

Tim Wren, head of Safety, Health, Environment and Quality, said, "This is a great accomplishment. Thanks for a job well done to all team members who participated in the audit."

Responsible Care is a globally recognized management system aimed at helping companies improve performance in areas such as safety, health, environment and security. Certification is mandatory for all ACC member companies, which must undergo headquarter and facility audits by an independent, accredited auditor to verify that they have a structure and system in place that manages and measures performance. Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) is Linde's independent auditor.

The Responsible Care management system offers an integrated, structured approach to drive results in seven key areas: community awareness and emergency response; security; distribution; employee health and safety; pollution prevention; process safety; and product stewardship.

A key part of the Responsible Care management system is mandatory certification by an independent, accredited auditor.  All companies taking part in the process undergo headquarters and facility audits to assure that they have a structure and system in place to measure, manage and verify performance. Lloyds of London was the independent auditor for both Linde audits.  

The Linde Group is a world-leading gases and engineering company with around 62,000 employees in more than 100 countries worldwide. In the 2012 financial year, Linde generated revenue of EUR 15.280 bn (USD 19.9 bn). The strategy of the Group is geared towards long-term profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. The company is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.

For more information, see The Linde Group online at www.linde.com

SOURCE Linde North America