MUMBAI. The Chemical industry, called the Industry of Industries, for it provides the raw material for almost every industry, is expected to grow to nearly US$ 300 Bn by 2025.
As per government reports, there are 70,000 chemical manufacturing units and 80,000 chemicals and petrochemicals producing 27,847 MT annually of which more than 50%is transported by road.
To ensure that such large volume transportation of chemicals is safe, secure and efficient, Nicer Globewas initiated in 2014, a Responsible Care initiative of Indian Chemical Councilthrough active collaboration between industry and regulatorswhich came together with an objective to enable chemical transportation in line with globally acclaimed standards, infrastructure & service.
Today over 60 Chemical Companies, 316 transporters, 84 GPS providers are making Chemical transportation in 23,000 vehicles safer and secure. The initiative also has more than 3500 Verified Points-of-Interest for emergency responses, including Police Stations, Hospitals,safe parking locations, Fire Stations and Crane Services, helping enhance the safety in transportation and distribution of chemicals and hazardous wastes, providing real-time alerts, efficient emergency response for transport incidents andaccidents and enhancing security during transportation.
Vijay Sankar, President, Indian Chemical Council commented on Nicer Globe initiative and said, “The chemical industry is steadfast in its vision to create a safer world. Under the Responsible Care initiative, the Indian Chemical Council is committed to a safe environment and a nicer globe. The Nicer Globe initiative helps create risk free and safe transportation with swift addressing of any emergencies. Soon we expect at least half of all transportation of chemicals to be under the Nicer Globe initiative.”
A variety of services like the integrated single window tracking solution, Digital Check Tool, 24/7 Emergency Response Control Room, Emergency Response Centres and One service Provider Assessment have been developed in phases to improve efficiency.
Nicer Globe integrates vehicle tracking data from various GPS service providers and renders the same on a single window enabling stakeholders to monitor transportation of chemicals and hazardous wastes closely.
The emergency Points of Interest (POI’s) projected on the tracking platform provides information related to Fire Brigade and Police Stations, Crane operators, Hospitals, Ambulance Services, Emergency Responders, Mutual Aid Group, among other emergency services. Online access to Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and Transport Emergency Response Cards (TREM Cards) are provided significant to mitigate offsite incidents.
The Nicer Globe Digital Check tools enables conducting a trace of vehicle gate checks and loading/unloading checks and recording the same on a hand-held tablet instead on paper check lists.
