A Commitment to Responsible Care
GATX is proud to be certified as a partner in the Responsible Care® Partnership Program.
In conjunction with GATX’s own Operational Excellence program, we focus on maintaining the highest environmental, health, safety and security standards, and are dedicated to protecting the communities in which we operate. Our participation in the Responsible Care® Partnership Program demonstrates our on-going commitment to the chemical industry and aligns us with our key customers' Responsible Care initiatives. The GATX Operational Excellence program also demonstrates commitment to Responsible Care initiatives.
In the late 1980s the U.S. and Canadian chemical industry associations (ACC and CIAC, respectively) initiated the Responsible Care® Partnership Program, a voluntary initiative to improve environmental, health, safety and security performance. The Partnership Program is open to companies with direct and substantial involvement in the manufacture, use, formulation, distribution, transportation, storage, treatment-disposal and/or sales and marketing of chemicals. As the first U.S. rail leasing company to achieve certification as a Responsible Care Partner, GATX continues to manage operations with the highest priority to protecting the environment, our employees and the public.
Promoting Health, Safety, and Environmental Reponsibility
GATX remains committed to ensuring the health and safety for our employees and
customers. Our Environment, Health and Safety Department measures five key
areas to assure continued improvement:
As shown in the chart below, GATX has significantly reduced its OSHA Recordable Incident Rate since 2004, demonstrating our commitment to keep health and safety our No. 1 priority.
GATX respects the environment and the communities where our facilities are located by setting an annual goal of no spills or unpermitted releases at its maintenance facilities, a goal achieved in 2010. GATX also embraces initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We have invested in equipment to significantly reduce emissions of volatile organic carbon compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from coating operations. A “green” low emissions locomotive was purchased in 2010 for our Colton, CA maintenance facility to move railcars on the property in a more environmentally friendly manner.
Quality Assurance
GATX provides customers with superior technical support, quality and on-time
delivery performance of railcar maintenance services at competitive prices. At
GATX, Quality Assurance is defined as Operational Excellence, which sets
measurable standards and underscores the GATX commitment to excellence in
quality, safety, health, the environment and security by the prevention, early
detection and disposition of non-conforming situations, materials, and
railcars, and continuous improvements to our processes and products. GATX
achieves these goals through business processes designed to meet or exceed our
objectives for customer success, safety, quality, delivery and financial
performance. Quality performance metrics have been developed, standardized and
implemented to drive improvements in all areas:
