For NACD and our members, the spirit of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Safe + Sound campaign is felt year-round – ensuring the health and safety of employees is embedded into the fabric of everything we do. That’s never been clearer to me than now. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, workplace safety guidelines may look different than they did a year ago, but the swift adjustments that our members have made over the last several months underscore the importance of our longstanding commitment to making continuous improvements and always putting safety first.
If we’re to take one positive from the devastating pandemic that has stretched across the globe these past few months, it’s the fact that those who were previously unaware or skeptical about the importance of chemistry may now be starting to recognize the vital role it plays in our everyday lives. Since the start of lockdown when chemical companies were deemed essential critical infrastructure, NACD members have played no small part in keeping the economy moving, and helping to ensure their local communities and emergency services are suitably protected with hand sanitizer, cleaners and PPE.
For many chemical distributors, freight rail provides an essential avenue to deliver the products Americans rely on every day. This National Transportation Week, as our supply chains adjust to accommodate new demand amid the coronavirus pandemic, it has never been so important for rail customers — many of which are NACD members — to be able to rely on efficient and affordable rail services in order to run their businesses successfully and serve their customers.
As chemical distributors, we operate in a constantly changing legislative and regulatory environment. The beginning of a new year is a great opportunity to reflect on our top priorities and what we need to achieve our goals in the coming year.
What do the smartphone in your pocket, the computer on your desk, and the electric vehicle in your driveway have in common? They are all possible thanks to a technological advancement decades in the making that couldn’t have happened without chemistry: rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.
As our members recently saw, the association and its industry partners were successful in securing a short-term extension to keep the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program going past January 18, 2019.
Chemical distributors depend on reliable, competitive rail service to deliver products to customers in nearly every industry sector. Unfortunately, the railroad industry is currently a near-monopoly with only four rail providers controlling 90 percent of the traffic regulated by outdated policies that hinder competition and fair service.
I have received a number of emails and calls from members in the wake of Tuesday night’s midterm elections asking what the results will mean to chemical distributors. It’s a tough question to answer at this early stage, but there are a couple observations I believe will prove telling over the next two years as we embark upon the 2020 presidential election year.
President Trump’s State of the Union address earlier this week provided an interesting glimpse into his priorities for 2018 and beyond. For the first time in more than 20 years, a sitting president highlighted the importance of infrastructure development as one of the top priorities for his administration this year. Given the economic environment as well as the regulatory climate, what other good things can we expect from this president? His speech on Tuesday gives us an idea.
In celebration of this year’s National Chemistry Week, NACD joined with the American Chemical Society and the American Chemistry Council to hold the first-ever Chemistry Expo on Capitol Hill, bringing members of our industry together with members of the Congressional Chemistry Caucus to highlight innovations in the industry and STEM education.