For the fourth survey in succession, public recognition of efforts to improve safety and reduce pollution has risen, while there has been an increase in willingness to trust the industry
In its latest report for the Chemical Industries Association (CIA), reviewed today by the CIA's reputation and sustainable development board (RSDB), the opinion research agency Mori reports that in the two years since the CIA membership began to implement its enhanced reputation strategy, the industry's headline measure of public image and reputation, net favourability, has improved by 2 percentage points.
This is accounted for by a fall in negative opinion, linked mainly to continued good HS and E performance.
"This shows", said John Boler, the CIA's head of reputation, "that the industry is not doomed to having a permanently negative image and there is plenty to be gained from understanding and acting on public concerns and communicating effectively.
We have learnt a lot that now underpins our move to a sustainable development strategy".
Mori reports that there have been significant improvements in net favourability among some of the industry's most important stakeholders, plant neighbours and those with connections to the industry through friends and family.
These improvements have been achieved during a period of determined campaigns focusing on chemical product concerns, by major NGOs such as WWF and Friends of the Earth. "Paradoxically, these activities, which have resulted in a significant increase in awareness of chemical risks, appear also to have contributed to a significant increase in public awareness of the benefits of chemicals", said Boler.
One source of disappointment, said the CIA, was a sharp fall in favourability towards the industry among 15-18 year-olds.
"This tells us we may have been wrong to concentrate our school communications exclusively at primary level in the past two years and we will be reviewing this policy", said Boler.
According to the results, however, net agreement by the public with the statement that "The benefits of modern technology are greater than the risks" increased by 23 percentage points while net agreement with "Chemical products improve the quality of life" rose 9 percentage points, and with "Without the chemical industry's contributions the needs of future generations could not be met" rose by 5 percentage points.
