(147a) Disciplined Adherence to Standards in the Dow Chemical Company

The Dow Chemical Company has been in business for over a century and today has operations across the globe. Dow’s Environmental, Health and Safety standards have evolved over that time to become global in nature with the implementation of our Operating Discipline Management System (ODMS). ODMS drives global compliance with standards in personal (or occupational) safety, process safety, environmental, quality and other areas. This presentation will share how Dow has embraced the Disciplined Adherence to Standards tenet. We will share our experiences about how ODMS has enabled us to be successful at reducing incidents globally. We will also share candidly how the failure to follow these standards has resulted in undesired consequences. Finally, disciplined adherence to standards relies first and foremost on strong leadership and this presentation will share how Dow’s leadership culture drives this discipline throughout the organization.