Glossary

Air separation: process of separating out the gases contained in air by distillation, producing both liquid and gaseous products.

Audit: A systematic, independent and documented process for objectively evaluating to what extent the management criteria of reference have been satisfied.

BS OHSAS 18001: an international standard issued by the British Standards Institute that establishes the requirements of a health and safety management system. It allows organisations to be aware of and keep under control risks deriving from operations in normal and extraordinary conditions and to improve safety performance.

Cold converter: container with insulated vacuum chamber for highly refrigerated cryogenic gases, complete with interception, measuring and safety instruments.

Conditioning: a production operation that consists in taking gas from a secondary storage tank and compressing it in a gaseous or liquid state and transferring it to mobile containers. Conditioning also includes the sequence of operations carried out on the containers from when they arrive at the centre to storage of full containers ready for delivery.

Cylinder basket: steel structure containing a number of cylinders, normally 8 or 16, in a vertical position to facilitate their handling with normal forklift trucks.

Cylinder bundle: set of interconnected cylinders supported by a metal structure. The outlets of the cylinders are led to a single manifold.

Cylinder: container in steel or light alloy for compressed, liquefied or dissolved gases.

EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme): European Community regulation 761/2001. A voluntary instrument for implementing Community Environmental Policy aimed at continually improving environmental performance of the companies and businesses adopting it.

Food safety: the concept that food must not cause harm to consumers if prepared in accordance with its intended use.

Frequency index: ratio between the number of accidents and hours worked multiplied by 1 million. It measures the frequency of accident occurrence.

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): a multi-stakeholder network instituted in 1997 and made up of companies, NGOs, associations of accountancy experts, business organisations and other international stakeholders involved in subjects relating to Corporate Social Responsibility. GRI’s mission is to develop, supply and promote global reference guidelines for the drawing up of Sustainability Reports that describe the economic, environmental and social impacts that companies or organisations cause with their activities.

Injury: undesired event in the workplace that provokes bodily damage or objectively verifiable illness.

IPPC (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control): Strategy instituted with Directive 96/61/CE for minimising the pollution caused by various sources throughout the EU. All types of installation listed in Appendix 1 of the Directive must obtain integrated authorisation from the authorities of the various countries. It is based on the premise that the failure to adopt a common approach for controlling emissions into air, water and terrain could lead not to a reduction of pollution but to its transfer from one compartment to another.

ISO 50001 standard (Energy Management): an international standard aimed at helping organisations improve their energy performance, increasing energy efficiency and reducing climate and environmental impact.

Major accident: event such as a serious spill, fire or explosion due to uncontrolled developments in activities in the presence of dangerous substances, that could cause grave danger for human health or the environment.

Medical device (MD): any instrument, apparatus, equipment, machine, device, plant, reagent in vitro or for calibration, computer software, material or other similar or related product for use, alone or in culmination, on persons for one or more specific purposes of diagnosis, prevention, control, therapy or attenuation of an illness; for diagnosis, control, therapy, attenuation or compensation of a wound or handicap; for studying, substituting or modifying anatomy or a physiological process; for intervening on conception where the main desired action in or on the human body is not carried out with pharmacological or immunological means or through metabolism, but whose function can be aided by these means.

Medical gas: any medication consisting of one or more active gaseous substances that may or may not be mixed with excipient gases.

Mobile container: container for compressed, liquid, dissolved and cryogenic gases used for transporting products. Mobile containers are: cylinders, drums, gas cylinders, cylinder bundles, dewars, base units and portable units.

Policy (quality, safety, environment): general principles and guidelines of an organisation, formerly expressed by top management.

Primary process units: units where gases are produced from raw materials.

Primary storage: liquefied cryogenic gas container filled directly by the production plant. Quality, safety and environmental management system.

Quality, Safety and Environment Management System (SHEQ/MG): that part of the general management system that includes the organisational structure, planning, responsibilities, procedures, processes and resources for drawing up, implementing and maintaining active well-defined quality, safety and/or environmental policies.

Raw materials – primary process units: atmospheric air, for the production of oxygen, nitrogen and argon; natural gas, for the production of hydrogen and carbon dioxide; calcium carbide for the production of acetylene; ammonium nitrate for the production of nitrous oxide.

REACh: EC regulation n. 1907/2006 (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals). Its main aim is to improve the awareness of the dangers and risks deriving from chemical substances, aiming to attain a high level of protection of human health and the environment.

Responsible Care: a voluntary program of the world chemical industry based on the implementation of principles and conduct concerning the safety and health of employees and environmental protection, and the commitment to communicate the results obtained aiming for continual, significant and tangible improvement.

Sale equipment: technical/technological equipment purchased from third parties and supplied for use to customers as part of a service, but destined to remain the property of SOL; for example mobile containers, cold converters etc.

Secondary process units: units where gases are conditioned, normally using gases coming from primary process units, into their physical form (which may be compressed gas or cryogenic liquid) in the containers (cylinders, cylinder bundles, drums or tanks) best suited for distribution to end users. Some units also produce pure and high purity gas mixtures.

Secondary storage: liquefied cryogenic gas container filled by tankers, normally installed in secondary process units.

Severity index: ratio between days of absence due to injury and hours worked multiplied by 1 million. It measures the severity of injuries.

Seveso Directive (CEE/82/501 and later modifications): European regulation aimed at preventing and controlling the risk of serious accidents. It governs industrial activities that involve the stocking and/or use of certain quantities of dangerous substances.

Stakeholder: all categories of subjects, private or public, individual or collective, internal or external, that can influence the success of a business or whose interests are involved in business decisions: customers, suppliers, investors, local communities, employees, unions, public administration, future generations etc.

Steam reforming: process in which methane reacts with steam, in the presence of a catalyst, to produce hydrogen and CO₂.

Sustainability (see Sustainable development)

Sustainable development: development that can satisfy current economic, environmental and social needs, without compromising the chances of future generations being able to satisfy theirs.

UNI EN ISO 13485 standard (Medical devices – quality management systems): an international standard that aims to maximise the probability that organisations operating in the medical devices sector satisfy the legal requirements existing at world level on quality management, and so supply safe and effective medical devices.

UNI EN ISO 14001 standard (Environmental Management): an international standard that lays down the requisites for an environmental management system. It allows organisations to be aware of that and keep under control activities that have significant environmental impact, and improve their environmental performance.

UNI EN ISO 22000 standard (Food Safety Management Systems): an international standard that defines the requirements for a food safety and hygiene management system.

UNI EN ISO 27001 standard (Information security): an international standard that defines the requirements for setting up and running an information security management system (logical, physical and organisational security), with the aim of protecting data and information from threats of all kinds, ensuring the integrity, confidentiality and availability.