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SOCIAL IMPACTS OF CHEMICAL COMPANY ON LOCAL COMMUNITIES

Vavra, J., Bednarikova, M., Branska, L., Jirku, P.

Abstract

Chemical companies can be considered as ones of the most important companies affecting changes in climatic conditions and other environmental elements, and they also show strong impacts on the society in the social context. The growing interest of the important stakeholders in the problems of social impacts of the produced items, have brought a lot of important questions concerning the rate of influence of the produced items on the environment and society. Social impacts assessment methods of chemical companies on the workers, the consumers, the local communities, the society and other shareholders are newly developed and improved. The main objective of the contribution is to compare perceived importance of social impacts by chemical company with perceived importance of social impacts by local communities surrounding chemical company. Based on theoretical basis concerning practices and specific circumstances in social impact assessment processes, a preliminary research was realized with managers of chemical company through structured one-to-one interviews. This preliminary research was supported by realized structured one-to-one interviews with representatives of local communities surrounding chemical company. The most important differences related with perception of social impacts by company and local communities are closer analyzed and discussed. The structured one-to-one interviews were used to identify different perception of the social impacts from the point of the chemical company compared with local community's views. Assessment of company's social impacts on local communities is still in the state of research and this contribution helps to improve understanding of importance of each individual social impact for the company and local communities as well. Local communities represent one of the most important stakeholders for chemical companies. The chemical companies are perceived as a potential danger not only for the closest neighborhood of the production plants, but also for the wider surroundings, therefore social impacts related with local communities must be adequately considered. For this reason quality of life for communities surrounding chemical companies must be systematically monitored and social impacts of chemical companies must be assessed along the whole product life cycle.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/SGEMSOCIAL2015/B11/S2.109

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