APD Air Products and Chemicals Inc

Air Products Tops Own Safety Record and Ranks First in Chemical Industry LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., June 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Air Products (NYSE:APD) once again exceeded its prior year's safety performance and was ranked as safest among large-scale chemical companies in the American Chemistry Council (ACC) in 2003. This is the fifth consecutive year that Air Products has topped the list of eight firms in the large-company grouping (20 million or more employee hours worked per year) for one or more safety measures. In the category of employee recordable rates, Air Products improved its record performance over last year by 10 percent, from 0.68 injuries per 200,000 employee hours worked to 0.61. Total recordables, as measured by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is the category most often cited when evaluating the safety of the chemical industry. Employee lost-time incident rates also dropped, from 0.13 per 200,000 hours worked in 2002 to 0.06 in 2003, a 54 percent improvement. Total recordables and lost-time incidents, together with several other health and safety metrics, are compiled each year by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) in its Occupational Injury and Illness Report (OIIR). The industry average for large companies was 1.6 and 2.4 for recordables and lost time incidents, respectively, in 2003. Air Products is an active participant in ACC's Responsible Care(R) program established 15 years ago to improve environmental, health and safety performance and respond better to stakeholder concerns. Responsible Care companies have a worker safety record that is approximately four times safer than the average of the U.S. manufacturing sector as a whole and twice as safe as the business of chemistry overall. As part of its obligation under Responsible Care, Air Products submits annual performance data to ACC, which is now available at http://www.responsiblecare-us.com/index.asp. For more information about Air Products' environmental, health and safety (EH&S) practices and performance, visit the company's Corporate Responsibility website at http://www.airproducts.com/Responsibility/EHS/default.htm. ***NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements. Actual results could vary materially, due to changes in current expectations. DATASOURCE: Air Products CONTACT: Media Inquiries: Beth Mentesana, +1-610-481-2459, e-mail: ; or Investor Inquiries: Alex Masetti, +1-610-481-7461, e-mail: , both of Air Products Web site: http://www.responsiblecare-us.com/index.asp Web site: http://www.airproducts.com/Responsibility/EHS/default.htm http://www.airproducts.com/

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