Industry overview
What is shaping chemical
Chemical and specialty materials companies sell to formulators, manufacturers and procurement teams who need technical support, consistency and safe handling as much as price.
- Technical service is a key reason buyers stay
- Procurement teams compare total cost, not just price
- Safety and regulatory compliance shape supplier choice
Client background
A bulk chemicals producer, working in Three plants in Western India. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A bulk chemicals producer
- Sector
- Chemical
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Quantitative research, Qualitative research, Reporting & insights
Client challenge
Leadership wanted an honest view of how employees perceived process safety, including whether people felt able to stop unsafe work.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: measuring process safety culture across plants.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of employees.
- Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 7 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 1,400 employees.
- employees1,400
Audiences we typically reach in chemical
Formulators and R&D teamsProcurement managersPlant and production headsDistributorsSafety officers
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Three plants in Western India. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.
- 1Brief
- 2Anonymous survey
- 3Shift-team discussions
- 4Insight
We ran an anonymous survey in local languages on tablets across all shifts, including contractors, followed by discussions with shift teams.
Quantitative researchQualitative researchReporting & insights
Sampling strategy
- employees
- 1,400
- Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
- Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.
Data collection
- Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
Data quality & validation
- Recordings and transcripts for every session
- Re-screening of qualitative recruits
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
- Journey and decision mapping
Key findings
- Night shifts and contractors reported less confidence in stopping work.
Reaching every shift was essential to an honest picture.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: reaching every shift was essential to an honest picture.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: night shifts and contractors reported less confidence in stopping work.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The company introduced cross-shift safety walks and contractor representation on safety committees.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interview summaries and key verbatims
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: how do distributors add value?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.