As part of its Responsible Care® Process Safety Code, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) has long supported the concepts of Inherently Safer Chemical Processes. In this paper, the authors will describe the ACC philosophy around the appropriate application of Inherently Safer Principles, including a discussion on the avoidance of risk-shifting, and the proper use of economic criteria in the risk decision making process. A number of examples from actual case histories will be included to illustrate the ACC approach.