At LyondellBasell, health, safety, security and environmental (HSSE) performance all share a specific priority: All are addressed in the message of the company's GoalZERO agenda.
An integral component of the Operational Excellence program, GoalZERO supports not only HSSE culture but also operational work practices and contractor management.
Outlining the program's key points, LyondellBasell's Health, Safety and Environment Manager Jim Gooris said, "Our GoalZERO program includes visible, committed leadership; active participation; critical activities; recognition; open communication; relationships; and continuous improvement."
LyondellBasell's Operational Excellence program focuses on the development, execution and assessment of management systems to continuously improve all processes supporting GoalZERO performance, Gooris explained at the 30th Annual Texas/Louisiana Environmental, Health & Safety Seminar held recently in Galveston, Texas. It includes 45 mandatory standards: "things like our environmental management standard, our process hazard analysis standard, our process risk management standard and our product stewardship standard," Gooris said.
"And we have 28 highly encouraged preferred practices. You don't have to implement a preferred practice, but you better have a darn good reason for not doing it," he said, adding that 175 guidelines and reference documents complete the program.
All Operational Excellence standards are audited at each site on a 3-4 year cycle, Gooris said. Audit teams consist of 10-30 employees, including Operational Excellence managers, site personnel and corporate personnel. Each audit lasts two to three weeks. Findings are then communicated on a companywide basis and tracked to closure.
Implementation of Operational Excellence processes and GoalZERO yielded dramatically positive results for LyondellBasell, Gooris said. Seven of its manufacturing locations have received Responsible Care Management System® (RCMS) certification. Five of those locations were certified with no nonconformances. The remaining two locations were certified with minor nonconformances: unlabeled light bulbs, lack of proper tagging on a fire hose and missed fire extinguisher inspections.
The LyondellBasell Tower has received Responsible Care® certification twice.
The vast majority of preparations for external certification, Gooris explained, involve finding existing Operational Excellence processes that meet RCMS requirements and then identifying manufacturing site systems that meet those Operational Excellence requirements.
"Then, write them down and save them where someone else can find them," Gooris said.
Striving for excellence
The impetus driving LyondellBasell's quest for excellence is rooted in the company's vision, mission and values.
"We strive for excellence in everything we do," Gooris said. "We aspire to GoalZERO in health, safety and environmental performance; we pay attention to detail in day-to-day work activities; and we are humble about our successes while learning from our failures.
"We own our decisions and reward results and outstanding performance. We act like owners of the company and deliver on our promises."
Finally, Gooris said, LyondellBasell promotes a culture of belief "in the power of many."
"We leverage our hardworking team, knowledge and resources globally, and we conduct ourselves with the highest integrity with respect for others," he said. "We believe in honesty, diversity, fairness and teamwork."
Summarizing LyondellBasell's standard of quality, Gooris referred to a quote attributed to former U.S. National Security Advisor Colin Powell: "'If it ain't broke, don't fix it,' is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant or the scared. It's an excuse for inaction, a call to non-arms."
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