As the new site manager at ExxonMobil’s Baytown, Texas, Chemical Plant, Bob Catudal wants the plant’s employees to feel valued and enjoy coming to work. In fact, according to Catudal, “empowering” site personnel to take ownership of their work is one of the most important aspects of his position.
“As site manager, my main duties are to ensure our operations are safe, environmentally responsible and reliable,” said Catudal, whose career at ExxonMobil has spanned 35 years. “But it’s also my responsibility to make sure we maintain an environment where our employees feel valued and empowered to contribute.
“It’s the job of a leader to help employees achieve their goals, and I find it very rewarding to help grow ExxonMobil’s amazing talent.”
An essential part of that effort, Catudal explained, is matching employees’ skills with the plant’s needs.
“When we put people in the right roles, we position them — and ultimately the site — for success,” Catudal remarked. “It takes every person in every skill set working together efficiently to make the plant run safely and reliably.”
Before taking on his role as site manager earlier this year, Catudal held numerous technical, operations, engineering, and process supervisory and management positions in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Baytown and Houston, Texas. He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Connecticut in 1981, and his very first job was as a process engineer at the steam cracker in ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge Chemical Plant. In 2000 he became operations manager at the Baytown Olefins Plant and in 2004 moved to the Baytown Chemical Plant. Today, Catudal is proud to call one of the world’s largest and most technologically advanced refining and petrochemical complexes home.
Founded in 1919, ExxonMobil’s Baytown Complex is located on approximately 3,400 acres about 25 miles east of Houston along the Houston Ship Channel. In addition to the chemical plant — which produces more than 7.5 billion pounds of petrochemical products each year, including polypropylene, butyl polymers, synthetic fluids and lubricant base stocks — the complex also includes a refinery and olefins plant.
“We are very fortunate to work at an industry-leading manufacturing site with an excellent record on safety, environmental and reliability metrics,” Catudal expressed. “Our challenge is to go above and beyond and continuously improve, to achieve our goal of ‘Nobody Gets Hurt’ and to be a valued member of the community.”
‘Employee-driven’ safety
In keeping with ExxonMobil’s companywide goal of “Nobody Gets Hurt,” Catudal identified security as “a core value” of the Baytown Complex’s site culture, noting the plant’s use of “employee-driven programs” reinforces the safe behaviors workers are initially trained to observe.
“We work for a company that truly values safety and provides us with the resources to be successful in this area,” Catudal explained. “We believe in keeping people safe through our safety management systems, which offer a toolkit to analyze and mitigate hazards.
“Our integrated approach to safety combines ongoing identification of safe work practices with employee-driven, behavioral-based programs.”
And although many plants may boast excellent safety programs, not all of them have the industry awards to back it up. In contrast, ExxonMobil’s Baytown-area sites have been recognized with numerous leading industry safety awards. Most recently, the Elite Gold Award and the Elite Silver Award were given to the chemical plant and olefins plant, respectively, through AFPM’s 2016 Safety Awards Program.
“The goal for our complex is to ensure that ‘Nobody Gets Hurt’ and to operate our world-class facilities in a safe, environmentally responsible and reliable manner,” Catudal summed up. “We strive to be a valued part of the Baytown community and are more than near neighbors to the surrounding community, residents and businesses; we are community partners because Baytown is our home, too.”
In fact, Catudal sees the Baytown Chemical Plant’s products as an essential contribution to its partnership with the community both locally and abroad, since plastics and other petrochemical products have become integral to modern living standards.
“According to the Brookings Institution, more than 2.5 billion people around the world will join the middle class from 2010 to 2030,” Catudal noted. “Just as we saw in developed nations during the previous century, the rise of a global middle class will create new demands for products made from chemicals — everything from appliances to homebuilding materials to cars.
“Our industry will play a fundamental role in meeting demand and produce these products for the growing middle class.”
‘Building a better Baytown’
Throughout the site’s 95-year history, ExxonMobil has continuously devoted its energy to “building a better Baytown.” Baytown-area employees, retirees, and their families spend approximately 28,000 hours annually volunteering at more than 200 nonprofit agencies, schools and community organizations. The company supports their volunteer efforts with annual local grants from the ExxonMobil Foundation totaling nearly $2 million each year.
ExxonMobil Baytown is also proud to take a leadership role in important community initiatives such as United Way. According to Catudal, Baytown-area employees, retirees, and their families raised about $1.7 million for the 2015 United Way Campaign, making ExxonMobil and its employees the largest contributors to United Way in the Baytown area.
Also, ExxonMobil Baytown partners with local schools, providing funding and volunteers in the classroom.
“Employees volunteer as tutors and mentors, teach Junior Achievement and assist the schools as needed with student activities, maintaining a special emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM),” Catudal explained.
One highlight of this emphasis is ExxonMobil’s annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day event, which aims to spark interest in STEM and provide young female students with a unique opportunity to interact with successful women who work in STEM fields.
Catudal stressed the importance of ExxonMobil’s academic outreach to the future of the chemical industry’s workforce.
“Impressive regional growth is creating unprecedented demand for a skilled labor workforce in our industry,” Catudal affirmed. “Building tomorrow’s workforce is a key focus area, and that’s why we are working with Houston-area colleges through the Community College Petrochemical Initiative (CCPI) to expand recruitment and training for jobs in the growing chemical manufacturing industry.
“This summer ExxonMobil awarded scholarships to 34 students from the nine CCPI colleges to pursue an education and enter tomorrow’s workforce. We are proud to play a role in this important cause.
“Educating the leaders of tomorrow is essential for the well-being of our industry and the nation as a whole.”