For Eastman Chemical Co., a "zero-incident mindset" is essential to safe, reliable and quality production.
In their book, "Left of Bang: How the Marine Corps' Combat Hunter Program Can Save Your Life," Jason Riley and Patrick Van Horne describe the importance of identifying potential issues -- also known as "bangs" -- early to prevent bad things from happening. While they talk about prevention from combat perspectives, Eastman team members talk about prevention from business and operations perspectives, where the "bangs" can be explosions, fires, releases, injuries or worse -- the process safety world.
Getting "left of bang" means moving from a reactive mode to become relentlessly proactive. Moving a business from "fix" -- reacting post-incident -- to "prevent" requires more than awareness and better tools, processes or technologies. It requires purposeful, informed behaviors. It's a culture change. This article describes Eastman's journey toward an improved process safety culture.
In 2012, Eastman operations leadership identified seven Essential Operational Disciplines (EODs). These are work practices such as alarms and interlocks, equipment monitoring, procedures and checklists, and shift exchanges. The initial rollout was top-down driven, focusing on "what" -- the EODs -- and "who" -- operators and first-level and second-level supervision. The rollout described the seven EODs and defined how different roles participated in them. Operators and first-line supervisors were given information and expected to apply it consistently, but the results weren't sustained.
In 2018, a second attempt to embed EODs began. The focus was still on "what" and "who," but crews were encouraged to select one EOD where they could improve their performance. Results were inconsistent, hard to quantify and ultimately unsustainable. Something was clearly missing: EOD ownership at the "tip of the spear."
"Our prior attempts described what 'good' looked like but provided no structure around start-of-shift meetings, daily operations meetings, or alarm management and procedure management processes, which are key to achieving outcomes described in the operations handbook," said Mark Bogle, vice president and Eastman's Tennessee operations site leader.
In 2019, a third and different approach to implementing EODs was initiated. Eastman brought in a change-leadership implementation consulting firm to help create a program that addressed what was clearly missing from the first two efforts. This time, the team focused on "why" and "how." The difference was the inclusion of five additional elements, enabling the EODs to be internalized and sustainable:
- Change leadership: Understanding how to lead change versus managing or maintaining the status quo.
- Role clarity: The specifics of what each role is expected to do in the effective execution of EODs.
- Performance coaching: Processes and tools driving meaningful conversations that improve operator and leader performance and results.
- Management systems: Meetings and scorecards that measure performance and identify improvement opportunities.
- Continuous improvement: Problemsolving tools and processes to identify and address recurring issues, reducing the potential for incidents.
These elements provided the "why" and "how" from both the operators' and leaders' perspectives. They were the cultural and behavioral framework missing from the first two efforts. Previously, the "why" appeared to operators as "because senior management wants it." In 2019, the "why" became "because we can make our day safer and less hectic," a much more operator-centric reason.
The 2019 approach also placed accountability and ownership for EOD execution and the resulting performance with the operators and front-line leaders. Performance was made more visible at all levels, as the integrated elements created a holistic change environment.
"We installed critical management systems and cadences where targeted role clarity and performance coaching are applied," Bogle stated. "They connect risk and value drivers directly to operator actions, engaging operators in problem solving and continual improvement on those drivers."
Broad engagement early in the process was a critical aspect of a successful start. Operators and front-line leaders participated in workshops to identify improvement opportunities, and change leadership training was conducted. This allowed everyone to engage in the process, soak in the information and get aligned on implementing change.
As implementation began, operators and front-line leaders reviewed shift and area performance daily, identifying opportunities and driving action. Operators used continuous improvement processes and tools to proactively identify and resolve potential and recurring issues:
- The operators' shift exchange and start-of-shift meetings became platforms for ownership and excellence, and shiftto- shift communication was more detailed and actionable. One leader stated, "We discuss EODs daily. We connect EODs back to our work, whether it's an operator or a first-level or second-level supervisor. EODs aren't just an abstract concept anymore."
- First-level and second-level leadership designed scorecards and metrics used in shift and daily production meetings, creating visibility to area performance and driving problem-solving actions to address opportunities. An "exception management" mindset was critical to directing energy toward improvement opportunities.
- One excellent example of changed behavior was the level of preparation for meetings: Better preparation led to better discussion, leading to focused actions and improved results.
Johnny Smith, a front-line supervisor, said, "I'm pleased with the focus on continuous improvement. There are things that, given the opportunity, operators can solve. It's a matter of taking ownership and not depending on someone else to take the ball and run with it."
Dustin Drueckhammer, area manager, agreed and said, "We're utilizing previously underutilized resources. By enabling ownership to the operating crews and expecting them to solve problems, we're better utilizing operators. We hire smart, quality people; it makes sense for them to drive results and solve problems."
From department heads to operators, everyone clearly understood roles and expectations in executing EODs, and those roles linked to individual coaching agreements:
- The performance coaching process aligned leaders and operators on specific capabilities needing development, establishing purposeful actions to broaden skills, and improving individual and area performance.
- Clear roles and expectations bolstered the consistency of EOD execution, and coaching boosted the quality of execution.
- Finally, based on the coaching received, leaders were better able to identify and address resistance, move implementation forward and dispel perceptions of "this will be over soon."
Introducing scorecards with relevant metrics, practicing new skills and tools daily, and regular feedback and coaching changed the perception of what good process safety looks like. For operators, executing EODs stopped being about senior management. It was about managing their plant shift-to-shift, day-after-day, to create safer and more effective workplaces for themselves.
Although the journey to EOD excellence, enabled by the five elements, has only been underway since October 2019, the Eastman team has seen promising improvements in incident-avoiding performance and the leadership behaviors that drive it. These examples include:
- Active alarms: Pilot areas have seen nearly 80-percent reductions in active alarms.
- Controllers in abnormal mode: Through this effort, teams have seen a 26-percent reduction in controllers in abnormal mode and a 90-percent reduction in variability.
- Collateral benefits: Process safety improvements from better EOD execution have improved personal safety, plant reliability, product quality, job satisfaction and flexibility.
"We pretty seamlessly switched to remotely managing our operations due to COVID-19," Drueckhammer said. "We'd already driven ownership of critical performance metrics to shift supervisors and crews. They knew what we expected of them -- role clarity -- and the systems in place -- management cadence and scorecards -- supported them, ensuring we achieved results."
Eastman continues to strive toward a culture with a zero-incident mindset. While the concept "Left of Bang -- Prevent Incidents" is not yet fully internalized, initial results are what the team hoped for when the journey initially began in 2012. Adding supporting mechanisms -- the five elements -- made significant differences in their success, with the recognition that leading a successful and sustainable change effort requires approaches and capabilities that differ from those needed to maintain the status quo.
Martin Thompson, a senior change leadership coach and implementation consultant, and Amy Wennersten, an experienced change leader and leadership coach, also contributed to this article.
For more information, visit www.eastman.com or call (423) 229-2000.
