BIC Magazine recently held a special roundtable discussion with some of the industry's leading safety experts.
Featuring:
- Seth Arceneaux, safety and security team leader, Rubicon.
- Brittany Francis, director of safety and environmental services -- Global HyCO, Praxair Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Linde plc.
- Christopher Patel, health, safety and environment manager, LyondellBasell Bayport Complex.
- Shawn Ward, senior safety, health and environment manager, Cornerstone Chemical Co.
AND
- David Mihalik, EHS hub director, BASF.
- Matt O'Neil, vice president of HSEQ, Covestro Industrial Park Baytown.
- Ronald Tower, health and safety manager, Phillips 66 Lake Charles Manufacturing Complex.
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BIC: What are the top three safety "must haves" for your site of the future?
ARCENEAUX: The most important "must have" is the support of management. Management support has always been and always will be the most important element of any safety culture and the success of the safety program. The expectations for safety performance must come from the top of the organization and be clearly communicated throughout all levels. These expectations must be a constant topic of our dialogue, with each discussion beginning and ending with them. This ensures our employees do not perceive a shift in priorities or implied pressure. Management support is the foundation on which the safety program is built.
The second "must have" for the site of the future is an extension of the first, and that is a "unifying operational purpose." A unifying operational purpose provides an image of the organization's future and is a natural expression of "who we are," "what we stand for" and answers the question of "why are we here?" It describes our values: "one family, committed to excellence," our mission: "delivering specialty chemicals" and our vision: "improving lives across the globe."
The third "must have" is the continued integration of technology into the safety program. The use of mobile tablets to record process readings, generate work permits, and document inspections and incident reporting are currently in use at many sites, but we have only begun to utilize their full potential. Think about having the ability to use a mobile tablet to access an operating procedure or watch a video, with detailed instruction for routine and nonroutine tasks. The use of these tools can have a significant impact on improving the human reliability aspect of our operations.
FRANCIS: The top three safety "must haves" for our sites in the future are training, employee engagement and management involvement.
PATEL: If I had to define three "must haves," I would mention the following:
1.Learning from experiences: Most incidents and near-misses are not unique in the chemical industry. Therefore, we want to learn from each event and translate the learnings and actions across a site and across the company. Educating the workforce about what happened and what we can do to prevent it in our workplaces is vital to the prevention of future injuries.
2.Develop a culture of caring: Creating a culture of caring and family can do wonders for promoting an environment of intervention, sharing, teaching and collaboration. These attributes of a culture are essential to moving from compliance to personal commitment.
3.Utilization of technology: In the world of safety, third parties are continually developing better personal protective equipment, safer tools, innovative software solutions, and human performance training and education. This is a great time to be leading safety efforts with these advancements. The challenge is to be purposeful with changes that impact the workforce. Change can be stressful to an organization, so managing changes with a clear purpose and communication will help ensure successful implementation of technology.
WARD: My "must haves" would be: 1. A spirit of teamwork where workers instinctively recognize exposure for themselves or others and eliminate the exposures, 2. A culture where workers are empowered to stop work if necessary and report ways to improve safety and prevent injury, and 3. Engagement by new workers with new ideas to challenge hazard reviews conducted and find solutions to process or system issues that can be improved or changed to reduce risks.
MIHALIK: My "must haves" would be 1. A strong safety culture where all employees participate in driving safety throughout all aspects of work, 2. Committed leadership that understands excellence in safety translates to excellence in business, and 3. Building and maintaining the support of the regulatory community and the community, as they provide our license to operate.
O'NEIL:
1. Engagement: With engagement comes a high level of awareness and recognition of unsafe acts or conditions. Many injuries and incidents are the result of bad decisions and poor judgment, which I connect back to a lack of engagement. From a process hazards analysis when a new plant or process is conceived, all the way to a job safety analysis before a job is even started in the field, having an engaged and diverse team will ensure the best outcomes.
2.Standardization: A standardized approach should be one that is tried and true. If we can ensure consistency in how we undertake safety-relevant activities, we can be sure our best practices are being applied. This doesn't mean best practices can't be improved. What is considered best-in-class today might be second-best tomorrow, as technologies evolve and we learn from our mistakes. We always need to be open minded and embrace continuous improvement. But standardization will always be key. To maintain a standardized approach, we need to apply a structured evaluation process, such as management of change. Covestro has embarked on a multiyear program, known as SafeGuard, which requires standardization of our best practices and operational excellence at all sites globally. The goal is that we never experience a tragic day at Covestro. We work toward that goal by promoting a strong safety culture, improving performance and ensuring quality of life for all employees.
3.Technology: Advances in technology are a "must have" to continue to drive safety incidents toward zero. We have recently seen, for example, the wider use of intrinsically safe devices in the workplace, improved inspection methods, air monitoring, and fall prevention and arrest systems. Any technological advancements that can further reduce interaction with the process are critical to the safety, reliability and efficiency of the site in the future.
TOWER: To address the "loss of historic reference" challenge, I believe the top three "must haves" are:
1. More face-to- face interactive training: While the value of computer-based training cannot be overstated for recurring training or to ensure that certain information has been communicated, interactive/personal training for topics that require thinking through application is a must. Face-to-face training can also incorporate testimonies and site-specific accounts, which impart some context and even personal connection to the topic.
2.Job safety planning expanded: Personnel must become more familiar with and comfortable with writing specific job safety plans. Safety professionals should not only assist in designing these plans, but should also help all involved personnel understand the value of the plan and the various inputs necessary. We can't make this a "check the box" exercise. In every situation, it should involve thought and discussion. It is another way to transfer knowledge and maybe gain some in the process.
3.Continued executive and top management support: The financial investments in safety that companies have made are impressive. Not only must financial investments continue, but executives must also continue to make time investments. To ensure a strong safety culture, top management and executives must be visible and continue to support efforts that drive safe work. When management has an engaged field presence with a safety focus, that leadership drives a safety culture.
These "must haves" are not high-tech, futuristic thinking requirements. They are tried and true efforts that must be applied and expanded to help us safely meet our current and future challenges.
