Attending the PetChem Technology Forum in Houston I learned from engineering, operating company, supplier and consultant industry experts. I was fortunate enough to be presenting on Filtration Technology for Removing Solid Contaminant Fines from Water Scrubbing, Clarifier Effluent and Grey Water. I discussed technologies, applications, case histories and troubleshooting in petrochemical safety.
Another of the presentations addressed safety and conducting safety audits. We all think we know about safety. Sometimes we’re overconfident — as when I told my 88 year-old father how to safely climb a ladder, and he proceeded not to talk with me for a day (but that’s another story).
In Houston I was learning from Robert J. Weber, the President/CEO and founder of PSRG, a global provider of process safety, risk management, process plant reliability, and comprehensive HSSE services for the hydrocarbon and chemical process industries.
Robert first covered lessons learned from industry incidents such as:
- a cyclohexane release and explosion that killed 28 in Flixborough, UK
- a loss of containment in a local Mexico City sewer system that led to over 650 fatalities
- the “world’s worst industrial disaster” in Bhopal, India when a Union Carbide methyl isocyanate tank ruptured.
Robert discussed what each company can do to improve safety including establishing a culture of safety (leadership and competency). He suggested clearly defined expectations and accountability along with Key Performance Indicators. Finally, he stressed continuous improvement and community outreach.
7 Key Steps in Petrochemical Safety
Over the course of the presentation and panel questions seven key steps in safety management were identified:
- Assign personnel for accountability
- Adopt a personalized company philosophy
- Learn about process safety
- Incorporate process safety into the business drivers
- Set achievable goals
- Track performance
- Revisit and improve on a continuous basis
This presentation was a great reminder of how essential it is to always be thinking about safety.
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Folks may not remember “Hill Street Blues”, but I do and enjoyed that show a lot. But people DO remember serious safety incidents and their impact can be permanent. An old boss of mine used to say “If you have safety and quality then the productivity will follow.” We learn from the past, but it’s always the next decision anyone makes that needs to be right for success in safety.