Hydrocarbon Processing - March 2021 - 87

Environment and Safety

Strongly agree/agree, %

of performance data, as discussed previ- groups from different areas of a facility
over time can provide insights on
ously. A workshop approach has been or different employee groups (e.g., manwhether issues are increasing or
used7,11 to engage broad cross-sections agement groups and operator groups).
decreasing (e.g., performance is
improving). An example of
metrics and trend analysis
While a focus on operational discipline is not a
is shown in FIG. 8.
* Surveys: OD assessments
panacea, it is a fundamental part of effective programs
can be developed using
for achieving excellent performance in process safety;
the OD characteristics and
environmental, health and safety programs; quality;
related factors discussed
earlier, using Internet
reliability; and productivity.
survey tools or group
discussions, depending on
the sample size and the degree of
of facility employees in identifying and An example agenda7,11 requiring advance
analysis desired. Additional freeprioritizing OD improvement opportu- work to prepare relevant hard (e.g., metform entry of comments should
nities. This helps raise employee aware- rics) and soft data (e.g., survey results) for
be allowed when using web-based
ness and understanding of OD issues, review by participants can include:
tools, and the results should be
* Purpose and introductions
builds value for OD, engages employees
confidential to encourage honest
* What is OD and why is it important?
in identifying problems and developing
participation. An example of a
* Breakout groups: build value
solutions, and helps the organization start
personal OD survey is shown in
for OD programs (e.g., detailed
prioritizing and pursuing improvements
site incident review)
through the development of selected acFIG. 9, where the X-axis could be
* Hard data review: incident, injury,
tivities and plans. Some activities may
different (1) sites, (2) groups of
audit and metrics data and trends
be easy to implement and some may be
employees (e.g., management,
* Breakout groups: discuss data and
much harder, requiring significant reoperators, contractors) and (3)
identify improvement opportunities
sources and time, but ultimately providtypes of employees (e.g., work
* Soft data review: survey results
ing greater benefits. Generally, both types
group, experience level), which
* Breakout groups: discuss data and
of activities should be considered, given
can be used to examine the survey
identify improvement opportunities
overall resource constraints and competdata from different perspectives.
* Discussion: prepare summary list
ing activities. Prioritization can be based
The responses in this example
of improvement opportunities
on factors such as overall benefit, required
indicate some possible significant
and prioritize list
resources, time to complete and level of
overall and local OD issues related
* Breakout groups: each group
management support.
to following procedures (e.g.,
takes a different opportunity
Workshops can be of varying length
approximately 20% of overall
to develop a path forward
(typically 4 hr-8 hr), depending on site
responses indicate a willingness
* Review group results and plan
size and needs, and are a good way to ento deviate from procedure, and at
overall path forward.
gage and energize OD improvement efone site, this value is over 50%).
The OD improvement opportunities
forts. Multiple workshops may be needed
While surveys should generally be
to include appropriate site personnel and, will be specific to different locations or
treated as " soft " data representing
in some cases, it can be interesting and in- groups, based on the data developed and
employee perceptions, rather than
formative to view the results from work- reviewed. The precursor list provided in
" hard " data such as metrics related
shop groups representing participants Part 15 should be considered for possible
to loss of primary containment or
other discrete events, survey results from across the site against workshop activities, and some opportunities may
can be useful in helping evaluate
human perspectives and beliefs
We plan to follow procedures carefully without shortcuts every time
that impact OD.
100
OD evaluation must be a continuous
Average = 81.5%
process to help measure progress, sus80
tain improvements and identify potential
new issues, requiring that appropriate
60
measurement frequencies be developed.
Frequent observation of work activities
40
can also provide insights and learnings for
improving OD.
20
Identifying, prioritizing and pursuing
improvement opportunities. Oppor-

tunities for improving OD can be identified from employees' input and analyses

0
Location
FIG. 9. OD surveys and trends can be used to identify potential issues.
Hydrocarbon Processing | MARCH 2021

Hydrocarbon Processing - March 2021

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