Safety Always in Mind – Recalling My Days as a Safety Engineer at Wanhua Chemical

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My name is Xia Lan; I am the founder of Jinghua Software and a former employee of Wanhua, with employee ID 255. Joining Wanhua has been one of the luckiest things in my life, and it has been a source of pride for me to work there. When I started working there in 2003, I encountered an excellent opportunity for the company to experience sustained rapid growth. From Yantai to Ningbo, I held various positions in areas such as quality control, delivery, safety, and cost management, including team leader for quality inspection, production scheduler, safety engineer, and lean cost manager. My experience as a safety engineer left an indelible impression on me, giving me a firsthand understanding of chemical industry safety management. (1) During my 4-year tenure in the role of safety engineer, and before moving to the HSE department, I worked as a company production scheduler for 3 years, which gave me a deeper understanding of the overall operations at the Wanhua Industrial Park. Upon joining the HSE department, most of the tasks were unfamiliar to me. Fortunately, the guidance and enthusiastic assistance from my department leaders and colleagues helped me get started step by step, enabling me to take on more responsibilities over time. Through these various tasks, I gradually gained a better understanding of the overall structure of safety management, its working methods, key challenges, and areas for improvement. During this period, under the leadership and guidance of my department head and colleagues, I focused on carrying out four main types of work. To meet the requirements of these tasks, I learned four key areas of knowledge and skills. 4. Actions to take – carry out daily safety tasks, work on initiatives related to the safety standardization system, provide safety training, and develop the HSE management system. Daily security tasks are the routine responsibilities of a regular security engineer. Revisions to process systems, on-site safety management, safety measures for construction projects, etc ； The special work related to the safety standardization system involves tasks such as managing the daily operations of safety standardization, as well as preparing for reviews and inspections related to safety standardization ； Safety training involves the development and delivery of safety courses related to HSE performance management and special operations ； The development of the HSE management system involves team members, under the guidance of company and department leaders as well as experts, basing themselves on safety standards and through various comparisons, to develop an HSE management system with Wanhua’s own characteristics. These job types differ in terms of their nature, working methods, and level of difficulty. For someone like me who is just starting out as a safety engineer, they all represent new challenges. I started from the basics, learning step by step from my supervisors and colleagues, gradually mastering the skills involved. To perform my work better, and within the department’s positive learning atmosphere, I embarked on a rigorous learning journey. 4 Learn – learn about safety, training, computers, and self-management. Learning about safety means striving to acquire professional knowledge and skills in all aspects related to safety, that is, learning knowledge and skills ； Through theoretical study and practical training, and by working together with my colleagues from the department, I passed the exam to become a certified safety engineer. This was the first certificate I obtained in my professional career, and it marked the beginning of my journey in obtaining various certifications. Obtaining this certification was quite challenging; those summer nights, I stayed at Shanhai Huating on the island, studying hard without leaving home. It was an honor and a source of pride for me to get the certificate and become a registered safety engineer employed by the company. Not to mention that I was able to apply what I had learned in my work, especially in the tasks related to safety standardization at that time. Learning training means learning *training skills. To receive safety training, I began to attend the TTT training courses provided by the company. Under the guidance of professional instructors, I started developing teaching materials, conducting trial lectures, and giving formal lessons. Who would have thought that many years later, I would become one of the top instructors at Wanhua Nian, and be honored as an outstanding instructor at the Wanhua Group. Learning computer skills is mainly to improve work efficiency. Managing the extensive records and forms related to company safety standards, as well as preparing the weekly HSE reports, requires better computer skills; therefore, I began to study EXCEL and ACCESS more intensively. Applying what I learned indeed saved me a lot of time and helped me develop specialized skills. I still remember learning EXCEL’s dynamic charting techniques and creating an EXCEL-based evaluation sheet for Wanhua’s first version of the HSE management system; I used that sheet for many years. It made me very happy, as my work allowed the colleagues in the HSE department to save a little time, and it was one of the few ways in which I could repay their constant support and assistance to me. Learning self-management allowed me to recognize my own shortcomings in the HSE department; I also realized that I often didn’t have enough time, which prompted me to pay more attention to self-management. Years later, it has become one of my strengths. During that stage, all learning was aimed at working. What motivated me to keep learning despite the intense workload was the ability to apply what I learned in practice and the support from my team. Applying what one has learned means that those skills can be used right away in work, which improves efficiency and allows one to do better work; this in turn motivated me to focus on practical application, to carefully choose what to learn and to strive to use that knowledge effectively, creating a positive cycle. Team support ensures a positive learning atmosphere within the HSE department; everyone strives to learn, and they often exchange ideas with one another to encourage progress, making it a true learning-oriented organization. The power of the team helps me to not find it too difficult to cope when studying* feels challenging and boring; I just grit my teeth and get through it. Later, when I started leading a team, I naturally placed great emphasis on the requirements for team members to learn, as well as on creating a learning-oriented atmosphere within the team. (2) Insights from working in safety: Good safety requires three things – a good system, a good culture, and good employees. Compared to other positions, I have worked as a safety engineer for a shorter period of time, but by being fully involved in the company’s safety management efforts, I have gained practical insights into safety work. I deeply understand that good safety depends on these three elements: a good system, a good culture, and good employees. A good system needs to achieve comprehensive coverage and continuous improvement. Comprehensive coverage means that the safety management system needs to cover the entire lifecycle of business operations. From the initiation, design, engineering, commissioning of the facility to its normal operation, appropriate actions must be taken at each stage to ensure safe production. The complexity of the chemical industry dictates that robust management process systems must be established to transform the valuable operational experience gained over many years and across multiple facilities into concrete requirements through such systems. Continuous improvement means that a safety management system requires PDCA and ongoing improvement, striving for constant enhancement over time. The uniqueness of the chemical industry means that many factors affecting the operation of facilities are in constant change. Some of these changes are easy to detect, while others are less noticeable. This requires us to carry out PDCA cycles at regular intervals such as on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual basis, as well as on an ad-hoc basis based on specific projects or events, in order to identify all changes. We need to analyze new situations that arise and find ways to improve them; good improvement measures should then be incorporated into the process systems, so as to ensure that the system remains up-to-date and evolves over time. Good culture is reflected in a commitment to safety, which is present everywhere. Putting safety first requires all employees to embrace the mindset that safety is of utmost importance ； Safety is non-negotiable. In business operations, an overall optimal balance among S (safety), \Q (quality), \C (cost), \D (delivery time) and \M (morale) is generally sought after, but in the chemical industry, safety always comes first. When it comes to balancing safety and costs in production operations, or when balancing safety and delivery timelines in the construction of new facilities, safety is undoubtedly the top priority. The harder the choices are, the more evident becomes the company’s unwavering commitment to giving top priority to safety. Everyone’s decision-making pattern is profoundly influenced by the group they belong to. When we are new employees and see how managers prioritize safety when making decisions, it is only natural that we will make similar decisions when it is our turn to make choices for the team years later. Ubiquity means that the safety culture is present everywhere, and safety considerations must be taken into account before making any decisions or taking any actions. Everyone’s behavioral habits and mental patterns are consistent; only by maintaining high standards at all times can everyone develop a higher level of safety awareness. This explains why companies emphasize safety at production facilities, in non-production office areas, on cafeteria shuttles, and in employee dormitories. From using the handrail every time going up or down stairs, to lining up in order when walking with others… at all times, employees are held to high standards and trained through small details and simple actions, without any slack. Good employees must ensure they have the necessary skills and fulfill their duties responsibly. Meeting skill requirements means that each employee must possess the skills necessary for the corresponding job, and must undergo certification and assessment. This includes the professional technical skills and safety skills required for an employee’s job. At Wanhua, there is a comprehensive staff training system along with flexible and diverse channels for sharing and communication, enabling every employee to quickly meet the requirements and become an expert in their role. Fulfilling one’s duties means that every employee must properly and fully carry out the safety responsibilities associated with their position. This requirement applies at all times and to everyone, and through years of consistent effort, Wanhua’s employees have managed to meet it well. Regardless of the time, as long as it is stipulated by the procedural rules, the requirements remain the same – no difference between day and night shifts, no difference on holidays, and regardless of whether things are busy or not ； Without regard for individuals, it means focusing only on procedures and rules rather than on people; anyone who violates those procedures and rules must be held accountable in accordance with the regulations. There have been real-life examples of this, from the company’s senior leadership to external **leaders who visited the company. This has been a tremendous source of inspiration and education for us employees; it has made us truly understand the necessity of adhering strictly to the established procedures, and has strengthened our commitment to following those procedures without deviation. My time working as a safety officer at Wanhua has enabled me to acquire more skills and knowledge in my field. It has also allowed me to learn many things, both related to work and personal aspects, from my department leaders and colleagues – and this has played a crucial role in my further growth and development! Now, I have founded Jinghua Software, which focuses on the digital transformation of chemical enterprises – with safety being an integral part of that. Developing complex safety management systems is no easy task, but whenever I face difficulties, I remember that work related to safety is the most meaningful kind of work. As my mentor said many years ago, working in the field of safety means doing good deeds.