Implement standardization of safety standards in work teams to strengthen their safety defenses | Management

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The key to safe production work is to prevent problems before they occur. The Shengli Refinery of Qilu Petrochemical Company is a refining facility with 47 years of history. It features high temperature and pressure, flammability and explosiveness, as well as continuous operation. In recent years, it has mainly processed heavy, low-quality crude oil with high sulfur and acid content, which has increased the demand for equipment corrosion protection and heightened the production risks. To further strengthen team safety management, enhance the safety awareness and skills of all employees, and control safety risks, Shengli Refinery launched a campaign to establish safety-standardized teams in December 2012. Since its creation, it has quickly become a valuable tool for workshops and teams to ensure safety and prevent accidents, achieving significant results. By creating activities, a solid defense line against safety risks was established, the level of safety management within teams was improved, which in turn promoted safe production in the facilities. The entire team is involved in the efforts to establish standards, and there has been a new awareness of risks within the teams. A comprehensive and round-the-clock safety standardization system for the teams has been put in place. By leveraging everyone’s initiative, awareness of risk prevention and control has been significantly improved. The system promotes the concept of safety standardization. The workshop formulates detailed guidelines and management methods for safety standardization at the team level, and on this basis, prepares work guides for team establishment. At the same time, efforts should be made to disseminate the relevant concepts and provide training on the systems involved. Teams should use their backup members to conduct in-depth studies, so as to enhance their understanding, grasp the purpose and principles of these activities, and become familiar with the corresponding systems and procedures. This will help team members realize that such activities serve as a catalyst for improving safety management levels and as a safeguard for long-term safety, thereby increasing their enthusiasm for participating in them. During the activities to establish safety-standardized work teams in the continuous reforming workshop, the workshop set up \"team safety rooms\" and installed safety boards, on which educational posters related to the \"Enterprise Team Safety Room\" were posted. The \"5831 Team Safety Standards\" were easy to understand and well-structured, which made them acceptable to team members; they thus served as a \"roadmap\" for carrying out safety activities within the team. Guided by its 5 fundamental aspects of safety production, 8 pillars of safety production, 3 elements supporting team-level safety, and 1 goal for safety management, standardization activities for team safety were carried out to organize various safety initiatives at the workshop and team levels. This approach helped to create synergy and avoid redundant efforts, thereby maximizing the effectiveness of team safety management. For example, workshop-level safety training for external contractors, JHA risk analyses prior to tasks, risk briefings before operations, and safety announcements before work were all integrated into the “process control” standards, thus achieving the goal of effective pre-task control. Based on its actual conditions, the workshop develops standardized safety systems for work teams, work procedures, safety protection knowledge, and safety slogans, which are then displayed on boards in the team safety areas, rest rooms, and operation rooms. By being constantly exposed to these materials, employees develop a culture of safety learning within the team, thereby fostering in each employee the habit of following procedures properly. The control room is equipped with inspection standard photos and warning mirrors to provide employees with standards for protective clothing during inspections. The workshop also holds safety commitment activities, encouraging employees to voice their commitment to safety and fostering their awareness of safety as well as their sense of responsibility in this regard. As the primary person responsible for establishing safety standards in the team, the team leader ensures strict compliance with these standards, tailors work requirements to the specific characteristics of the team, and takes the lead in fostering a sense of responsibility among team members to ensure that all requirements are fulfilled. Comprehensively enhance awareness of risk prevention. Carry out the “Safety Storytelling” activity, which involves holding safety team days through employees telling safety stories. The event was very popular among the employees. By sharing their own safety experiences or other safety cases, as well as their thoughts, insights, and lessons learned, employees have enhanced their sense of safety responsibility. Taking into account the characteristics of the equipment in the workshop, and in response to the need for employees to improve their safety skills, efforts were intensified in safety training. Accident simulations and safety drills were carried out, which effectively enhanced the employees’ safety skills. Standardized special activities were carried out in various interesting ways, bringing a new dynamic to team safety management. Safety standardization efforts such as the implementation of work procedures for each shift, safety announcements, and the assignment of safety officers were organized carefully. Team members strictly adhered to these requirements, effectively controlling risks at every stage of work and ensuring the smooth progress of safe production within the team. Implement the work procedures for the shift. The workshop establishes standard procedures for employees’ work, setting standardized requirements for the entire process from starting work, being on duty to ending work. These include self-checks of one’s physical condition before starting work, leave management, shift handover procedures, inspection systems, supervision during special operations, handling of special incidents, and the execution of routine tasks. These guidelines cover all aspects of the team’s work, and are accompanied by detailed management rules for reference; they are strictly enforced and thoroughly implemented within the team. Employees conduct thorough pre-shift inspections to identify issues early and keep abreast of the situation promptly. In particular, the team leader should arrive at work early to gain a comprehensive understanding of the production situation. During the shift handover meeting, the team leader and the on-duty staff provide feedback on the pre-inspection results for that shift, and the team leader takes these results into account when assessing the employees according to the ABC rating system. Technicians asked questions on-site regarding the important parameters and changing aspects in the production process. At work, employees strictly follow established procedures such as inspections and equipment maintenance, carefully controlling work-related risks to ensure the safe operation of the facilities. Carry out the “Today I’m a Safety Officer” activity. Team members take turns serving as \"safety officers,\" leading the team in safety training, conducting safety announcements, teaching them about safety regulations and safety prohibitions, and providing comprehensive safety oversight over all construction activities. The “Today I’m the Safety Officer” campaign should be carried out seriously. The safety officer on duty is required to set standards and requirements for safety work within the team during the handover meeting – ranging from the implementation of standardized procedures and the reading of safety documents, to matters such as being cautious of hydrogen sulfide poisoning, heat burns, taking precautions during sampling, wearing appropriate personal protective equipment, being aware of weather changes, and being careful not to slip when using escalators. These reminders serve to ensure that safety is always given top priority during work. Summarize the day’s safety work at the shift handover meeting. In addition, before taking over their shifts, the safety officers for each shift share a little piece of safety knowledge or information about a serious safety accident that has occurred. The on-duty safety officers prepare these presentations in advance; this not only encourages every employee to take the initiative to learn safety knowledge on their own, but also helps them accumulate knowledge through such small lessons. It enhanced the safety responsibility awareness among team members, creating a situation in which everyone acts as a safety officer and is constantly focused on ensuring safety. The “two-card” mechanism for construction safety management. “The “two cards” refer to the “Standard Operation Card” and the “Standard Monitoring Card”, which are scientific tools for safe production and safety management in inspection, maintenance, and repair activities. When performing tasks such as unit switching and process changes, employees strictly follow the established \"standard operation cards,\" confirming each step and signing off on it, and carry out actions in accordance with the prescribed procedures. This approach enables \"foolproof operation\" and helps prevent errors and accidents. When supervising operations on site, staff strictly adhere to the \"Standard Supervision Card,\" carefully reviewing everything from operation permits to even the smallest tasks involving open-flame work. Clear standards for supervision are implemented, transforming the approach from merely monitoring the fire to also overseeing the overall progress of the work, thereby ensuring the high-quality execution of construction tasks on site. Establish a round-the-clock risk prevention and control network; on-site risk management has been improved. As oil refining units operate continuously 24/7, round-the-clock safety management is essential. In the effort to establish a safety-standardized team, the team actively carries out inspections for potential hazards in production and construction, thus fully playing its role as a frontline force in team safety management. Implement a 24/7 hazard inspection mechanism. The team implements a 24-hour continuous inspection system, with strict supervision throughout the shift. Team members conduct inspections every hour, spreading out across different positions to ensure that there is always someone on site, so that potential hazards can be identified at all times, problems can be addressed promptly, and safe production can be maintained continuously. During inspections, crew members must bring several types of tools. The first category consists of specialized equipment such as stethoscopes and wrenches, which are used to check the operation of the equipment at any time and to address routine issues promptly ； Secondly, there are message boards and record books to enable communication both indoors and outdoors at any time, as well as to promptly compare whether the on-site parameters match those of the remote sensors ； Third are safety devices, such as alarms and protective masks, which enable early detection of hidden hazards and early protection against invisible damages. In addition to regular routine inspections, the workshops and teams have established systems for identifying potential hazards. The workshops conduct routine weekly inspections on Mondays, while management personnel carry out professional safety inspections every two weeks, assessing the teams responsible for those areas. The team develops a comprehensive management plan, assigns responsibilities within its area of responsibility in a more detailed manner, and goes to great lengths to identify potential hazards. Everyone takes action to ensure safety and identify potential hazards, reflecting the overall safety philosophy of \"ensuring safety at all times, with everyone involved in safeguarding safety, and promoting safety through professionalism.\" Actively offer suggestions for improving safety. Establish a suggestion platform to fully leverage the expertise of team members, provide recommendations for improving safety, analyze equipment issues, and propose solutions to achieve intrinsic safety. By combining the promotion of the “I Conduct Safety Diagnostics” campaign with the use of a safety information management system, safety recommendations and identified issues are included in the diagnostic process, enabling full participation in diagnostics, proper allocation of tasks, online supervision of procedures, and closed-loop handling of issues. By utilizing the online processing method of “I Conduct Safety Diagnostics,” the expertise of all team members is brought together, the responsibilities at each stage of the process are clearly defined, ensuring that all issues are identified, potential hazards are addressed, and safety is maintained at all times. Guided by standardized systems, supervised by online tracking, and driven by assessment and incentives, this approach effectively boosts employees’ enthusiasm for identifying problems and their sense of responsibility in addressing them, thereby contributing to the improvement of workshop conditions and the assurance of safe operations. Since the launch of the activities for standardizing team safety, following the principle of \"safety first, prevention foremost, participation by all employees, and comprehensive management,\" there has been a surge in enthusiasm among all staff to focus on safety, leading to significant improvements in safety management. This demonstrates the necessity and effectiveness of standardizing safety practices. First, it has effectively enhanced employees’ awareness of safety responsibilities and risk prevention. By intensifying the efforts to identify and address potential risks, it has been ensured that everyone is committed to safety, knows how to ensure safety, takes action to maintain safety, and safeguards it, thus fostering a positive atmosphere in which all employees strive to be role models in terms of safety. Second, safety management is moving toward professionalism and standardization. Standard operation cards, job supervision cards, and initiatives such as “Today I am the safety officer” have enriched the practices of team safety management, leading to a more professional approach to work and regular safety management practices, thereby providing better support for the production and construction activities at the facility. Third, safety standardization has improved work efficiency. For example, during maintenance work, the workshop divides each shift into a specialized team; discussion meetings on renovation projects are held once a week, half a year in advance, to go over each detail and confirm the tasks involved in the maintenance, thereby addressing any bottlenecks at an early stage and improving the efficiency of downtime. Training and thorough instructions are provided in advance, so that key staff members can perform their tasks skillfully and ordinary employees can do so proficiently as well. The use of safety standards within the teams helps to ensure that maintenance work is completed to a high standard. Fourth, the standardization of team safety has improved the precision of safety management. The team must address any potential issues or defects identified during their shift promptly, thereby ensuring the stable operation of the equipment. Fifth, it has promoted the improvement of workshop management standards. The establishment of safety standardization in work teams has fully motivated operators to make adjustments, thereby continuously improving the economic efficiency of plant operations. Sixth, persistent and meticulous safety management has been carried out, fostering a positive safety culture within the teams and laying a solid foundation for the establishment of a long-term mechanism for safety standardization. The implementation of safety standardization in work teams has yielded excellent results; it has replaced the previous method of imparting safety knowledge and skills through forced training, allowing people to learn actively on their own, assist one another voluntarily, and work together to ensure a safe and stable production environment. \"I promise, I act; safety has standards, and safety is in our hearts\" has become the new philosophy for safety management in these teams. ■