Another initiative that Motiva’s Port Arthur Refinery feels will help the facility achieve World Class Performance is the implementation of a Health, Safety and Environment Management System (HSEMS).
The Health, Safety and Environment Management System is a Structured set of Controls for managing all of our HSE hazards (such as fires, hydrocarbon releases, odors, etc.) in the business. The structured approach provides for continuous improvement in the way that we conduct business. This continuous improvement is defined as the Plan, Do, Check, and Review cycle. The controls eliminate or reduce these HSE hazards to a level of risk that is acceptable. The HSEMS consists of elements such as policy, leadership commitment, responsibilities, procedures, hazard management, audits, and review, all geared to embedding HSE into every aspect of our operation. Two other important initiatives that are critical to HSE success are ISO 14000 Certification, and entrance into OSHA’S Voluntary Protection Program.
ISO 14000 refers to a series of voluntary standards in the environmental field under development by ISO. Included in the ISO 14000 series is the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Standard. ISO 14001 is essentially a system designed to help organizations meet their environmental obligations and reduce the impact of their operations on the environment. The ISO 14001 standard requires that an organization put in place and implement a series of practices and procedures that, when taken together, result in an environmental management system. Potential benefits of a ISO 14001 EMS include:
Improvements in overall environmental performance and compliance
Provide a framework for using pollution prevention practices to meet EMS objectives
Increased efficiency and potential cost savings when managing environmental obligations
Promote predictability and consistency in managing environmental obligations
More effective targeting of scarce environmental management resources
Enhance public posture with outside stakeholders
OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) promote effective worksite-based safety and health. In the VPP, management, labor, and OSHA establish cooperative relationships at workplaces that have implemented a comprehensive safety and health management system. Approval into VPP is OSHA’s official recognition of the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have achieved exemplary occupational safety and health.
VPP sets performance-based criteria for a managed safety and health system, invites sites to apply, and then assesses applicants against these criteria. OSHA’s verification includes an application review and a rigorous onsite evaluation by a team of OSHA safety and health experts.
Statistical evidence for VPP’s success is impressive. The average VPP worksite has a lost workday incidence rate 52% below the average for its industry. These sites typically do not start out with such low rates. Reductions in injuries and illnesses begin when the site commits to the VPP approach to safety and health management and the challenging VPP application process.
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