Do growth or efficiency objectives stand in the way of safety improvements?

Directors of chemical and petro chemical installations all face the challenge of substantially improving the operational performance of their company amidst growing competition from low-wage countries, mounting regulations and skills shortages. But despite being engaged in this relentless ongoing effort to produce even more tons of output at even lower costs, many also feel as if they’re driving with one foot on the brake. The problem they sense is that they need to juggle profit and safety. But are the two irreconcilable?

Safety is a key factor in this playing field. Notwithstanding greater regulatory stringency, fewer people in the installation and higher production targets would inevitably appear to result in higher risks. So is that the right way to go about things? Isn’t there an alternative way of achieving the same performance improvement whilst reducing the risks?

Operational Excellence is the answer. This term is often used to encompass all matters relating to higher production figures and lower costs, but rarely includes that other key issue: safety. Safety is often singled out as a goal unto itself, an objective that stands apart from Operational Excellence. This is partly because safety is very much in the spotlight of the media, government and public opinion – putting companies under tremendous pres-
sure to show this issue is their paramount concern. The result is a series of high-profile safety programs that are
usually undertaken on an ad-hoc basis in response to incidents and accidents. These investments may yield short-term benefits in terms of enhanced safety statistics, but unfortunately the improvements often prove to be short-lived. No structural changes are achieved because the measures fail to address the root causes which are often complex, hard to uncover and sometimes, at first sight, not even directly safety-related.

Optimal safety can never be realized if it is seen as an end unto itself and approached as an isolated issue. Treating safety as the number one objective is at odds with the financial imperatives of the business. By contrast, if safety is regarded as a means to achieve Operational Excellence, that conflict is resolved at a single stroke. Leading companies in the processing industry (e.g. Dow, Dupont) use safety as a key to unlock Operational Excellence. They aspire towards Operational Excellence where safety and efficiency go hand in hand and are a precondition for success.

What exactly is Operational Excellence all about?
It is about excelling as a team in what you do, continuously striving for improvement, goal-oriented thinking and acting, learning from mistakes and limiting the impact of mistakes. Operational Excellence makes no distinction between efficiency and safety. It is about getting better and better at the things you do and attaining the objectives you aspire towards. Companies who pursue Operational Excellence are not only able to express economic incidents, but also occupational accidents, in financial and reputational consequences. They thereby ensure that all risks are managed in a uniform and transparent manner. This applies to risks of all kinds, ranging from an undesirable installation trip to chemical spillages.

Shifting safety from a number one - but isolated - objective to its rightful place within Operational Excellence means taking that foot off the brake and regaining full speed. It refocuses attention on the company’s real reason to exist, namely to operate as a healthy and profitable business! Once again, safety is obviously paramount, but not an objective in itself.