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U.S. Refining's Focus on Safety Continues
In the early 1990s, the U.S. government's Occupational Health and Safety Administration issued new rules and guidelines covering "process safety management" for the petrochemical industry. The move was a response to a series of accidents the industry suffered from the mid-1970s to early 1990s.
At ChevronTexaco, we implemented new procedures to address the requirements of the new rules, and we also launched a complementary safety and reliability initiative called Incident Free Operations (IFO) in the mid-1990s. IFO aimed to determine the most common causes of serious refinery accidents and to systematically adopt practices to reduce their risk of occurrence. A team studied years of refinery incident data and identified two clear areas of concern: failures of pumps and furnaces, both standard equipment in every refinery.
We then set about tackling the issues related to these pieces of equipment. In analyzing incident data and root causes, we also applied the lessons we learned to a broader spectrum of issues. For instance, we developed a successful risk-based inspection program for pumps and furnaces. We then applied the same principles to improving the reliability of fixed equipment like vessels, columns, tanks and piping. Finding that our refineries followed different operating procedures for pumps and furnaces, we standardized those, as well as other basic procedures. To improve knowledge sharing, we created best-practice teams that communicate important operational lessons and help drive the standardization of our operating and maintenance practices across the various facilities. Our refineries began to consistently track their reliability and utilization rates, and used incident data to address emerging problems.
Our results in reducing incidents due to furnace mishaps have been dramatic. Losses due to furnaces have decreased from 20 percent to 25 percent of total refining losses prior to 1996, to less than 2 percent in 2002.
Although we have dramatically reduced serious refinery incidents due to pump and furnace failures, a 1999 fire caused by a separated valve at our refinery in Richmond, California, shows us that the risk of incidents is always present, and so is the need for continuing improvement. With the simple conviction that accidents are avoidable, employees at ChevronTexaco's refineries are determined to keep improving the safety and the reliability of their facilities.
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