Safety Defining Moments

The Kallo Team – Managers and Operators Partner on Site Tours to Boost Safety and Team Connections

Fri, 11 Jun 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Every safety incident is an opportunity to learn. When the Kallo team experienced some LOPCs earlier this year, they not only worked together to identify learnings from those specific incidents, but also took tangible actions to strengthen safety practices across the site.

One of the Kallo team’s most impactful efforts was the start of a manager/operator “buddy” program for their regular site inspection tours.

“We’ve welcomed some new faces on our management team in recent history,” said Manu Gyselinck, Site Manager. “So a big driver of this ‘pairing’ on site tours was to allow our leaders to learn more about the many details of our different production units directly from the operations team.”

Another big driver for the program related directly to the challenges of the pandemic.

“Because of COVID, we haven’t had as many opportunities to connect with each other,” said Gretel Sandrap, Safety & Health Manager. “And we all know that when people are together, there are more chances to chat through ideas, including safety enhancements.”

Kallo used this new “buddy” system for a range of inspection tours that take place throughout the week, including:

Sampling tours, where operators collect and test samples every three hours for each column in production
Energy tours, which cover boilers, incinerators, oil ovens, and everything else having to do with energy
Tankfarm tours – the biggest tours – where the operator walks around the whole site and looks for issues, such as possible leakages and pump issues

The Kallo site began the management-operator pairings on these tours at the end of February, and since then, they have enjoyed many benefits from the new program.

“Operators have more access to the management team, and vice versa,” said Manu. “We’ve also been able to standardize our tours. We learned that each operator was looking at different things, and this bringing together of our experience has allowed us to be more comprehensive as a team on all of our inspection tours.”

“A second set of eyes is always a good thing,” added Gretel. “We’ve taken many great actions from the tour findings, and with every improvement, we keep our team safer. And since this program has also helped bring us closer together for a very worthy use of our time, it’s definitely been a win-win for everyone involved!”

Ron Garretson, Brandenburg – Getting Stuck in a Ditch Sparks Important Safety Learnings

Tue, 20 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0000

My father-in-law does dirt work for a living, such as digging ditches. I experienced a big Safety Defining Moment with him on the job, as I often help him with bigger projects to save time and money. One afternoon, we were digging an electric and water line ditch, and the ditch wall fell in on my legs – trapping me in the spot. I couldn't move or get free on my own! Luckily, the ditch wasn't over my head, but it still wasn’t a good feeling to be trapped. We realized that the ditch had sandy soil, as it was close to river land. My father-in-law and I both learned that it’s critical to use ditch cribbing on certain ditch depths to avoid incidents like what I experienced. This event was also a reminder to ALWAYS ask yourself if there’s a safer way to do the job at hand to prevent injury.

Louis Theobald, Houston Area – Don’t Be Afraid to Speak Up (Even to Your Manager!)

Mon, 19 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0000

When I first started working in safety, I was uncomfortable challenging my managers. But on one occasion, I felt very strongly about a safety-related issue and how to approach it, and my manager and I got into a heated discussion over the topic. He later called to apologize – so we were able to work through the issue in a good way. I remember saying, "You chose ME for this position. My job is to keep you out of trouble. All I ask is that you help me to help you.” I have worked in safety ever since then, and because of a willingness to speak up (and to listen), I have great relationships with team members at all levels.

Never be afraid to challenge something you think is unsafe, no matter who you are providing the feedback to. We all have the same goal to go home to our families safe every day. We depend on each other to speak up – so we can make the best and safest decisions about the work we do.

ADAM’S STORY

Wed, 10 Mar 2021 05:00:00 +0000

I have more than a few Safety Defining moments from my military days, but several years ago, I experienced what I consider a pretty good reminder of how fast things can go south…

I was burning brush in my yard with the help of some of my extended family members. Early in the process, my father-in-law voiced a concern that the fire might be too close to some of the trees in the back of my yard, but all of us felt that we were far enough away.

Lo and behold, a 40-foot cherry tree caught on fire. We later discovered that it was rotted in the middle, so the fire moved through the tree quickly. To make matters worse, the wind chose that moment to pick up – and the embers were starting to blow toward the forest behind the house.

From there, things only got more interesting. We all know how to use a chainsaw, but we’d never cut down a large rotted out tree that was on fire! We ended up dropping the cherry tree in the wrong spot, and it got stuck in the crook of a large oak tree, which started to burn as well. Fortunately, after some doing, we were able to use chains and my truck to pull the cherry tree down and douse the blaze with a hose.

We had ourselves a laugh about what happened afterward, but it didn’t escape any of us how serious this incident could have been.

Two big lessons…

When it comes to fire, things can go south pretty quickly. So, always make sure you have MORE space than you think you need.
When someone voices a concern about a situation, take the time to evaluate the concern – even if it’s your father-in-law!

Thanks for reading my story, and please share yours. (Submission form is to the right.) YOUR story might just be the reminder that prevents a serious incident – and keeps someone safe.