Safety
Overview
The safety of employees, contractors, business partners, customers and the community is our number-one priority. We approach our work with the highest commitment to safety and a focus on care for the environment.
Personal Safety
To continually drive strong performance, we use a combination of best practice-based operational standards, documented work processes, proven management systems and behavior-based programs designed to train, protect and empower employees and contractors. Employees and contractors are held to the same high standards and expectations and are obligated to stop any work if there is a risk or concern.
OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program
OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program recognizes employers and workers in private industry and federal agencies that have implemented effective safety and health management systems. VPP is a cooperative program between regulators and industry that helps drive higher level safety performance at all levels of an organization. To achieve VPP status, applicants must complete a rigorous application and inspection process by OSHA that can take multiple years. There are three levels of designation: Demonstration, Merit, and Star status, which is the highest level.
Currently, we have earned 29 VPP Star certifications covering 32 facilities. To put VPP status in perspective, according to OSHA, there are approximately 10 million total worksite establishments in the United States, however only 1,886 sites across all industries have achieved VPP status. Achieving and maintaining our VPP participation is a testament to our commitment to the safety and health of our workforce and the communities we serve.
Process Safety
In simplest terms, process safety means that our pipes, tanks, processing units, valves and other hardware all work as intended to keep hazardous materials contained. We manage our process safety risks proactively by continuously improving our process safety management systems (e.g., mechanical integrity program, management of change, safe work practices, operating procedures) and by maintaining a rigorous process safety risk assessment process to identify risks and implement the appropriate safeguards (e.g., alarms, automated shutoff systems, relief devices).