Streamlining safety

The system features an embedded risk assessment template, which removes an aspect of human error. It identifies conflicting work and puts more control in the operators’ hands. At any time, they can easily refer to the relevant information on any job.

Because the system being used is part of a pilot program, it is not the final product. After a trial period, the pilot units from all three locations will provide their feedback on the system. The goal is to create a system that suits the specific needs of BASF’s plant operations. Key components of a succssful system include an embedded risk assessment, easy navigation, improved audit compliance and increased communication between all parties.

Operators, Turnbull adds, have been happy with the change so far. “There have been a few challenges with the new system, but by and large, people are happy with it,” he says. “It’s been a good change.”

A pilot program at three of BASF’s North American sites – Wyandotte, Michigan; Freeport, Texas; and Geismar, Louisiana – is simplifying the permit-issuing process. As part of BASF 4.0, select units at each site are shifting the safe work permit process from paper to digital format. The Dispersions and Resins plant in Wyandotte is one of the pilot locations.

Until now, any time a safe work permit was required at the Dispersions and Resins plant, all information and relevant details were written by hand. Once the permit was issued, it was filed away. Because of the sheer number of permits issued at the plant, frustrations with hand-written permits became their time-consuming nature and lack of repeatability.

Permits are required for anything that doesn’t already have an established standard operating procedure. This includes many maintenance activities, any unique event at the plant, and any time an outside contractor performs work at the plant. They are a foundational piece of workplace safety.

“Permitting is designed to protect all of our employees and contractors,” says Thomas J. Turnbull, Operations Manager at the Dispersions and Resins Plant in Wyandotte.

Changing this process from paper to digital introduces transparency. Previously, the permitting process was owned by the operations team from start to finish. The new system expands ownership to include BASF maintenance and third-party contract groups to request the permit for work they will be performing. Including the maintenance team early in the permitting process helps identify additional hazards and promotes dialog between permit issuers and acceptors. Additionally, teams from Environmental Health & Safety, operations, maintenance, construction services and site leadership can access the information from any BASF device.

The digital system, which can be used both at a desktop computer and on a tablet, opens up the potential for saving permit templates. Once a template is created, the information is saved and can be referenced for similar jobs in the future. It saves a tremendous amount of time, yet still accounts for the operations group approval and four-eye principle of each permit.

An employee at BASF in Wyandotte, Michigan, uses the new digital permitting system.