Page 63 - Serious Incident Prevention How to Achieve and Sustain Accident-Free Operations in Your Plant or Company

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Management Commitment and Leadership 41

the ocean roar with pebbles in his mouth to overcome a harsh, unpleasant
voice and weak lungs. Demosthenes was so successful in overcoming his
weakness that he went on to become one of the best-known great Greek or-
ators of his time. Such commitment is required to provide the level of lead-
ership needed to sustain workplace operations free of serious incidents.
Leaders in safety must view everything with a leadership bias. Leaders
see the possibilities and have confidence that people can effectively handle
change when allowed to become involved in the process. Leaders under-
stand the importance of goals and challenges in galvanizing individuals and
teams. True leaders focus on visions and values, with the leader’s time allo-
cated to actions that leverage his or her personal effectiveness.
Many managers, particularly those who have been successful in climb-
ing the organizational ladder, maintain a personal bias toward positive
thinking. However, when working in an organization having the potential
for serious incidents, a manager’s tendency toward positive thinking must
be tempered with an ongoing chronic unease. The wise manager is always
aware that every day is a potential bad day and that constant vigilance and
critical thinking will be required for a positive outcome. 5
Effective leaders recognize the importance of timing. In particular, the
occurrence of significant events, either within the company or on a more
global basis, can provide a valuable window of opportunity for effective ac-
tion. These opportunities are often short-lived and must be seized when they
occur. An opportunity during my tenure as Eastman Chemical Company’s
Texas Division Safety Director illustrates the importance of taking proac-
tive actions to facilitate management understanding of risks:

In 1984, an incident in Mexico City resulted in the loss of more than 500
lives from BLEVEs (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosions).
6
Several large LPG storage tanks were involved. Shortly after this cata-
strophic event, a documentary videotape of the incident was obtained and
a viewing scheduled for Eastman’s Texas Division senior management.
This viewing, initiated by the safety organization, gave birth to a manage-
ment vision for substantially reducing on-site LPG inventory. With the
strong support of management, storage and distribution systems were re-
designed to achieve major reductions in inventory. The total propane and
propylene tanks at the site were reduced from 35 tanks to a total of 6 tanks,
each with state-of-the-art safeguards. The more than 80 percent reduction
in the number of LPG tanks has provided an inherently safer facility while
having no undesirable effects on operations.

The simple action of scheduling a video presentation for senior man-
agement served to trigger an initiative resulting in breakthrough improve-