June 5, 2023
1:45PM - 2:45PM

Safely Improving Turnaround Productivity (2023 Edition)

George Perrett, United Shutdown Safety

Expo A2

In 2019, the number one concern across industry was the availability of skilled workers and its implications on productivity, profitability and of course, safety. At a leading industry conference 300 operational excellence and planning leaders committed to addressing solutions about the dwindling number of workers to support the petrochemical industry. Pandemic notwithstanding, industry today is facing unprecedented challenges getting work done. Workforce and safety professionals were tasked with researching other plants around the world to identify solutions of how their companies and the newer plants were safely improving productivity with fewer people.  The presentation, Safely Improving Turnaround Productivity, shows several new technologies identified and are being tested and utilized by Gulf Coast refineries and chemical plants today. Case studies from area plants show the results and financial impact values of systems such as connected worker systems, artificial intelligence for compliance and dropped objects elimination, proximity badges and much more.  Additionally, multiple vendors and suppliers contributed to the analysis to emphasize the technology and not a specific product provider.    Refined over multiple presentations to companies and industry events in 2022, Safely Improving Turnaround Productivity ideas have been implemented in many of the region’s key refineries and petrochemical plants to great results. Solutions presented have increased the safety standards of contractors and plant personnel without increasing headcount.  The dollar value of these productivity increases are being tabulated for the 2023 version of the presentation.