Nation Ford Chemical’s quest to becoming the best of the best
The health and safety of employees is a priority at Nation Ford Chemical, and the judges were particularly impressed with the facility’s Health and Safety Day. Taking a break from day-to-day production, NFC creates a fun environment to motivate staff to make health and safety top priorities. The facility is also implementing current leading indicators and processes, which has helped significantly reduce its OSHA recordable rates to near zero over the last three years. Nation Ford Chemical implemented an open-door policy to customers to tour the plant and work hand-in-hand with the operators. They also invite local responders to tour the site and review hazards annually.

One of their major investments this year is the installation of storm water containment system between their operation and the Catawba River. In the case of a catastrophic leak, this system will eliminate the chance of any material getting off-site. They also installed a 30,000 gallon emergency storage tank, with dedicated pumping capability, able to contain the contents of any storage tank to ensure zero spills to the environment, even during natural disaster. NFC was also acknowledged by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control’s (DHEC) Smart Business Recycling Program in 2018 for its excellent recycling effort. “I like where these folks are going and how they’re getting there,” the judges said. “They’ve got a story to tell, and it should be shared.”

“We are extremely proud of the hard work our employees have done in our EHS&S program,” said Dickson. “This award reflects our commitment to constant improvement for our products, our workers and our neighbors in the community.”

What we have learned and changed in our organization in the last 3 years?
Although the company has always been dedicated to EHS&S, the focus over the past 3 years has been to increase communication to ensure safety stays in the forefront of everyone’s minds. We have added an electronic safety communication screen that is the first thing employees see when they enter the personnel building and is the company’s intranet homepage. This is used to not only display plant safety statistics and upcoming safety meetings, but also to share relevant safety topics. We have also put emphasis on having first line supervisors and managers encourage safe behaviors. We want to make sure that before any job is undertaken, the employee pauses and thinks about the task at hand.

Monument Chemical’s quest to becoming the best of the best:
Monument Chemical Kentucky’s stakeholder engagement program, which nurtures and sustains a mutually valuable dialogue with the community, wowed the judges. The facility holds quarterly meetings with the Local Emergency Planning Committee, quarterly drills with emergency responders, as well as monthly rescue team training to ensure readiness. The company also implemented a new product approval process to improve product stewardship and ensure efficient evaluation of potential product. The process is called “IDEA”(Inquiry, Design, Execute, Analyze), where all affected groups evaluate manufacturing risks before new products are approved for production. For daily safety awareness, the facility implemented a site-wide 2nd Nature Card, which offers a personal job-hazard analysis for operators and contractors. Monument also improved its employee training and engagement by developing stations that simulate process equipment at each unit operation. Monument also utilizes alternative means to reduce hazardous waste into the environment. The facility installed a new tank and piping to neutralize corrosive streams, which allows them to treat the material biologically on-site rather than disposing it off as hazardous waste. “This application represents a mature and successful EHS&S program that is continually improving,” the judges said.

Monument Chemical also won the Educational Outreach Award. The facility supports the Chemical Educational Foundation’s You Be the Chemist program and the Junior Achievement’s Inspire Fair and Expo. These programs give students an opportunity to learn about chemistry and chemical industry careers and inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. While participating in these programs, Monument employees also serve as ambassadors for the industry, talking with students about their futures in chemistry.

“These awards place us at the top of a list that includes many impressive companies, said Adam Pingel Site Manager. I couldn’t be prouder, not just of our HSE organization, but of every Brandenburg employee for the unwavering commitment to the environment, health, safety, and security that they demonstrate every day. And we’re also happy to be recognized for our work with the young people in our community – to hopefully inspire the next generation of scientist and engineers.”

What we have learned and changed in our organization in the last 3 years
To be successful in HSE, we believe you have to set common expectations, while also encouraging employees to think outside of the box. At first, these two goals might seem to be in conflict, but they actually work together. For example, we recently created a comprehensive Environmental, Health, Safety, and Security Management System Guidance document – available and promoted to all of our employees – so that everyone is on the same page, quite literally. However, we also encourage our employees to challenge each other if they have an idea about how to improve our HSE activities. It’s okay to deviate from the “this is how we’ve always done things” thinking because there’s often a better way of doing things. Then, as we gather that input from all levels of the site, those improvements become a part of our standard guidance.

Message to other member companies
Complete involvement and better transparency among all levels of our organization continues to move us towards successful outcomes. We continually set our expectations – while also soliciting input from our employees. Alignment and a consistent, open dialogue are both critical for moving us forward.