plant explosion in Westlake, LA

[ram04]

Yes, unfortunately most companies see employees as a line item on the budget instead of an asset. Especially at the bottom.

[Drop Tine]

This one hits a little too close for me. My dad is on nights right now thankfully.

There are a lot of factors contributing to events, and some good points made above. I think we could all agree it’s challenging to find good help across any industry. I’m in healthcare and we have exceptional retention, but finding good candidates can be tough. The fact that our society has glorified four year degrees and pushed kids in high school away from the trades doesn’t help at all.

[SwampBuck]

Operators are getting younger. You rarely see those guys that have huge amounts of experience like I saw when I started (I’m only 11-12 years in). I’ve trained a LOT of operators. Very very few give the effort and have the work ethic to do good at it. Most are lazy and just try to get by. With that comes some significant risk in high stress situations. I’ve seen some extremely bad decisions made by operators. Fortunately there’s an insane amount of built in safety’s in these facilities, but if one fails it can be disaster.

My opinion is these companies don’t take care of the employees like they should. They don’t offer the in depth training like they should. They run short handed. They try and get operators “good enough” instead of “GOOD”. And as time goes on, the situation snowballs.

I’m not in a huge refinery. But I can see the same thing happening in our plants as I can in those big facilities.

Profit margins have also overshadowed proper maintenance. It cost a lot of money to run these plants. Some of the folks that make the decisions don’t know the process well enough to know how critical some of these repairs are. This is NOT in all facilities. Just things I’ve seen over the years.

Agree, with a lot Of this

[Strummer]

That tank had 5% level in it. I was there also.

Yes sir . Was pumping it empty. Tank was lined . Everything but the low suction piping . Caused enough static to make it explode . I was still working maintenance when it happened. Was amazing sight seeing the roof of the tank floating in the air .

[SaintBlaise]

I think the same thing happened at that plant a few years ago.

[Bayouboy]

This is pretty well what I just said.

But I’m sure you know alllll about operations from your safety man office lol. It’s a 2 way street. And it began with companies not taking care of employees and investing time into them. FYI I started with one of the biggest midstream companies on the planet. And was there to watch it go downhill fast and it started with upper management in Denver making some very poor decisions.

Main office? Hardly. I have worked on the construction, maintenance, and ops side for over 25 years. I just recently took a union hourly safety position. Not salary. I am out in the field doing everything possible with my experience to keep this type of stuff from happening.

[Duckologist]

I think the same thing happened at that plant a few years ago.

It didn't

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[trophy8]

Main office? Hardly. I have worked on the construction, maintenance, and ops side for over 25 years. I just recently took a union hourly safety position. Not salary. I am out in the field doing everything possible with my experience to keep this type of stuff from happening.

So what was said that was incorrect?

[Bayouboy]

So what was said that was incorrect?

The remark about ops and office was totally incorrect. I can also tell you incidents like this are from top to bottom. If workers depend totally on the company to make things safe it will never happen. I have shut plenty of work down even as an operator until things were made completely safe. That is my name on the permit. I would hope most legit companies have the same policy. If not it is time to look for another job.

[trophy8]

The remark about ops and office was totally incorrect. I can also tell you incidents like this are from top to bottom. If workers depend totally on the company to make things safe it will never happen. I have shut plenty of work down even as an operator until things were made completely safe. That is my name on the permit. I would hope most legit companies have the same policy. If not it is time to look for another job.

I’m talking about my previous reply. How’s a guy supposed to know what’s safe and not with minimal experience? These guys are shuffled through quick. And how many senior operators have you heard tell new guys “I’m not here to babysit. Figure it out”. I know I’m not wrong. I’ve seen it first hand many times and know it goes on all over. Anyone who says otherwise needs to open their eyes. That’s why I got out if my way training these dudes when I can.

[Bayouboy]

I’m talking about my previous reply. How’s a guy supposed to know what’s safe and not with minimal experience? These guys are shuffled through quick. And how many senior operators have you heard tell new guys “I’m not here to babysit. Figure it out”. I know I’m not wrong. I’ve seen it first hand many times and know it goes on all over. Anyone who says otherwise needs to open their eyes. That’s why I got out if my way training these dudes when I can.

Agree. You could not pay me enough to train this new generation. They feel entitled and very few if any have any type of mechanical ability or knowledge.

They just know that daddy, brother, uncle, and grandpa worked in the industry and want to start out with the same pay and seniority as someone that has put the time in. The days of referring someone because you know what type of person and worker they are is pretty much gone in this industry. Corporate hires by diversity now. I was picking up a prescription at Walgreens recently when a lady working in the pharmacy told me she had just interviewed for a job with the company I work for as an operator. She was one week away from having a baby. I asked her how was she going to work shift work with a newborn. She said she would figure that out when the time comes since she is single and had two more kids.

I don't think many have thought this thing through.

[trophy8]

Agree. You could not pay me enough to train this new generation. They feel entitled and very few if any have any type of mechanical ability or knowledge.

They just know that daddy, brother, uncle, and grandpa worked in the industry and want to start out with the same pay and seniority as someone that has put the time in. The days of referring someone because you know what type of person and worker they are is pretty much gone in this industry. Corporate hires by diversity now. I was picking up a prescription at Walgreens recently when a lady working in the pharmacy told me she had just interviewed for a job with the company I work for as an operator. She was one week away from having a baby. I asked her how was she going to work shift work with a newborn. She said she would figure that out when the time comes since she is single and had two more kids.

I don't think many have thought this thing through.

Now we are on the same page

[saintsfan]

This is the same old song and dance that's been going on with labor and management since the industrial revolution. Workers say it's management's fault, management says it's the workers' fault. The truth is that it's likely at least a little of both.

Same with those guys that say "This new generation doesn't have the work ethic we do". I heard that a lot growing up as a kid with my dad being a field operator and I hear it every day today on the Drilling side. Everyone feels like it's the other guy that is the problem.

In general people do the best they can with what they've got, with the end goal of being profitable. Without a profit, no one has a job. Ultimately, this industry is a microcosm of the world. And just like the rest of the world sometimes you get the opportunity to work with jam-up hands and sometimes you've got to work with worms.

[CLR]

Yes sir . Was pumping it empty. Tank was lined . Everything but the low suction piping . Caused enough static to make it explode . I was still working maintenance when it happened. Was amazing sight seeing the roof of the tank floating in the air .

A lot of metal in the air floating down what looked like a piece of paper. It was so big and sent so high that it looked like it was floating down and not just free falling.