Suncor's drive to improve process safety management (PSM) is in keeping with our sustained focus on operational excellence. PSM is all about integrating operational discipline that will lead to operational excellence.

PSM is targeted at the prevention of catastrophic incidents that can result in significant fatalities and injuries as well as environmental, health and property damage. A properly designed and implemented PSM system can mitigate those risks and help to establish and maintain clean, safe and reliable operations.

The key to effective PSM is applying management systems (including standards, procedures, training, and audits) in a systematic way so potential process hazards are identified, understood and controlled.

The PSM model Suncor has adopted incorporates 14 distinct elements, all of which need to work in unison. Pradeep Gupta, Suncor's director of PSM, compares it to a multi-valve engine. “You need to have all of those valves operating well for the engine to achieve peak performance,” says Gupta.

Those 14 elements encompass three key features of any manufacturing process—people, technology and facilities.

• “People” includes elements such as training and performance, managing contractor safety, incident learning and prevention emergency planning and response, and conducting operation integrity audits.
• “Technology” includes assembling process safety information, conducting process hazard analysis and establishing operating procedures and Safe Work practices.
• “Facilities” includes quality assurance, mechanical integrity and conducting safety reviews prior to facility startup.

Gupta notes that all of these measures were in place, in one form or another, before Suncor adopted the PSM model. What's different now is the systematic way each business unit is expected to assess and improve their performance across every link of the chain.

Critical to the success of any PSM program is the development of clear performance standards—and then ensuring those standards are met. With the help of consultants from DuPont—a widely recognized leader in PSM—Suncor has been developing standards, identifying where there are gaps in meeting those standards, and coming up with an action plan for filling those gaps.

The next step will come in 12 to 24 months with self-assessments and second-party audits to see what we've achieved in relation to the prescribed standards. The expectation is that with each successive audit, we should be seeing continual improvement.

For PSM to succeed, management must be fully committed. “You need the corporate leaders, from the Board of Directors and CEO on down, to be onboard and engaged,” says Gupta. “I'm happy to say with Suncor, that's certainly the case.”

Learning From Tragedy

On July 8, 2008, Suncor received a tragic reminder of why we must constantly renew our commitment to workplace safety. Kevin Grocutt, a 40 year-old Finning Canada employee, was fatally injured in an incident at the Millennium mine. The findings of an investigation by the oil sands fatality investigation team, along with any changes Suncor may make in its operations, will be shared with our employees once the investigation is complete.

“Our approach to investigating this tragic incident is founded on one of the key Journey to Zero principles: ‘all incidents are preventable,'” says Kirk Bailey, executive vice president, oil sands. “We are determined to learn from this incident and to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.”

On May 23, 2008, a Suncor haul truck operator was burned when a fire erupted on his haul truck. The operator received first, second and third degree burns to his hands as well as some burns to his face.

The operator was injured while escaping to safety. After receiving initial assessment and treatment by Suncor Emergency Services, he was taken to the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre in Fort McMurray. The employee, along with his family, was then flown to the University of Alberta Hospital Burn Unit for further treatment.

The fire started behind the engine, below the cab of the haul truck. A subsequent investigation traced the cause of the fire to a high pressure steering hose that rubbed against a brake line hose. This caused a weak area that allowed oil to spray. The oil ignited when contacting engine exhaust.

Workplace Health and Safety completed its regulatory investigation and advised that no regulatory penalties would be applied. The key actions as a result of this incident included:

• Improved high pressure hose construction, installation and maintenance practices, as well as improved operator training on manual fire suppression deployment;
• Review of the automatic fire suppression deployment strategy;
• Review of the need for increased suppression capability on haul trucks and for additional personal protection equipment requirements for equipment operators.