“TCM’s safety culture benefits our customers”

Pål Venås joined TCM as an HSE engineer in May last year. He has since been appointed HSE/QR manager assuming responsibility for ensuring the vision of zero incidents affecting the life and health of personnel working at the plant is realized.

“Our HSE statistics are very positive because preventing unwanted incidents is part of the organisation’s DNA. However, statistics only tell the story of what has been, not what may happen tomorrow. HSE is therefore perishable in nature and needs to be continuously nurtured by creating understanding and ensuring compliance,” he emphasizes. “That is why we have a comprehensive quality system with KPIs against which all our managers are measured.

“TCM operates two facilities, the Amine Plant and the Emerging Technologies Site, where customers carry out some of their testing with their own personnel.

How confident can you be that they will not, consciously, or unconsciously, follow established procedures, for example, for handling toxic chemicals?”

“At the heart of a testing campaign at our facilities are extensive contractual frameworks that describe, among other things, the very strict emission permits within which TCM operates and the procedures to which the customer agrees to adhere in order to maintain a safe working environment. They have the same interest as we do in ensuring that testing is carried out within safe parameters, including the use of safety equipment and functional meters. We cannot, of course, shadow everyone who works in the facilities, but through our inspections and controls we will quickly identify and act against those who may be attempting to ‘cut corners’.

“However, people from countries with a different culture to Norway may perceive our systems and safety procedures as rigid. How are such contradictions resolved in practice?

“The prerequisite for good and trusting cooperation is that HSE standards and procedures are put on the table early in the dialogue with companies considering testing at TCM. For example, we operate under what is believed to be the strictest permit in the world for nitrosamine emissions, which means that TCM must have access to and be able to control the chemical content and characteristics of the various technologies. Our data storage systems provide customers with the assurance that this information will not be compromised. The benefit to the customer of using TCM’s expertise is that, as I said earlier, if our strict safety requirements are met throughout a campaign, then they have all the prerequisites to be successful anywhere in the world.

TCM started operations at the amine plant in 2012 and the site for emerging technologies was established in 2020.

“Can you give examples of measures implemented over the years to ensure a safe working environment?”

“Based on measurements and experiences after the test campaigns, both technical and administrative measures have been implemented to improve safety. For example, in connection with the 60-metre-high absorption tower, we have built a separate ‘analysis house’ at ground level to protect personnel from potential fallout as well as from weather, wind and temperature changes. Around this house, we have also extended the emission pipes sufficiently high above the ground. This is to ensure that any potential emissions of tiny and diffuse particles, which are not covered by the emissions permit, are at an appropriate distance from people in the area. We have also moved a container from the workshop area to the factory to prevent potentially contaminated clothing and equipment from being transported by car. We have also enclosed lye and chemical containers for safer storage, shielding and waste collection.

“TCM’s many publications also contain good descriptions of how we work to prevent harm to people, the environment and materials. Sharing experiences is a core aspect of all HSE work”.

A lot to manage

As HSE/QR manager, you lead a department that, in addition to yourself, consists of occupational hygienist Alexander Reyes-Lingjerde and company doctor Brynjar Jakobsen, both in part-time positions. It must be quite a lot to manage when you also must monitor the physical and psychosocial working environment for TCM’s office workers?

“That’s why it’s so important that the strict HSEQ standards we’ve adopted from our industrial owners permeate the entire organisation. The engineering department plans how to organise a campaign, including analysis of the chemicals to be used before the modification department and operations/maintenance/laboratory take practical responsibility for implementation. In the HSE department we focus on supporting the relevant departments as early as possible and throughout the process. From the customer’s point of view, the advantage lies in the seamless transitions from step to step and the short decision-making paths. This ensures the efficient execution of a campaign in a working environment that everyone feels is safe.