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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 02242004 - D3 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra FROM: William Walker, M.D., Health ervi s or Costa DATE: February24 2004 � County SUBJECT: Follow-up to the Safety Evaluation app© nd Presentation b.3 on e e I Chemical.Richm n or la t by Marine Research eciallst SPECIFIC REQUEST(5) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECO'MMENDATI'ONS: Accept the report from the third party consulting firm, Marine Research Specialist(MRS), on the follow-up of the safety evaluation of the General Chemical Richmond Works facility. FISCAL IMPACT: No fiscal impact CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: Z YES ❑ NO SIGNATURE RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATUREIS : _ ACTION OF BOARD ON'FEBItY 24, 2004 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED x OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT N CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND AYES-. NOES: ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact: Randy Sawyer, Health Services (925-646-2879) ATTESTEDt�tY Z4_2004 CC: JOHN SWEETEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND Speakers:l)Larry Laudry,(General aiwEcals) COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR 525 Castro Street, Ridmnd. 2) Dr.Henry Clark, {W.C=ty 2bxics -- - ' DEPUTY RLS Coalitirm,2323 Balley Street,Richmand KAlncidents\GCCR 112901\rollow-up Safety Evaluat onWASWollow-up Safety Evaluation\Board Order for Final Report 022404 Follow-up to the Safety Evaluation Report and Presentation on the General Chemical Richmond Works Plant by MRS February 24,2004 Page 2 BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS: Because of incidents that occurred at the General Chemical - Richmond Works plant, communities adjacent to the plant, the Richmond City Council, and the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors were concerned about the safe operation of the plant. Among these incidents are a July 26, 1993 release of oleum, May 1, 2001 release of sulfur dioxide, and a November 29, 2001 release of sulfur trioxide and sulfur dioxide. In response to the two 2001 incidents,the Richmond City Council together with Contra Costa Health Services arranged for a third-party evaluation to be performed on this plant. The evaluation is not an investigation of the incidents, but an overall review of the Management Systems that are in place at the plant for process safety and the Safety Evaluation of the plant. An Oversight Committee was formed consisting of the following people: Lewis G. Pascalli, Jr. Contra Costa Health Services Hazardous Materials Programs Director Henry Clark Hazardous Material Commission Sharon Fuller Hazardous Material Commission Whitney Dotson. Community Representative Ronald Wiley Richmond Fire Department Gerald Pando Richmond Fire Department Jeff Jakonczuk General Chemical Environmental Manager Larry Decker General Chemical Richmond Works Plant Manager Jon Becker General Chemical Union Representative The Oversight Committee developed the Scope of Work for the Evaluation; the Request for Proposal that was submitted to nine consulting companies; and selected the successful consultant. MRS was the successful consulting company that performed the evaluation. The steps and the timeline for the,safety evaluation are as follows: • MRS gave a Safety Climate Survey, which was developed by the Health and Safety Executive from the United Kingdom, to the employees of General Chemical in September 2002 • A public meeting to receive input on the evaluation was held on October 2, 2002 • MRS performed the onsite evaluation the week of October 7, 2002 • A draft report was issued on November 18, 2002 • A 30-day public comment period was held from November 18 through December 17, 2002 • A public meeting to receive comments on the draft report was held on December 2, 2002 • The final report for the safety evaluation was issued on January 7, 2003. Page 2 ................................................................................................................... ''I'll'',.................................................................................... ............................ Follow-up to the Safety Evaluation Report and Presentation on the General Chemical Richmond Works Plant by MRS February 24,2004 Page 3 The report included the findings by MRS from the Safety Evaluation, recommendations by MRS to address the recommendations,public comments received from the public meetings or during the public comment period, and the responses to the public comments. Follow-up Evaluation When the Board of Supervisors received the final safety evaluation report,they wanted to make sure that the findings and recommendations from the safety evaluation were carried out to meet the overall intent of the safety evaluation. General Chemical committed to developing an action plan to address each of the findings and recommendations and to giving quarterly updates on their progress for implementing the action plan, The Board of Supervisors and the Richmond City Council asked that the Oversight Committee to oversee the process for the reviewing the quarterly reports and hiring MRS to do a follow-up evaluation on the actions that were being undertaken by General Chemical. The objectives of the follow-up evaluation is to 1) Determine the actions that are being taken by General Chemical Richmond Works are addressing the findings and recommendations from the Safety Evaluation Report, dated January 6, 2003. 2) Determine the changes in the overall Safety Culture at the Richmond Works plant and if any trends in the Safety Culture can be determined. The Follow-up Evaluation scope of work included the following: 1 Evaluate the action plan that was developed by General Chemical to address the findings and recommendations from the third-party safety evaluation and quarterly reports. a Review and give comments on the action plan that was developed to address the findings and recommendations of the third-party safety evaluation b Review quarterly reports to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors and the Richmond City Council on the progress of addressing the findings and recommendations from the safety evaluation and how it compares to the action plan to address these items. 2 Follow-up Evaluation a A Safety Climate(Culture)Survey from the United Kingdom Health&Safety Executive will reapplied to the employees and selected contractors that work for or who have managerial responsibilities for the General Chemical Richmond Works plant b Perform an onsite evaluation of the General Chemical Richmond Works Plant to determine that the action plan is being implemented and that the findings and recommendations are being addressed from the third-party safety evaluation MRS, in performing the follow-up evaluation did the following: • Reviewed and commented on the action plan that was developed by General Chemical to address the recommendations and findings from the Safety Evaluation Page 3 en mond FnI[aw-un to the Safety Evaluation Report and Presentation on the General Chemical Rich Follow-up to the Safety Evaluation Report and Presentation on the General Chemical Richmond Works Plant by MRS February 24, 2004 Page 4 • Reviewed and commented on each of the quarterly reports on the progress that General Chemical was making on the action plan • Performed a Safety Climate Survey • Performed an onsite evaluation of the actions being taken by General Chemical • Wrote a public draft report on their findings • Received comments on the public draft during a 30-day public comment period • Wrote the final report • Give a presentation on their findings to the Board of Supervisors and the Richmond City Council Page 4 -71777117 FOLLOW-UP SAFETY EVALUATION GENERAL CH'EM'ICAL RICHMOND WORKS Presentation to: Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors February 24, 2004 MRS Environmental, Inc. General Chemical Follow-Up ivatuation introduction This presentation will cover the following topics: .• Recap of the Initial General Chemical Safety Evaluation Purpose, Scope and Approach for the Follow-Up ❖ General Chemical's Progress to Date •:_ Conclusions i t'nr 1 General Chemical Follow-Up Evaluation Recap of initial Safetyvaluabon The initial General Chemical safety evaluation was conducted in October 2002. •;• Independent third party study conducted by MRS •:= Safety management practices and safety culture ❖ Report included 54 findings and recommendations to address the deficiencies _ J �v mrs 2 General Chemical Follow-Up Evaluation Recap of Initlal Safety Evaluation The highest priority recommendations focused mainly on safety culture: :• Develop a new vision for the safety program and a strategy for attaining the vision Promote the concept of working as a team • Provide training for workers to help them learn the behaviors, skills and attitudes needed to increase personal effectiveness e• Promote a near miss campaign t'1'lrs 3 General Chemical Fallow-Up Evaluatlon Recap of Initlal Safety Evaluation In January 2003, the City Council and the County Board of Supervisors asked for ongoing third party review of General Chemical's progress with a follow-up evaluation after one year. Mrs 4 General Chemical Follow•Up Evaluation Approach for the Follow-Up Evaluation The on-going review during the year included two main components: Review and comment on the Action Plan developed by General Chemical Review and comment on the quarterly progress reports that General Chemical prepared for the City and the County during the year mrs s General Chemical Follow-Up evaluation Approach for the Follow-Up Evaluation For the follow-up evaluation, there were three main components. Repeat of the safety culture survey •;• A one-week onsite evaluation ❖ Public participation mrs ° s A General Chemical Follow-Up Evaluation Approach for the Follow-Up Evaluation The objectives of the follow-up evaluation were. •: To review the actions taken by General Chemical •: To determine whether these actions were adequate to address the findings •.; To suggest further actions General Chemical could take to enhance the effectiveness of their Action Plan To conduct an independent third party assessment that is trusted by the community Mrs x General Chemicat Follow-Up Evaluation Approach for the Foifow-Up Evaluation The overall approach is presentee! below: _.Work Plan ;;Public Review Safety Culture Surve Onsite Evaluation Fin Ings Draft/Final Reports Public Meetings Mrs 8 General Chemical Follow-Up Evaluation Approach for the Follow-Up valuation We used three main ways to gather data. Document Physical Interviews Review Observations v Mrs s General Chemical Follow-Up Evaluation General Chemlcai's Progress to flats Overall, the progress made by General Chemical to crate is impressive. All 54 findings have been addressed • Continually emphasizing the importance of safety •;• Mede excellent progress working towards a more positive safety culture :• Commitment to the process has been exemplary- by hourly workers, facility management and the company's senior management The next four slides highlight some of the main accomplishments Mrs 10 General Chemical Follow-Up Evaluation General Chemicars Progress to Date Below are some of the main improvements mane to the safety management systems: •. Revamped near miss program; significant increase in reporting and improved Investigation process •. Clarified the procedural issues previously identified in the Emergency Response Plan ❖ Upgraded and enhanced the system used for planning, scheduling and tracking maintenance Mrs General chemical Follow-Up Evaluation General Chemical's Progmess to Date Below are some of the main developments with human factors: ❖ Modified the operators' shift structure to establish consistent teams •: Held a training summit to identify training needs and evaluate training effectiveness ❖ Conducted a Cognitive Task Analysis in preparation for a redesigned control room ❖ Designing a new state of the art Distributed Control System Evaluating computer-based training options Mrs 12 General Chemical FoHow-Up Evaluation General Chemical's Progress to Date Below are some of the achievements and ongoing activities related to safety culture. Established a new Safety Vision for Richmond Works with input from a wide cross section of employees •,• Implemented a safety suggestion program •: Revised the employee safety rewards program •: Introduced an employee recognition program Greatly improved the communication of Information to employees with consistent emphasis on working safely Mrs 13 �.r General Chemical Follow-Up Evaiva#ion General Chemical's Progress to tate Some other related developments are important to emphasize. :• The Richmond Works facility is being recognized by General Chemical for its safety-related accomplishments Significant progress has been made on the facility's mechanical Integrity Improvement program .� General Chemical has emerged from Chapter 11 during the year a M Mrs 14 Genera!Chemical Follow-Up Evaluation General Chemlcal's Progress to Elate There are still some important challenges ahead for General Chemical. ,• To "win over" all employees to the new Safety Vision •.• To address the lingering distrust of management that Is evident with a minority of hourly workers, especially with respect to disciplinary issues ❖ To address the perception among some workers that their ideas and suggestions are not taken seriously by management •.• To continue to foster a spirit of team work, and to diffuse the isolated personality conflicts that may hinder this process Mrs , Wr� General Chemical Follow-Up Evaluation Conclusions In conclusion, our opinion is that General Chemical has made excellent progress. ❖ All recommendations have been addressed :• In many cases, General Chemical has exceeded what was asked for, and what was expected .• There appears to be a genuine commitment to the safety improvement process :• Feedback from the community regarding progress has been generally favorable Mrs 16 General Chem}cal Follow-Up Evaluation Conclusions "Nothing is more important than safety." General Chemical Richmond Works Safety Vision, March 2003 Mrs !7 Follow-Up Safety Evaluation of the General Chemical- Richmond Works Facility Mrs Final Report to: Contra Costa Health Services Hazardous Materials Program 4333 Pacheco Blvd. Martinez,CA 94553 Prepared by.- Marine y.Marine Research Specialists(MRS) 3140 Telegraph Road,Suite A Ventura, California 93003 January 2004 ............-......................................................................................... Notice This report was prepared by Marine Research Specialists for Contra Costa Health Services.The material in it reflects Marine Research Specialists best judgment in light of the information available to us at the time of preparation. Any use that a third party makes of this report,or reliance on, or any decision to be made based on it,is the responsibility of such third party. Marine Research Specialists accepts no responsibility for damages,if any, suffered by any third party as a result of decisions made or actions taken based on this report. GCRWFollow-up Safety Evaluation Final Report January 2064 ........................ ............... ..................