“Everything starts with safety. When you get safety right, environmental performance, quality, reliability and cost performance all follow.”

Thank you for taking the time to share your perspective, Dan. Many companies struggle to achieve the full potential of their assets in terms of safety, reliability, production and cost. Often companies will focus on capital solutions to these challenges, but there is a significant human aspect to this. In your experience what are the key elements to realizing human potential in the manufacturing environment?

DC: I am a big believer in engaging people to set the right culture in operations. Great leaders ask great questions and listen. Great leaders drive common goals, teamwork and collaboration.

Great leaders set high standards for excellence and provide support to achieve success. Leaders can promote discretionary effort through quality interactions that encourage participation. Everything starts with safety. When you get safety right, environmental performance, quality, reliability and cost performance all follow.

Good standards set the framework for success. Short and direct procedures with checklists and figures help compliance to good standards. Following that with practical hands-on training drives understanding and compliance. Clear metrics and review processes drive continuous improvement. I chaired a rules and procedures committee for a refinery over 30 years ago.

I learned that good procedures are really hard to write. The first procedures I wrote were terrible. I listened to operators, craftsman and engineers and learned a lot on how to make procedures more direct and effective. I saw huge benefits to production with good procedures that everyone understood and supported.

I worked in the Middle East with many different native languages and learned the value of hands-on training. Writing in an active voice in understandable language is also a key to success. Leadership reinforcement of following procedures sets the right tone, especially during shutdowns and upsets. When I was a plant manager, I used to go to the control rooms following any shutdowns to reinforce management’s support for a shutdown that followed procedures. I always supported anyone who followed procedures to take a shutdown compared to a “heroic save” that risked much more serious crashes.

Many companies recognize the value of standardization through operational excellence and other types of systems, but often they struggle to determine the drivers, focus and degree of desired standardization. In your experience, what are the benefits of standardization and how do you find the right balance?

DC: I prefer the “Selective” or the “Outcomes & Principle-Based” areas of the Evolve standardization model. The “Selective” area is best for critical standards and procedure like “life-saving-rules”. Anything less than an “Outcomes & Principles Based” model leaves too much to doubt. Many incident

investigations find issues with insufficient standards and procedures. The far right-side of the model, or the “Prescriptive” area, is just too hard to keep simple. Prescriptive models typically do not drive a complaint culture because they are often so detailed and just too difficult to follow in the real world.

You have said that culture is what happens when you aren’t looking. In your experience, what can leaders do to establish and maintain a safe, reliable heavy process environment?

“A good measure of organization capability is how well everyone understands the critical goals of the organization and their role in achieving them. Simple goals with good metrics that everyone understands drive excellence.”

DC: Great leaders take time to get to know their people. I keep notes about interactions with people when walking through plants. I learn about their families and what is important to them. My first questions in the field are always about safety and them. After that, we talk about production. When someone did something amazing, I wrote a letter to their spouses or parents telling them what a great job their loved one was doing. I got some amazing letters back from these folks.

I also think housekeeping is really critical. People who care for each other and their units don’t leave messes behind. In some of the plants that I managed, we implemented a housekeeping hour periodically where everyone including office staff helped clean up. This helped set a tone of teamwork and camaraderie.

Fifteen years ago, I remember an operator seeing a small drop of wax on the ground that looked out of place. He and the team investigated and found a drip from a cracked high-pressure line that was near failure. In that case great housekeeping and an alert operator saved the unit from a major process safety event. Rewarding people for following procedures well versus the fire fighters helps reinforce a culture of compliance. Operating safely and reliably day after day might look a little boring but it is certainly not easy. It takes good standards and leadership to stay there and to drive continuous improvement.

What are some examples in your experience when you’ve seen this done well?

DC: One of my favorite examples happened seven years ago. A plant reduced a 70 page “life critical” procedure to 13 pages. The procedure met all requirements of the standard. They followed up with hands on training. The plant folks understood and followed that procedure well and it helped clear up a lot of confusion.

Another example happened 33 years ago when I was a plant operating superintendent. I wrote a procedure to try to get everyone on the same page on a 350 stage fractionation process. My procedure was terrible. I swallowed my pride and listened to the operators and we fixed it. With this standard approach, that all 4 shifts understood and followed, we increased production on a sold out unit by over 20% with no investment.

Clearly organizational capability is a key aspect to realizing potential. Training is one part of that, but often training just imparts awareness and doesn’t build skills that can only come through experience. In your view, what are some ways that companies can develop their organizational capability effectively?

DC: I think a good measure of organization capability is how well everyone understands the critical goals of the organization and their role in achieving them. Simple goals with good metrics that everyone understands drive excellence. We are also in a digital revolution today. Operators, craftsman and engineers have more tools and data to evaluate performance and to communicate better than ever. The teams that implement those tools to improve people’s effectiveness will gain the most. We need to continually ask ourselves what our organization is doing to make our people more effective.

You have had a distinguished career of leadership in the petrochemical industry. Where are you focusing your time now?

DC: Thank you for asking. My wife and I ordered a motorhome and have a goal to visit all the US National Parks. We also enjoy community service and wildlife and nature photography. It is nice to have more time for those activities now. I am also serving on The Ohio State University Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Advisory Board. I am helping them develop a process safety course and will get involved with their plastics recycling efforts in the future. I am also finding a place to serve on the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Foundation as a trustee. I want to support their diversity and inclusion and process safety efforts. I am so fortunate over the course of my career to work with so many great people. I hope I can give a little back through some of these volunteer efforts.