Assignment – 2
For
Understanding
Petrochemical Business
Section A (20 Marks)
Write short notes
on any four of the following
1.
Polymerization Techniques
2.
Applications of Engineering
Plastics
3.
Indian Petrochemical Industry
4.
Corrugated Packaging
5.
Thermoplastics Vs. Thermoset
Section B (30 marks)
(Attempt any three)
1.
Make a classification of refineries
by configuration and complexity.
2.
Discuss the main types of
packaging used in packing of petrochemical products.
3.
“Alpha Olefins are extremely
versatile petrochemical intermediates to a variety of industrial and consumer
products.” Elaborate this statement.
4.
Give a brief description on Polymer
Degradation.
Section C (50 marks)
(Attempt all questions. Every question carries 10 marks)
Read the case “Huntsman
Petrochemicals” and answer the following questions.
Case Study: Huntsman Petrochemicals
Huntsman Petrochemicals improved
safety for 300 employees and made cost savings by introducing a behavioral
safety programme. Employees benefited from fewer accidents and the company
reduced operating costs.
The challenge
Despite an excellent safety record,
Huntsman Petrochemicals was concerned that some ‘near misses’ could have led to
significant injury. The operations manager thought that improved safety behaviors
at all levels of the company could lead to improved reliability and less
likelihood of a major incident.
What did the company do?
Huntsman implemented BSAFE – a
proprietary behavioral-based safety system
• Target
setting by the BSAFE work group for levels of safe behavior to be achieved
• All
staff empowered to identify and implement improvements where unsafe conditions
or behaviors are observed
• Feedback
to all staff, including comparisons with targets set by the BSAFE work group
and advice for improvements
• Training
Huntsman staff to act as observers and coordinators
• Observers
monitoring behavioral safety in the workplace
Business benefits
• £250,000
per year saving in steam leaks through identifying and making repairs. This
reduction in energy consumption directly reduces taxes incurred via the Climate
Change Levy
• BSAFE
has contributed to a 32% reduction in Huntsman’s 2003 insurance premiums
• Significant
reductions in operating costs as workers identify and rectify plant problems
themselves
Health and safety benefits
‘As I carry out everyday tasks, I am constantly (probably
subconsciously) reminding myself of things I must and must not do! I find myself
noticing things (and doing something about it!) that I may have ignored
before.’
S Gell, Operating Technician
• No OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) recordable
injuries over the last 18 months
• OSHA
recordable injury rate falling from around 3 per 200,000 hours worked in 1997/8
to zero in 2002/3
• Improved
awareness of the influence of behaviour on individual’s safety
• All
employees make a more proactive contribution to safety management
Cost benefits
The average, annual running cost of
BSAFE is around £238,000. This includes training costs, time and salary of
BSAFE observers and coordinators and the IT software. A large proportion of the
costs would have been incurred anyway via a different department. The
operations manager’s conservative estimate of savings on utility losses is
£250,000 a year. BSAFE helped control steam leaks, saving around 5te/hour of
steam. The savings in utilities, combined with the £multi thousand saving in
insurance premiums more than offset the annual cost of BSAFE.
Leadership
The senior environmental, health and
safety manager at the site raised the profile of behavioural safety. He
supported the BSAFE process as part of the company’s business manufacturing
technique.
Worker involvement
Key safety representatives from
unions (TGWU and Amicus) were actively involved by recruiting the coordinator
and observers. The representatives are very supportive of BSAFE.
‘The introduction of BSAFE has
brought about a fundamental shift in attitude towards Safety, Health and
Environment. It has for the first time allowed every individual in the business
to personally take responsibility for their own safety and for the safety of
others’.
1.
Explain the BSAFE-safety system
implemented by Huntsman Petrochemicals.
2.
Discuss the involvement of
workers in the business firm.
3.
What are the various types of
benefits involved in the case study?
4.
Analyze the case study in brief
and pen down a short summary on it.
5.
Prepare a SWOT Analysis on the
case study.
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