The 2020 Sphera Safe Operations Summit was all about exploring the methods and trends related to creating a safer workplace for all. The following is a recap of the sessions that took place during the two-day event. All recording are available on demand until February 2021.
Day One
First Session: Reality of Risk: Insights From Sphera’s 2020 Process Safety and Operational Risk Management Survey
The first session featured Simon Jones, Sphera’s director of the Digital Solutions Group. He went over the key findings from Sphera’s fifth-annual State of Process Safety and Operational Risk Management report.
Most survey respondents (88%) said that safety is a part of their corporate value structure, while 78% said they continue to monitor safety performance. But while more than half of respondents (60%) said they strive to reduce operational and Major Accident Hazard exposure, only 51% of respondents said they are aware of Major Accident Hazard risk vulnerability and only 37% said they proactively manage process safety.
To learn more about the survey, check out the on-demand recording.
Second Session: Regulatory Complexities: A Panel Discussion
In the second session, Carrie Decatur, Sphera’s senior manager of regulatory data, and Andy Bartlett, Sphera’s Operational Risk solutions consultant, discussed how a continually evolving regulatory climate can affect production, facilities, employees and more.
Bartlett got the session kicked off by asking Decatur what some of the recent . Decatur responded that REACH Annex 2 has been updated, there are many potential Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) updates around the world, including Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
The topic du jour in Product Stewardship has been the upcoming European Union Poison Centres Notification rules, which kick in January 2021. “We’ve been talking about this change for some time, Decatur said, “but we’re getting very close to the first deadline. … You would think that this might mean that the regulation might stop changing, but that is not the case.”
Shortly after that conversation, the topic turned to the 14 Elements of Process Safety Management and why alignment is key.
With all the changes coming down the pipe, how can companies keep up to date? Watch the on-demand recording to find out what our experts had to say.
Third Session: Move Beyond Compliance to Operate More Safely: An Integrated Technology Approach
In the final session of Day One of Sphera’s Safe Operations Summit, James Brown, Accenture’s principal director of consulting, was joined by Scott Lehmann, Sphera’s vice president of product management, and Mike Zamis, Sphera’s chief product officer. The topic: integration.
Brown got things kicked off with the industry trends in Environment, Health & Safety (EHS). “What we’re seeing more and more of—and coming from an operating background myself—it’s really important that you do things with a human-centered approach, so the tools that you have are actually helping people to do their jobs and to focus on what’s a priority for them,” Brown said.
Brown also offered six “value opportunities” for organizations, including improving efficiency, reducing incidents and enhancing decision-making.
Watch the on-demand recording to learn more.
Day Two
First Session: Achieve Safe, Compliant and Efficient Management Across the Chemical Life Cycle
Up first on Day Two was Laura Patrick, Sphera’s senior manager of product management, and Brennita Barga, who is a Sphera consulting manager. The topic? Chemical compliance throughout the life cycle.
Companies, they explained, need to see what the different business units have in common to make sure needs are met across the entire organization. The goal: standardization and converting paper workflows to digital ones.
So what happens when you don’t have that level of standardization throughout the organization? Watch the on-demand recording to learn more.
Second Session: ConocoPhillips Case Study: The Connected Worker and Finding the Right Approach to Change
Fresh off his appearance on the SpheraNOW podcast, Mark Hutcherson, ConocoPhillips’ director of operations excellence, joined the Scott Lehmann, Sphera’s vice president of product management, to talk about what Operational Excellence means at ConocoPhillips, what the connected worker means to Operational Risk Management among other topics.
“Really, in the last three years,” Hutcherson said, “it’s been a transformation as it relates to the Digital Age and how that relates to our operations, and we continue to evolve and transform our operations considering all the technology progress that continues to change all of our lives.”
Lehmann then talked about how over the past couple of years, when it comes to Operational Risk Management, cloud technology has gone from an option to the option.
The conversation then turned a number of different things, including how to get alignment in an organization as large as ConcoPhillips with so many different languages and cultures.
Watch the on-demand recording to learn more.
Third Session: Gilead Sciences Case Study: Ensuring Employee and Process Safety With the Right Tools
You might have noticed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved one of Gilead Science’s antiviral drug for COVID-19 treatment. Just a week after that news broke, Gilead’s Randy Vivian, who is the company’s director of corporate sustainability, health and safety, appeared on the Sphera Safe Operational Summit to talk about process safety.
In a conversation with David Klocek, who is Sphera’s vice president of Operational Risk, Environmental Performance and Maintenance, Repair & Operations delivery, Vivian explained how the biopharmaceutical company handles safety initiatives—and how important a cloud strategy is to the organization.
So what were some the hesitations Gilead had before making the leap to a cloud-based system?
Watch the on-demand recording to find out.
Fourth Session: BASF Case Study: Consistently Identify, Assess and Control the Impact of Operational Risk
In the final presentation of the summit, Banoo Behboodi, Sphera’s vice president of services, interviewed Gosia Myslinska, a process safety expert at BASF, about consistent processes in high-hazard organizations.
After a quick introduction, Behboodi asked Myslinska about how Operational Risk Management technology has helped enable self-operations within BASF. Doing so, Myslinska said, brought a simplified, clearer working processes throughout BASF and for its external partners.
The conversation eventually moved to lessons learned, which includes continuous access to training and keeping it simple. What were the other two lessons? Watch the on-demand recording to find out.