ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 28

procedures and new technologies being
embraced over time as potentially
hazardous situations come
to light.
"When there's an incident, it's
reviewed to see if it's something we've
already addressed and just overlooked
or if it's new," Melton said. "If it's new,
we assign one or two people to investigate it to see if we need to make some
kind of change."
One incident led to preventive measures that no safety policy would have
predicted. "We're in the South,
so we don't get much cold weather.
A couple of years ago, it got down
into the 20s here and stayed there
for a while," Melton said. "A few
eye-cleaner stations were being fed
by small, uninsulated pipes, and
some of those froze up and burst.
As a result, we went around and insulated those lines so that won't happen
again. It's something we didn't think
about before."
Jim Iannucci, EHS (environmental
health and safety) and quality manager
for Blaser Swisslube, remembers a
2015 incident that, while minor, led
to important changes in the company's
safety program.
"We had an incident when some oily
rags had been placed in a large open

barrel. It was a very hot summer, and
the barrel started smoking. The alarms
went off. There was no fire, but that
led us to look closely at our waste-handling procedures and help employees
understand why we have barrels with
flame-retardant tops," he said.
The company implemented a new
waste-handling process and made sure
everyone was trained on it. "There
have been no similar issues since,"
Iannucci reported.
At RelaDyne, the worst tragedy
possible was the catalyst for a new
safety initiative.
"We have about 1,100 trucks on
the road, day-in and day-out," Oehler
said. "We had a driver who fell asleep
at the wheel. He hit a barrier and was
killed. If we could have detected lane
departure, nodding off, the need for
quicker braking, we could have helped
prevent that."
That realization led the company
to its current program testing a new
truck-mounted safety system called
Wingman Fusion on 15 vehicles.
The technology features front- and
rear-facing cameras and automatic
lane recognition. It is meant to keep
vehicles from swaying or swerving.

"The unit also will automatically shut
down the truck when an impairment is
detected in the driver - sleepiness, a
serious distraction, maybe even a health
impairment," Oehler explained. "At
this point, we're only 35 days into the
test, so I cannot tell you what the final
conclusion will be. But so far we really
like what we're seeing."
While RelaDyne's test technology
warns of possible on-the-road dangers,
a similar formal approach can be taken
to warn of in-plant situations before
they occur.
"We have a program called 'NearMiss and Potential-Hazard Reporting,'"
said Blaser Swisslube Plant Manager
Dave DelPrato. "It makes it easy to
document these kinds of incidents. The
idea is, 'We dodged a bullet. What can
we do to prevent that in the future?'"
Employees carry 3x5 forms for noting
incidents and potential dangers as they
encounter them during the workday.
Those forms are then passed on to the
management team. "It's a good tool for
raising our prevention awareness."

No Small Stuff
No matter how detailed the safety
policy and how ingrained safety is in a
company's culture, it is worth regularly

Preparing for the Worst

S

afety programs typically focus
on preventing the accidents and
injuries that are most likely to happen
when working in a lubricant plant. But
every ILMA member contacted for this
article agreed that it's also important to
plan for the truly unpredictable events:
tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and even terrorism.
"I don't think there's anywhere in the
world where you're totally safe from
some kind of natural disaster - flood-

ing, tsunamis, earthquakes," said Travis
Melton of Complex Chemical Co.
Inc. His company was hit by an EF3
tornado. "It was a Saturday, and we had
about 35 people here. The only warning
they got was that they noticed some hail,
then their ears started popping from the
change in air pressure. Thankfully, we
only had three minor injuries.
We do have a tornado plan in place,"
he said. "The biggest problem is that you
just don't have a lot of time to react. You

can have these procedures in place, but
if something happens in 10-20 seconds,
that's not enough time to do much.
You've just got to hunker down."
In addition to the employee-focused
safety procedures, Melton notes that his
company also has three-tiered protection system for the plant itself.
"All of our tanks are inside, surrounded by a concrete containment
wall. Second, we have a raised 4-foot
levee that surrounds our entire prop-



ILMA Compoundings August 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ILMA Compoundings August 2018

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
LETTER FROM THE CEO
INSIDE ILMA
WHAT’S COMING UP
INDUSTRY RUNDOWN
IN GOOD HEALTH
STAYING SAFE
BUSINESS HUB
WASHINGTON LANDSCAPE
IN NETWORK
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - Cover1
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - Cover2
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 1
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 2
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 4
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - LETTER FROM THE CEO
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - INSIDE ILMA
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 7
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 8
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 9
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 10
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - WHAT’S COMING UP
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - INDUSTRY RUNDOWN
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 13
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 14
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 15
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 16
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 17
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - IN GOOD HEALTH
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 19
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 20
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 21
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 22
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 23
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 24
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 25
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - STAYING SAFE
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 27
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 28
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 29
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - BUSINESS HUB
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 31
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 32
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 33
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - WASHINGTON LANDSCAPE
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 35
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - IN NETWORK
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 37
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 38
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 39
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - 40
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - Cover3
ILMA Compoundings August 2018 - Cover4
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