We speak often about Safety and what it means to us as a company. When we have a situation arise that shows our safety initiatives first hand we want to share them in hopes of informing and inspiring. Recently an employee utilized their safety training and invoke the “Stop Work Authority” at a job site. Although an impactful decision to enforce the SWA, an employee identified a hazard that could have potentially put many lives at risk, spoke up, and prevented what could have been a critical situation.
The Situation: Superheat was in preparation to perform a routine PWHT on a socket weld that was connected to a 6 “ nozzle on an exchanger. Glen Parale had a questioning attitude once he noticed a blind that was within 6” of where he was designated to wrap the component for PWHT. He utilized the “Stop Work Authority” and requested the plant and QC to walk the job down. Glen was cautious about what pre-existing hazards may have been in this pipe and the hazards within the vicinity. The site Safety Team, therefore, tested the pipe and the surrounding air in the area where Superheat was to perform post weld heat treatment. The results were staggering, coming back with life-threatening High LEL levels of 77PPM. This reading confirmed the hazard had the potential to cause catastrophic damage to the plant and anyone standing within the area.
Joe Brynda, Midwest Safety Manager, noted “At Superheat, we encourage everyone to stop any unsafe act without the fear of what others may think or say. You must know you’re doing the right thing by making sure we can complete a project safely. Safety isn’t just a word, it’s what we do, and having that questioning attitude isn’t just for our employees, but for other contractors as well. Our goal is Target 0 and to go home the same way we walked in. I would like to personally remind everyone that the “Stop Work Authority” is for anyone to use when they think any task or area is unsafe.”
From all of us at Superheat, thank you, Glen! We greatly appreciate your leadership, diligence, and commitment to safe work.
