WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) has announced the winners of the 2020 Annual Safety Awards, part of an ongoing mission to enhance and recognize outstanding workplace safety. The awards are part of a comprehensive program developed by the AFPM Safety and Health Committee to promote safe operations in the refining and petrochemical industries and to recognize facilities with outstanding occupational and process safety records.
“Nothing is more important to our industries and our members than the safety of their workforce and surrounding communities. That is why we have established high standards for ourselves, standards that go beyond what the government requires. Because of this commitment, the refining and petrochemical industries rank among the safest of the 503 manufacturing sectors that the government monitors. This is an amazing accomplishment that can only be achieved with hard work, dedication and resiliency of everyone working in our industries,” said AFPM President and CEO Chet Thompson.
The highest honor, the Distinguished Safety Award, is awarded to the top sites with outstanding safety performance, program innovation and safety leadership. This honor was awarded to six facilities this year for achieving a sustained, exemplary level of safety performance: Chevron Products – El Segundo Refinery; ExxonMobil Chemical Company – Baton Rouge Polyolefins; Marathon Petroleum Company, LP – Illinois Refining Division; Phillips 66 – Lake Charles Manufacturing; Phillips 66 – Ponca City Refinery and Phillips 66 – Santa Maria Refinery.
The Elite Gold Award, which recognizes facilities with safety performances in the top one percentile and that have demonstrated superior and consistent safety performance, program innovation and leadership, has been given to ten facilities this year: ExxonMobil Chemical Company – Beaumont Chemical Plant; ExxonMobil Chemical Company – Pensacola Specialty Elastomer Plant; LyondellBasell Industries – Chocolate Bayou Polymers Plant; LyondellBasell Industries –Corpus Christi Operations; LyondellBasell Industries –Matagorda Complex; LyondellBasell Industries – Tuscola Plant; LyondellBasell Industries – Victoria Plant; Marathon Petroleum Company LP –Michigan Refining Division; Phillips 66 – WRB Refining, LP – Borger Refinery and Valero Energy Corporation – Wilmington Asphalt Plant.
The Elite Silver Award recognizes those sites that have attained top industry safety performance for the application year and demonstrated excellent program innovation and leadership over time. The Elite Silver Award recognizes the top five percentile of industry safety and this year was awarded to 13 facilities: Chevron Phillips Chemical Company – Drilling Specialties Conroe Plant; Chevron Phillips Chemical Company – Orange Facility; Chevron Phillips Chemical Company – Port Arthur Plant; CountryMark Refining & Logistics LLC – Mount Vernon Refinery; ExxonMobil Chemical Company – Baytown Olefins Plant; ExxonMobil Chemical Company – Mont Belvieu Plastics Plant; Marathon Petroleum Company LP – Anacortes Refinery; Marathon Petroleum Company LP – Dickinson Refinery; Phillips 66 – Billings Refinery; Phillips 66 – Rodeo Refinery; Valero Refining – Texas L.P. – Houston Refinery; Valero Energy Corporation – Port Arthur Refinery and Valero Energy Corporation – St. Charles Refinery.
This year AFPM introduced the Innovation Awards to recognize refineries, petrochemical facilities, and their contractors that have unique and innovative programs or practices that effectively improve the site’s safety performance for either occupational or process safety. Five sites received the award in its inaugural year, they are Flint Hills Resources, LLC – Pine Bend Refinery; LyondellBasell Industries – Clinton Iowa; Valero Energy Corporation – Benicia Refinery; Valero Refining – Texas, L.P. – Houston Refinery and Valero Refining New Orleans, LLC, St. Charles Refinery.
