This paper discusses the training needs of a large, global organization to help ensure the process safety of its resin manufacturing operations. It reviews how the development of cost-effective specialized training tools can meet these needs. Practical recommendations, based on actual experience in the development of interactive computer-based training are provided. These recommendations include suggestions on how to assemble the required resources, how to develop and implement lesson plans, and how to design and evaluate training to ensure effective learning.
The Reactor Safety Program1 was established by DuPont following two reactor process incidents in 1975, with the goal of achieving completely safe resin manufacturing. This program has been implemented worldwide at all of our resin manufacturing plants, with each plant required to comply with a uniform set of Reactor Safety standards and practices. Plant process engineers and operators from each location, together with core process safety, resin technology, and process control engineers, form a global Reactor Safety Team2, which develops and implements all program activities. Major activities include: hazards analysis of new and modified resin formulas3, design reviews of all new projects and reactor system equipment changes, audits of sites for compliance with program requirements, incident investigations, training, and development of new safety guidelines. With strong upper management commitment and support, this team has worked to achieve process safety and resin manufacturing excellence globally for almost 25 years.
Training of all resin personnel in important aspects of resin manufacturing technology and process safety is a key Reactor Safety Program activity. Available funding and technical resources have been leveraged to create comprehensive training manuals, videos, and programs to promote safe operations and to meet corporate and regulatory training requirements. This approach has helped to provide cost-effective development of uniform, specialized training materials for use at all plants to supplement plant-specific and hands-on training. Examples of training materials that have been developed include:
The Reactor Safety Training Manual is designed to provide training materials for a two-day course for resin operators in a classroom environment, which is to be supplemented with field and hands-on training. Slides for presentation are provided with additional background material on each slide for the training leader. Topics include resin technology (e.g., acrylic polymerizations), runaway reactions, vapor clouds, safety systems, and process automation.
Videos using 3-D computer animation, testimonial descriptions of incidents by operators and engineers, and news footage have been developed to vividly supplement classroom training. Topics include safe initiator handling, vapor cloud prevention, and runaway reactions.
Currently, these training materials are available in four languages, reflecting the global nature of our production facilities. All materials are periodically reviewed to ensure they meet plant needs.
