Ehstoday 674 Asclogo 5
Ehstoday 674 Asclogo 5
Ehstoday 674 Asclogo 5
Ehstoday 674 Asclogo 5
Ehstoday 674 Asclogo 5

Koch Pipeline Co.: A Sustainable, Clear Vision of EHS

Nov. 1, 2008
At Koch Pipeline co., being successful at safety requires great employees, great leadership and clearly defined expectations

In an industry that reports a low rate of injuries, Koch Pipeline Co. manages to stand out. Although the lost-time injury rate average for liquid pipeline transportation is .6 - a number most other industries would embrace and celebrate - Koch's injury rate for its 171 employees in Wichita, Kan., is zero.

“Our commitment is to a sustainable EHS performance,” says Bob O'Hair, executive vice president of operations. To his list of “great employees, great leadership and clearly defined expectations,” he adds oversight and knowledge sharing and effective training to a list “of areas that need attention and support from company leaders” if EHS success is to be attained.

“We don't try to measure safety success in terms of dollars. It's the right thing to do - our responsibility - and there are second and third order effects of good safety that while fuzzy, still provide real value to the business,” says O'Hair.

These include improved morale, attracting and retaining valuable employees and lower costs from avoiding excessive workers' compensation costs. Other benefits of safety include “a positive perception among regulators, customers and the general public, and that helps grow the business,” O'Hair says.

The company achieved OSHA VPP Star status in 2007, and has not had a lost-time incident since 2001. The last recordable incident was in 2004. O'Hair says the company approaches many aspects of its business - environmental management, sustainability - with the same dedication with which it has approached safety. Koch has seven EHS management system elements that reflect this philosophy and just as easily could be applied to its environmental management or sustainability initiatives: leadership and management commitment; employee ownership; compliance and risk assessment; compliance and risk management; training; management of change; sustain results.

“In this changing environment, you can't have the mentality of ‘we're going to get there one day.’ It has to be continual learning, continual change, continual improvement,“ says O'Hair.

Return to America's Safest Companies

Sponsored Recommendations

3 Essential Elements for a Strong Safety Culture

March 13, 2024
Organizations globally have increased their attention on safety culture: trying to figure out what it really is and the aspects that are necessary to develop and sustain it. And...

Making the Case for Occupational Health Software

March 13, 2024
Deciding to invest in Occupational Health (OH) software can be a challenging leap for many organizations. This article will equip businesses with insightful strategies for effectively...

Fighting the Flu: Solutions for the Workplace

March 13, 2024
Seasonal flu continues to wreak considerable havoc both on individual wellness, as well as on our business continuity and productivity. Explore these solutions for protecting ...

Preventing SIFs with Digitization: Reduce Serious Injuries and Fatalities with Technology

March 13, 2024
This eBook discusses the origins of SIF prevention, outlines principles, models and tools available to EHS leaders to better detect and address SIF potential in their business...

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of EHS Today, create an account today!