Process safety study visit to PT Unilever Oleochemicals Indonesia

In conjunction with its 8th Technical Workshop in Medan, 32 members of AOMG visited on Monday 9/7/18 the factory complex of Unilever Oleochemicals Indonesia in Sei Mangkei, North Sumatra. On arrival we were warmly welcomed by Subir Kumar Das, SHE Manager and his team that included Oddy Sinaga and Evi Widiaswari. The visit started with an introduction to PT UOI by the head of the site, Endri Suprianto, Factory Manager Fatty Acid Plant.

This state of the art oleochemical facility was built in 2012 and commissioned in 2015. It produces fatty acid fractions and blends, glycerine and soap noodles. The facility does not draw electricity from the grid and generates electricity and steam from natural gas with thermal oil heated by biomass viz palm kernel shells. We were briefed on the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan which underlines Unilever’s commitment to halving its environmental impact and improving the health, well-being and livelihood of people in its value chain.

We then donned personal safety gear and toured the factory by bus getting off at several stops. We were impressed to see a clean and well maintained facility with many process safety practices in place. There were many questions asked and the hot sun did not damper the excitement of the visitors.

After a sumptuous lunch (with Magnum ice cream as dessert!) where we had the opportunity to mingle with the Unilever staff during the start of their safety week, Pak Subir shared with us their Process Safety Management Practices. The Unilever Process Safety Management Pillar House has 20 elements based on CCPS (Center for Chemical Process Safety). Pak Subir walked us through all the 20 elements.

In line with our workshop the next day Pak Subir spoke at length on Management of Change (MOC), Asset Integrity & Reliability (Mechanical Integrity) and Contractor Safety Management. As instilling a safety culture is fundamental, the site insists on MOC for any change. Engineering contractors are scarce in the area so they have been developed from the project stage. Whilst discipline is important, the reward system is more engaging and fruitful. He also touched on Hazop Study, PSSR (Pre-Startup Safety Review) and Incident Reporting where category 1 incidents are immediately reporting to the highest level.

The visit was highly rated by participants. Some of the comments were:-

- Consider to implement some best practice I saw in Unilever and sharing from members
- Implement the MOC no matter how minor the change could be. This way any change will go through risk assessment and proper evaluation before actual implementation
- Saw example of actual practices in the company
- Physical presentation of plants (signage)

Our thanks to the team at Unilever Oleochemicals Indonesia and in particular to its Managing Director, Mr. Saikrishna Devarakonda for making the visit possible.

To view the photos for site visitation to PT UOI, please click here.