Sphere
#35
2014
10
>>
Be Prepared
harpening one’s wits,
knowledge and experience
is vital to be ready when
the time for action comes.
Hutchison Whampoa
takes training very seriously. A
successful group must be able to
seize opportunity when it presents
itself, blunt the effects of disaster and
execute top-notch performance every
day. This does not happen by accident,
but only through relentless training of
its employees.
Such training is a group-wide phenomenon.
It enables planes to stay in the air where
they belong, thousands of containers
to criss-cross the globe, valuable oil to
be made from raw muck, and staff and
customers to be kept safe. From Canada’s
frozen north to the violent typhoons of The
Philippines, Hutchison staff are ready for
whatever the world can throw at them.
Under pressure
Extreme conditions that HWL team
members face are often external. Some
are generated internally. Husky Energy
Inc’s team in Lloydminster, Canada
deliberately works with otherworldly
extremes that can be deadly if
mishandled. Temperatures of up to
427
o
C and pressures of up to 20,000kPa
are used daily, creating an environment
as hot as the surface of Venus with more
than twice the atmospheric pressure.
It creates these conditions at the
Lloydminster Heavy Oil Upgrader to
transform viscous, thick, black, heavy oil
and, using that massive heat and pressure,
to upgrade it to the clear, free-flowing
oil and diesel that the world runs on.
Converting the heavy oil demands the
highest standards of equipment, safety,
knowledge, training and vigilance.
Control room operators at Husky Energy’s
Upgrader are like pilots who spend hours in
flight simulators before taking the controls of
real aircraft. Before assuming responsibility
for piloting the controls of the Upgrader,
Husky Energy’s operators spend hours
training on all aspects of the facility on state-
of-the-art simulators.
Husky Energy has been using simulators
since the Upgrader was constructed in
1992 and, like the Upgrader itself, the
simulator system has steadily improved.
The current simulators give operators and
trainees a realistic picture of the Upgrader
controls. Every possible scenario and
emergency that can happen in the facility
can be programmed into the simulations.
While dangerous situations may happen
once, or even never, over the lifetime of
the Upgrader, simulators ensure operators
are ready for any eventuality. Husky
Energy works with the simulator software
developers to ensure the simulator exactly
replicates the Upgrader’s systems.
Experienced operators and management
regularly use the simulators for emergency
response training exercises. Mr Miles
Berry, Operations Superintendent at
the Upgrader, oversees the training and
retraining of operators. A 34-year Husky
veteran, Miles knows what it takes to keep
the facility producing efficiently and safely.
“Training new control room operators to
use the simulators ensures new operators
are thoroughly and consistently trained.
On the simulator, operators will face every
possible shutdown, start-up, and upset
condition that could occur in the Upgrader
before they ever take control of the plant,”
Miles said.
Sometimes this means moving quickly and
efficiently through planned maintenance.
“When we have a turnaround or scheduled
maintenance that can involve shutting
down major areas or even the entire
plant, we can practise every aspect on the
simulators before we go into the actual
project,” according to Miles.
Sometimes it means averting disaster.
“Recently, a newly trained operator had
a compressor shutdown show up on his
panel. From his training, he knew exactly
what to do and ran through the correct
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