Say the word and you'll be free.
Say the word and be like me.

("The Word," by the Beatles, 1965).

ORIENTATION TO THE PROCESS OPERATOR CAREER PATH

What is the Typical Career Path for the Industrial Process Operator?

Control Room: A room situated away from the processing area where automated technologies used for indicating, controlling, recording, and alarms that collectively reveal the process status are centralized.

Process Safety Management Standard: An example of a good federal regulation that greatly improved the lives of United States process industry workers. The PSM standard codified regulations regarding how major process technology employers must create and maintain a safety culture designed to maintain the health and safety of their employees. The PSM standard must be followed by subcontractors used at the processing facility as well.

When the standard is followed as specified, unplanned emergency shutdowns and casualties/fatalities related to processing are eliminated. When not followed, several workers are killed over the same safety issues that have been known to exist from prior fatal incidences. In those cases the Process Facility Owner will be oh so sorry and complain to the media that the monetary fines that  are eventually incurred for killing people are hurting their profitability.

On-line/Off-line:  The status of the processing unit defined when good product is going to storage. The status of being on-line as opposed to being in start-up mode is established when saleable product is going to sales tanks instead of 'slop tanks.' Likewise, the process unit is off-line during the shutdown process when product is taken out of the finished product tank and rerouted to the 'slop tank.'  The accountants and head honchos at corporate are extremely interested when the product line is moved between slop and product tanks.

On Specification (On-Spec):  The condition that exists when the product of a process unit has met the laboratory criteria that confirm the product is of saleable quality and can be sent to product tanks.

On the Job Training (OJT): Training of a specific task historically performed by oral communication and demonstration and therefore highly dependent upon the communication skills of the instructor and relationship between the instructor and trainee. Nowadays, PSM covered facilities require written procedures to accompany OJT training and a check off sheet to confirm that the trainee was observed performing the task safely.

Outside Operator: The  facility operator that has contact with the processing area. Not the Control Room Operator.

Temperatures, Pressures, Tank Levels, Flowrates: Things that Outside Process Operators and Control Board Operators must monitor and control while converting feedstocks into final products.

Turnarounds: Scheduled plant shutdowns to complete planned and deferred maintenance.

 

ORIENTATION TO NON-PROCESS OPERATOR INDUSTRIAL PROCESS CAREER OPTIONS

Maintenance and Other Process Industry Career Options

Preventative Maintenance: Maintenance work performed as part of a routine that reduces the chance of processing disruption.

Work Orders: A request for the Maintenance Department to assign a Maintenance worker with the appropriate knowledge or craft specialty to evaluate a potential problem and/or fix equipment that has malfunctioned. Work orders are most typically written by Operations staff because they are the first to notice something not working as expected.  Work orders are ranked for priority. Some work orders cannot be completed while the plant is online and become part of the turnaround work list.

 

ORIENTATION TO COMMUNICATIONS AND TEAM WORK

How Well Do You Play With Others Day In and Day Out in the Same Sandbox?

Incident Reports: A report form that must be filled out which records information that lead up to an incident that caused injury to personnel or equipment. The Incident Report is used in an Incident Investigation. A "near miss" incident is more proactive in that it documents the discovery of a problem before the situation  continued to develop into an incident.

Pass-On Notes: The written log of what a Process Operator did on his/her shift.  The incoming and outgoing Process Operators discuss the pass-on notes before the outgoing Process Operator leaves the premises. Pass-On Notes are legal documents that would be used in the event of an incident.

 

ORIENTATION TO TECHNOLOGY

How Digital Technology Turned a Dark-Blue Collar Job into a Light Blue-Collar Job

Digital Control System (DCS): A modern automated control system that distributes the functions of control throughout the processing facility. The components of the DCS "talk to each other" by data in the format of 0s and 1s. DCS systems are easily identified by their use of computer technology and the Control Board Operator interface looks like a desk top computer screen.

Human-Machine Interface (HMI): The fancy name and acronym given to the DCS equipment that provides the ability for the Control Board Operator to do his/her job monitoring and interacting with the processes when needed. The HMI is typically a computer screen for observation and a mouse, keyboard, or touchscreen for interaction. The less politically correct acronym is Man Machine Interface or MMI.

Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC): Controllers that perform if-this-than-that logic in multi step sequences as part of a process control scheme. For example, a PLC may be used in the start-up procedure of a gas turbine to insure that a sequence of conditions are satisfied before the GT is allowed to continue to the next step.

 

ORIENTATION TO HEALTH, SAFETY,
AND ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS

Did You Wear Hearing Protection the Last Time You Mowed the Lawn?

Behavior-Based Safety: BBS is the main component of a successful safety culture because it is the part that requires each human being... each worker... to cast off macho/bravado and "it can never happen to me" attitudes and accept in his/her gut that a safe work (and home) environment directly results from safety awareness recognizing potential safety hazards and proactively solving the problems.

Health, Safety,and Environmental Awareness (HSE): A catchy acronym that refers to the role of the process facility worker with regard to compliance with the Process Safety Management Standard,Clean Water Act, and Clean Air Act, and RCRA.  The first step of compliance is to make certain each worker is aware of their role to achieve compliance. Depending upon the size of the facility, the first few days or even weeks for a new process facility employee could be spent in training that covers HSE awareness.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): The last line of defense between a human being and the chemical and physical hazards found in the work place. Everyday-wear PPE can include Fire-Retardant Clothing, steel-toed work boots, gloves, hearing protection, and a hard hat. Some companies would add the ability to contact  a person for help via a radio to the basic PPE list. Specific PPE is used for specific work and is designed specifically for the work  environment.

 

ORIENTATION SUMMARY:

Is a Career in Process Technology Operations a Good Fit for You?

No additional industrial process jargon appears in this PTOA segment.

 

This concludes the recap of process industry jargon found in the PTOA Orientation series.

The next segment returns PTOA Readers and Student to the integrated studies of the Process Variable Temperature and introduces Process Industry Schematics called P&IDs.

©2015 PTOA Segment 00005
PTOA Process Industry Jargon O-2

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