Transforming the Safety Culture at Lubref - Dupont Case Study

Change requires believers; people who are willing to deviate from the well-trodden path to carve a new one. But that takes courage, effort, time and dedication,  all of which Saudi Aramco Base Oil Company-Luberef decided to commit on in November 2011 to improve the company’s safety performance which had plateaued. In discussion with DuPont Sustainable Solutions (DSS) the company embarked on a journey to unlock its potential for an improved safety management system and best in class performance.

Luberef is the only base oil producer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, supplying companies such as Shell, Mobil, Caltex, Fuchs and Petromin Corporation. Founded in 1978, it now operates as a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Jadwa Industrial Investment. It also exports the high quality base oil manufactured at its two refineries in Jeddah and Yanbu to more than 15 countries around the world. It is a fast growing company, with significantly expanded production capacity at its Yanbu site planned to come online in 2016.

Lubref mention that they used to look for a solution after incidents happened and the root cause was most often human error. With that, people were afraid to report any unsafe conditions as the culture was one of attaching blame. They implemented a system where achievement of safety KPIs accounts for 25% of every employee’s bonus payment. By December 2014, the total safety incidents rate had dropped by 75% and the total recordable injury rate stood at zero.

During the presentation we will share more about this journey on how improving the safety culture saved time and improved production.