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Advanced Acromatics

The Company

Testimonial

"We have been extremely pleased with the PureSafety solution. After changing our safety program throughout the years, we have finally found a system that works for us. Our employees love how they can take their training on their own time and schedule, and we like how our employees receive the proper regulatory training they need in an interactive and engaging manner."

Richey Austin
Safety Manager

Advanced Aromatics (AA) is an industry leader in the production of high purity petroleum derived tetrahydronaphthalene, naphthalene, and aromatic derivatives. AA was founded in 1972 and employs a staff of 45 to support the 24 hour/365 day/ year operation providing quality products to its customers via rail car, tank truck and drums. AA's chemical distillation facility sits on a 16-acre plant site in Baytown, Texas and produces over 200 million pounds of product annually.

The Challenge

At Advanced Aromatics, safety training has always been a priority within the organization. Safety training delivery methods have evolved often over the years in response to the changing needs of the employees and the organization. In the early 90s, safety training was delivered by the safety manager in short (10 - 15 minutes) monthly meetings. A few years later, the safety manager started to realize that the employees needed more training and began using an overhead projector and a more comprehensive presentation of safety policies and issues in the workplace.

In June of 1996, Richey Austin was hired as the new safety manager. From 1996 - 1999 the monthly safety meetings were further expanded to include video tapes, face-to-face discussions, and predetermined safety topics for all employees. While beneficial, Mr. Austin realized that his employees needed even more training to meet ever-changing and more stringent regulatory compliance requirements. From 1999 - 2004, the monthly hour-long safety meetings were more regulatory in nature. AA focused on a variety of safety topics, ranging from "safety in the home" to "safety in the workplace". Custom PowerPoint presentations were primarily used as video tapes were phased out. The safety meetings focused on current events, reviewing past safety records, and addressed any specific training topics the staff needed.

Even with the noticeable improvements in the training information, AA still had numerous challenges to overcome:

Scheduling Conflicts
To attend the monthly safety meetings, the morning and night shift operations would either need to arrive an hour early or stay an hour after work. Due to a variety of schedules, it became extremely difficult to get all the employees in the same place, at the same time. The employees became frustrated with the overtime the training required and AA began paying overtime to all shift operation employees for the training completed. In order to cut its overtime expenses and provide more training flexibility, AA needed a solution where its employees could take the required training on their own time and schedule.

Keeping Employees Engaged
It became a constant challenge to keep the employees engaged in the safety information that was being delivered. PowerPoint slides and discussions were beneficial, but differing adult learning styles and recycling of safety information made it difficult to keep the employees engaged. AA needed a training solution that kept its employees engaged and interested in the information being presented.

The Solution

In 2004, AA decided to pilot the PureSafety solution to a group of 6 employees. The pilot was a huge success and the solution was launched to all AA employees in late 2004. Forty-five AA employees are currently training on the PureSafety solution.

The Results

Since implementing PureSafety, AA has seen numerous benefits - both for the company and its employees:
Improved Training Flexibility
While AA provides Internet-connected computers on the jobsite for training, many AA employees opt to take their required PureSafety training from the comfort of their own home. Being able to take the training on their own time and location, has been extremely beneficial to the employees at AA.

Significant Cost Savings
Since implementing the PureSafety solution, AA has seen a significant decrease in employee overtime expenses. This savings alone has more than paid for the PureSafety solution.

Improved Communication
Not only does AA have all their training records in one place, but the PureSafety solution is also used as a communication tool within the organization. AA posts policy changes, company updates, and other critical employee information on the LMS, which allows them to verify what employees have viewed various documents.

Better Training Material
AA is finding that its employees are more engaged and interested in the training courses being provided by PureSafety. They are showing more interest in the materials being presented, which translates into higher completion rates and satisfaction levels.