Glass Half filled? A major accident in the beginning of career, turns her into an ambassador of safety for life……
On March 17, 1993, her entire face was burnt during a process safety incident at Sinopec Beijing Ethylene plant.. During a plant emergency shutdown, the Depentanizer tower was isolated and purged. As per the company’s safety procedure during that time, an air sample was taken only once in the morning for tower entry. Continuous air monitoring and personal LEL monitor were not part of safety requirement for any cold work permit.
“When I arrived at the Depentanizer bottom, operators were cleaning the bottom residue oil. I helped them to complete the work, and ready for my tower entry. Just at that moment, a large fire ball was blown out from the man way and flashed over my face.”
Despite the severity, only words she left with her coworkers before being boarded into an ambulance, were “Don’t Tell My Mom”.
“Even though my face recovered in three months; my heart never rested since then.”
She could never forget her colleagues who were not lucky enough like her, and sustained permanent injuries for life. Maggie Han, Operation engineer at Shell, Canada learnt the importance of safety at workplace, early in her career, in a hard way.
“Process safety cannot remain a slogan only. It needs to be more than that. It should mean, that everyone performs safety practices, diligently, without a single lapse.” This one accident, made safety a religion for her, for the rest of her career till date.
“In last twenty four years, it has been my career passion to spread process safety knowledge at every work site and ensure all my colleagues would go back home safely to their families, every day.”
In the year 2002, she came to Canada with an aspiration to gather knowledge on advanced process safety. By 2004, She joined BP Canada right after she completed her MSc engineering degree from University of Alberta. She has been a leader in process safety at various assignments in Canada while working for BP and later for Shell. She shares her knowledge and her personal journey on process safety, to everyone around, on every occasion, to create safety awareness related to her work area and especially tries to induce behavioral safety in her team and others. She has been recognized for her contribution in safe workplace in her organization. This is an example of how energy women, who needs to balance the work and home more, can be really passionate and responsible about returning home safely, after work for everyone, to loved ones……..