Riding his bike around the refinery on the overnight shift many years ago, Pete Casey ran into Bill Parker who was tending to equipment in one of the units. The year was 1988 and they were probably wearing Levis and riding fixies bicycles. Over the next 36-years, these long-time refinery colleagues became inseparable friends.
Pete, a 45-year Refinery employee who is now the refinery’s Sulfur Recovery Superintendent, and Bill, a 38-year employee who is a Senior Compliance Coordinator for Offsites have been through innumerable situations together and seen the incredible changes and improvements in both the Refinery and the energy industry.
Looking forward to a new year, Pete and Bill took time to reflect on the changes they have seen during their tenure at the plant. Both employees began their Torrance Refinery careers as “Assistant Stillmen,” a title that has been eliminated. Today, that role is equivalent to an Operator, a position that features a career ladder for individuals willing to learn and work in different positions.
Pete noted, “Procedures and culture were all very different in the late 1980s – both here in the refinery and across the manufacturing industry. I started before the refinery had an environmental team or industrial hygienists.”
Bill added, “Safety regulations were also different. We used to wear street clothes like jeans and our own Ray-Ban sunglasses at work – fast forward to today and flame-retardant clothing and safety glasses are standard safety requirements.”
Pete and Bill point to the way the energy industry learned and evolved over the years, which has resulted in fuel and petrochemical plants being the safest among U.S sectors. Based on data maintained by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics covering all the major U.S. manufacturing sectors, Petrochemical Manufacturing ranks number one in Safety, while Refining is tied for the #2 spot out of nearly 500 industrial sectors, after achieving the lowest rates for non-fatal injuries and illnesses.
This remarkable safety performance speaks to the Torrance Refinery’s commitment to safety and continuous learning. Bill explains, “Over the years, we have learned and keep learning from others because we care about keeping one another safe. And since PBF acquired the refinery, Torrance Refining Company been investing in the plant and employees, improving our procedures and practices to prevent incidents, to always put safety first.”
Torrance Refinery incorporates learnings from incidents at other industrial facilities into safety practices and procedures to protect workers, the community, the environment, and the facility. And what fosters this safety-first mindset is a “culture of care” Torrance Refining instills in everyone who works at the facility.
Pete noted, “Today, our culture is better. We are encouraged to really care for another – to keep one another and the community safe. This is critically important because there are plenty in this refinery who are like me and Bill who start out as co-workers, then become lifetime friends.”
Throughout his 38-year career, Bill has held various positions. Currently a Senior Coordinator in the Refinery’s Offsites area, Bill coordinates compliance procedures and helps to ensure the team is in compliance with safety, environmental and other regulations. As superintendent of the Sulfur Recovery Unit, Pete oversees the process that removes sulfur from the Refinery’s transportation fuels – a process critical to manufacturing the cleanest-burning gasoline in the world.
When asked about what it means to have shared such a long career with his buddy Pete, Bill quips, “We’ve gone through a lot, and I’m proud of the work we do. Pete and I have had a lot of great times working together. But our favorite memories are when we cooked meals and barbecue during the long night shifts we worked together. Those memories will live on forever.”