Seadrift Coke L.P. Revenue and Competitors

Seadrift Coke is committed at the highest levels to a management philosophy of maximizing profits through controlling and minimizing losses. In this context, "losses" encompass property damage, personal injury or illness, a reduction of product quality, or a lower level of productivity. These losses can be brought about by failure to properly follow work procedures, inadequately maintained fire prevention systems, disregard for occupational health issues, noncompliance with regulatory codes, a lack of security, or through other management deficiencies. If we are successful in this philosophy, we will necessarily operate a safe and healthful plant with lower costs and optimum efficiency. Thus we contend that it is not enough to do a job the "safe" way, but rather that it should be done the "right" way, with risks carefully analyzed and appropriate preventive measures taken before a loss occurs. Every Seadrift employee is a risk manager with an opportunity to exercise a degree of control over both personal factors and job factors which, if not controlled, could result in a loss (accident or incident). If we fail to exercise this control, acts or conditions will almost certainly follow which will allow a loss to take place. These losses could have disastrous consequences in terms of the economic survival of our plant, human pain and suffering, or loss of life. Since every Seadrift employee has a part in this overall philosophy, opportunity is provided for every employee to give input into our practices and policies of management. This "participative management" is a very positive aspect of our overall OMS program. Each employee therefore is expected to take part in the process of formally evaluating areas of our operations, setting standards high enough to truly minimize losses, and following through to live by those standards. In practice the various OMS element teams are the avenue for this input. Our program has been audited by a team of plant people and, simply put, the program is working. The written standards and the audit and review processes now in place ensure that all aspects of the program will continue to function effectively. We are also continuing to improve the program in accordance with recommendations from the various elements and the steering committee. Thus safety is an integral part of our management philosophy, with all employees having a meaningful part in the success of our business. The formal OMS program provides a measurement of the success of this philosophy, and helps to enforce the discipline essential for this success.