Alyeska’s Valdez Marine Terminal is a unique work environment where hundreds of professionals from dozens of trades perform thousands of various tasks daily. But there is one thing that remains the same every moment at the terminal’s Power Vapor facility. “There’s a constant noise of machinery here 24 hours a day,” said Scott Smith, Utilities Power Vapor Supervisor.
Employees at Power Vapor can work in environments as loud as a 747 jet engine (118 decibels). That level of noise demands safe hearing protection and effective communication tools. After almost 18 years of working in various positions at the Terminal, Smith worried about his team’s hearing protection and communications. When he landed a supervisory position, he stepped up to find a solution.
For implementing safer hearing and communications equipment last fall for the nearly 40 staff working in Power Vapor, Smith and his team were recognized with Alyeska’s 2015 Atigun Award for Health and Safety.
Power Vapor operators, technicians and others working in the area now wear custom-molded earpieces created by CavCom. The earpieces offer greater hearing protection and allow wearers to communicate easier and clearer. Microphones are built into the earpieces and pick up the user’s speech from their eardrum. They also eliminate loud background noise from conversations.
“It’s been a real success,” Smith said. “The hearing protection is superior to anything we’ve ever had and our technicians don’t have to yell into microphones in front of their faces anymore. Everybody is telling me, ‘Holy cow. I’m hearing things I’ve never heard before in the plant!’”
Smith said that when he became supervisor, Power Vapor operators and technicians expressed to him that their hearing protection devices weren’t effective. Smith knew the feeling. He said the bulky, clunky equipment was heavy and uncomfortable on the user’s neck and shoulders. The equipment also made communication difficult with its faulty volume controls and microphones that allowed loud surrounding noises to wash out a user’s voice. That caused occasional communication issues between staff and the control room.
Smith examined data from Alyeska’s Safety program, which took noise readings from around the Terminal. He then reached out to Tom Brady of Alyeska’s Occupational Health Unit.
“Tom was key in helping out with this – he found CavCom, which offers intrinsically safe, good communications,” Smith said. “I recognized the issue, but the solution wouldn’t have happened without Tom.”
Smith is also quick to deflect special attention for the success of the new earpieces, but proud to know that his team is safer and their story might help others on TAPS work safely, as well.
“I was surprised with the Atigun Award; pleased but surprised,” Smith said. “I’m just doing my job and trying to make sure we don’t walk out of here with no hearing. I prize my hearing. … I hope this kind of recognition inspires people to make their workplace safer and find better ways to do things, whether they get recognized for it or not. We just don’t want people to get hurt.”
• Submitted by Alyeska Corporate Communications
Subscribe to The Observer!
Want to receive every issue of The Observer straight to your inbox? Subscriptions are free. Subscribe here: The Observer