Human Capital Training

One of the most ambitious projects of Tarragona’s chemical sector is human capital training, a pioneering initiative that only has a comparable precedent in the nuclear industry. This project will offer training at the Chemical Park North Emergency Services pilot plant for AEQT’s operating personnel. It includes general training, common for all the workers of member companies, as well as specific training, tailored to the needs of each company. The project aims at preventing human error, based on the observation of individual behavior, with an analysis of mistakes, their reasons and ways to prevent errors in the future.

Its didactic model is based on the recreation of different scenarios, and will include cutting-edge technology, such as augmented reality, to ensure realistic simulations.

The duration of these training activities will be between 3 and 5 hours. The objective is to have all the personnel of AEQT member companies receive this training during the 2021-2025 period.

Chemical Park Emergency Services

Chemical Park Emergency Services are corporate firefighting stations built by chemical sector companies. They have a specialized staff that is trained to manage chemical emergencies. There are three of these emergency services parks: Chemical Park North, Chemical Park South and Port Chemical Park.

Chemical Park Emergency Services are staffed by highly qualified professionals specifically trained in risk management and chemical emergencies. These centers, first established in 2000, are a reference in Europe for their work, based on risk management and constant drills. They are ready to act under any possible emergency situation, and offer preventive interventions and support for routine operations.

Chemical Park Emergency Services also perform maintenance work for more than thirty AEQT member companies, routinely inspect firefighting equipment and carry out other preventive tasks, such as patrolling for suspicious odors. Their routine tasks include planning, studying and executing emergency drills.

AEQT-AEST Certifications

Since nearly half of the workers that every day access the chemical industry’s facilities are service company employees, coordination and common standards are essential, especially regarding safety issues.

In 2007 the AEQT and the Tarragona Association of Service Companies (AEST) set up the Safety Certification System, an auditing process that evaluates whether a service company complies with the safety standards and requirements that are deemed necessary in order to work with AEQT member companies. The system provides a rating, ranging from one to five stars, and is required from all service companies that operate in petrochemical facilities. It has been highly successful, yielding substantial reductions in accident rates in petrochemical companies, especially among service companies.

These safety certifications are the first stage of a multi-generation project. Since 2018 the second stage of the project has included a similar certification, based on a qualitative evaluation of the tasks performed by service companies for AEQT members. The final stage of the project, now under development, is a productivity certification system.