North Atlantic

Source: Exec Digital Canada

Date :31/10/2007 09:24:19

Working for one of Canada’s finest

Communications Manager, Gloria Warren-Slade, explains exactly what’s made North Atlantic Refining one of the top 100 employers in Canada

Written by Roxanne Ridge & Produced by Jason Wright

North Atlantic is a company with a difference. Over the last twelve months performance has been better than ever, yet unlike many companies, safety and the environment are priorities and employees are treated remarkably well.

The oil refinery was constructed between 1971 and 1973. It was built and run by Shaheen Resources, who refined its first shipment of crude oil in 1973. Shaheen ran the refinery for three years, at which time the company became bankrupt, and the refinery was shut down in 1976.

It wasn’t until 1986 that the refinery was refurbished and brought back to life by Newfoundland Processing Limited (NPL), who maintained ownership until 1994 when North Atlantic Refining purchased the refinery.

In October 2006 the Calgary based Harvest Energy Trust purchased North Atlantic from Vitol to complement its existing upstream oil and natural gas production business.

North Atlantic is an 115,000-barrel a day hydrocracking refinery optimally configured to process medium to sour crude oil. And from the start, the company has succeeded in transforming sour crude oil into some of the cleanest fuels on the market.

Keeping it green

North Atlantic Refining is based on the East Coast of Canada, in Newfoundland. This strategic location allows the company unique access to petroleum product markets in Europe and the US Eastern Seaboard and puts it in close proximity to sour crude supplies in Russia, Venezuela, and the Middle East.

The location also means that freight costs can be kept down because very large crude carriers (VLCC) can tie up at the docks all year round. Harvest Energy Trust purchases the oil, which is shipped into the refinery and there’s no offshore loading systems.

“The company’s capitalized on innovations that were built in the 70s,” says Gloria Warren-Slade, who formed North Atlantic’s communications department ten years ago. “Oil was plentiful at this time and easy to recover so installing clean fuel technology and a lavish refinery dock at one facility in Newfoundland seemed unnecessary. But over the years this foresight has proven its unlimited benefits time and time again.”

“Over the past 12 years we’ve invested more than $600 million in upgrades and refurbishments at our refinery. Keeping our facility efficient means that fewer emissions are produced and it’s better for the environment, which is one of our main challenges.”

“There’s always a challenge to do the best for the business and our employees, but without damaging the environment. We’re a heavy industry and cutting emissions is a top priority for us. But by successfully increasing our efficiency, we’re also reducing greenhouse gases.

“Since I joined the company, sulphur dioxide emissions have been reduced by 85 percent and this is continuing to decline. We’ve invested in protecting the land, air and water quality. All the sulphur we recover is exported for pharmaceutical and fertilizer use.

“And North Atlantic’s never had a major oil-spill, which is a testament to our oil-spill prevention and training program that includes the use of state-of-the-art equipment and tanker and pilot escorts. We test and monitor our air quality monitoring equipment everyday.

“We’re successfully keeping up with the demand for cleaner fuels. We’ve been ahead of the clean-fuel game for years. We’ve sold gasoline into California, which is an area with one of the toughest clean fuel requirements. Our home heating fuel, jet fuel, and diesel fuel are also some of the best in the world of refined petroleum products.”

Low turnover & safety first

In addition to this forward-thinking environmental approach, its success has also been dependent on a safety first culture within the company. “Our safety and management programme encourages people to work together and look out for each other’s wellbeing,” explains Gloria. “Our employees work in a potentially dangerous environment. We therefore draw on the idea of self-responsibility. No one person is responsible for safety. All 700 of us put safety first every day and in every job we do. And our safety training and generous safety rewards are just an added bonus for a safe day at work. Our employees think about going home safely at the end of the day, which is essentially the most important thing.

“We’re working in an industry that if you don’t do it right, it can go very wrong. So we train all of our staff to ask: ‘How can I get hurt do this particular job?’.”

This is an impressive approach – employees don’t want to be in any danger, so they naturally follow the rules and regulations very thoroughly.

North Atlantic’s employee turnover is unusually low for this industry—less than 1 per cent. And much of this is because of the way they treat employees, the refinery’s location, and the company’s respect for the local neighbours.

“Newfoundlanders want to stay in the same area they were born in,” explains Gloria. “And this is understandable – Newfoundland is one of the world’s pristine environments, with vegetation that can be found nowhere else on the planet. And residents actively seek a job that’s gong to allow them to stay here.”

“North Atlantic’s been in Newfoundland for 35 years now and offers very stable career prospects for local residents,” adds Gloria. “Although Newfoundland’s not the most hospitable place for an oil refinery – and we deal with this by putting a lot back into the community - we offer some of the best paying jobs on the island. Our 700 employees are highly respected.”

And there is a large social aspect to the job as well – North Atlantic has family days and Christmas parties. Staff are also attracted to the company’s strong safety culture. “Around 2500 people apply for jobs at North Atlantic every year. And we take in a lot of local engineering graduates for internship programmes,” Gloria says.

And North Atlantic does all it can to keep its employees engaged. “We want to further develop employees who come into our company,” says Gloria. “We are all trained in areas like basic fire safety training and first aid.

“I think it’s this unique approach to employee development that’s been one of the reasons why we’ve been voted as one of Canada’s top 100 companies to work for in 2006, 2007, and 2008 by Mediacorp Canada and Maclean’s Magazine.”

Community giving

Giving something back doesn’t stop at the employees. And when Gloria joined the company in 1997, this is something she worked hard to develop. “We give $65, 000 a year in scholarships, and up to $200,000 in donations and sponsorships,” says Gloria. “Local charities are really important.

“Around 40 percent of our community giving is health related for things like ultrasound equipment for the local hospital. Thirty percent goes to education for things like school breakfast programs, books, and computers. And another 20 per cent goes to arts and culture programs and safety promotion in the community. We support everything from local jazz festivals to the red-cross. And we’ve won numerous awards for our community work, including the Community Champion Award from NOIA and the Environmental Award presented by the Mount Pearl Chamber of Commerce.”

However, despite achieving so much – neighbourhood respect, staff loyalty, and high performance - the company does recognise the need to focus on maintaining this success. “While our achievements are impressive,” says Gloria. “North Atlantic will continue to work towards the future and the more challenging goals that arise.”