Why CF Fertilisers turned to Intasite in the face of a global pandemic

CF Industries is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products. Their mission is to provide clean energy to feed and fuel the world sustainably.

CF Industries' Billingham Complex is located in the heart of the Teesside Chemical Industry. As the UK's largest manufacturer of Ammonia and Nitric acid, it provides farmers with the nutrients they need to increase their yields and grow quality crops.

The safety team at CF Fertilisers had an induction process which was a significant drain on resources, consuming valuable time and diverting attention away from other critical tasks and priorities.

“There was always someone from the EHS department who would have to step out and conduct inductions, and we just didn’t have the means to do it.”

When COVID-19 struck, inductions became almost impossible due to the need to limit in-person contact, and adhere to health and safety regulations, which made traditional face-to-face inductions more challenging to carry out.

Additionally, an impending site maintenance turnaround made working arrangements and restrictions on social distancing even harder to onboard new contractors and provide them with the necessary training and support for their job.

Due to the high volume of over 22,000 tankers a year, the gatehouse staff consistently faced significant pressure to effectively manage both the processing of new visitors and the maintenance of induction records. During the pandemic, this became increasingly more difficult.

“Since COVID-19, all of us have had to overcome many challenges. We have been working closely with Intasite who initially created an excellent site-specific Covid instructional safety video.”

The video was used to inform visitors of the rules and guidelines set out by the government, and by delivering this through Intasite meant that social distancing measures could be easily met to keep everyone safe. Additionally, the system allowed for the preparation of passes and photos ahead of time, enabling smoother and faster check-ins, and ultimately, revolutionising everyday operations.

Throughout the pandemic, two maintenance turnarounds meant that the top tier COMAH site needed to induct anywhere in between 200 to 1000 people to ensure that the facility was operating safely, efficiently, and reliably, and to minimise the risk of unexpected equipment failures and production interruptions.

A maintenance turnaround typically requires a significant number of contractors to perform the necessary maintenance and repair work. Contractors can include specialised tradespeople such as welders, electricians, and pipe-fitters, as well as general labourers and technicians.

Given the limited time frame, the traditional method of inducting hundreds to thousands of contractors was impractical. This is where Intasite played a crucial role, not only ensuring safety for everyone involved but also saving CF Fertilisers a significant sum of £80,000 in additional costs.

Following the successful implementation at Billingham, the Intasite system has now been rolled out across The Medicine Hat Complex in Alberta, Canada.

EHS Managers within CF Industries reported that “The process of online inductions significantly helps CF communicate site safety requirements effectively. It has been a pleasure working with the team at Intasite to bring our turnaround and day-to-day induction processes to a new level. It’s a massive improvement”