Safety
Safety is Our Foundation
For Success
Safety means our workers go home every day to their families and our communities know we are dedicated to keeping them safe.
Safety means our workers go home every day to their families and our communities know we are dedicated to keeping them safe.
At Valero, the safety of our employees, contractors and communities is of utmost importance. Our robust safety initiatives, year-round training programs and extensive safety management systems all contribute to our goal of safety excellence.
In 2023, we spent approximately $1.8 billion in capital to grow and sustain our operations as part of our commitment to safety, reliability, preventive equipment maintenance and environmental mitigation.
We conduct rigorous internal and external safety audits, quality assurance visits and comprehensive risk assessments at each of our facilities to maintain excellence in our safety performance.
Our participation in the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) exemplifies our consistent pursuit of going beyond regulatory requirements by voluntarily submitting to robust safety certifications and audits. OSHA approves VPP Star Site status only if the facility demonstrates that enhanced safety systems have been implemented and embraced in a collaborative way by leaders and employees. Sites are reassessed by OSHA every three to five years in order to maintain their VPP status.
The health, safety and well-being of our employees and the communities where we operate remain our top priority. Safety is our foundation for success.
At Valero, the safety of our employees, contractors and communities is of utmost importance. Our robust safety initiatives, year-round training programs and extensive safety management systems all contribute to our goal of safety excellence.
At Valero, we are focused on maintaining our operations in an environmentally responsible manner; investing in low-carbon fuels production and renewable energy projects that contribute toward reducing companywide GHG emissions; and participating in ecological and conservation projects to protect biodiversity.
Valero once again achieved high refinery utilization rates, resulting from another excellent performance in process safety and reliability, which are essential to curb environmental incidents and improve safety.
Our best ever 97.4% mechanical availability in 2023 represents highly reliable refinery operations. Excellent performance in this metric reflects our ability to avoid unplanned downtime, minimize environmental impacts, implement our structured turnaround planning process and ensure efficient use of resources.
With refineries long coastlines and ethanol plants in the U.S. Midwest, Valero has long evaluated and prepared for physical risks to its facilities from natural disasters and weather events. Our emergency preparedness and response programs are focused on the mitigation of these risks.
Check out our ESG Report for additional information on Valero’s emergency response programs.
The STAR (Safety Tracking and Recognition) Metric is our safety program for ethanol plants. This program recognizes top performing ethanol plants in five key areas:
Each quarter we recognize plants achieving zero incidents in all five areas. Plants that go four consecutive quarters without an incident earn a Super STAR award.
Our Goal Zero program is designed to eliminate incidents and injuries in six focus areas by taking a data-driven risk based approach.
Our Goal Zero program is designed to eliminate incidents and injuries in six focus areas by taking a data-driven risk based approach:
Safety data sheets provide, in a standard format, product safe use and handling information regarding potential hazards, and how to respond to emergencies.
Safety is integrated into every aspect of what we do at Valero. We instill safety and reliability at every facility to push beyond regulatory compliance to operational excellence.