By Dave Morningstar

Marathon Oil Corporation recognizes teams and departments that fully embrace diversity and demonstrate inclusion and team development.

Marathon Oil Corporation recognizes significant accomplishments by teams and departments that fully embrace diversity and demonstrate inclusion and team development. The Living Our Values Awards & Recognition Program was expanded in 2005 to include contractor safety and Parsons Electric found itself in the running last March for their work at Marathon’s St. Paul Park Refinery. Bill Olson and Bob Kassube of Parsons Electric, along with Jim Nelson, Maintenance Manager of Marathon’s St. Paul Park Refinery were in attendance.

Each year, Marathon presents this award to employees and suppliers who have made outstanding contributions in areas including health & safety, diversity, best practices, and many other categories. Jim Nelson nominated Parsons based on the long-term success of the safety practices jointly developed between Marathon Petroleum Company’s Minnesota Refining Division and the Parsons Electric team headed by Bill Olson and Bob Kassube.

“Bill is the Manager of Field Operations, and Bob is the Project General Foreman for Parsons’ activities at the St. Paul Park refinery,” says Bonnie Lunzer, Safety Director at Parsons Electric. “Both of them have a long history with Marathon, and Bill was also Safety Director at Parsons for 12 years before moving on to his current post. Safety is our top concern on every job for every client,” Lunzer says, “but it takes on even more urgency in a refinery environment where the slightest mistake can have catastrophic consequences for many other people, the environment, and the community at large. We know that, and so does Marathon, which makes St. Paul Park a unique environment for developing and perfecting innovative, proactive safety programs and practices that ultimately benefit all of our employees, and all of our clients.”

Parsons was nominated based on the long-term success of the safety practices jointly developed between Marathon Petroleum Company and Parsons Electric.

Before a Parsons employee is allowed to work in the St. Paul Park refinery, they are required to complete a 10-hour OSHA safety training program, a 3-hour orientation with a written test, and a drug screening. Then, Bob Kassube personally walks them through the rules and regulations on the site, making sure they are aware of the unique hazards present in a refinery and how those hazards impact their work and the choices they will make on the job.

“It’s the kind of environment where nobody thinks twice about taking a couple of extra minutes to analyze a situation and make sure what they’re about to do will be done in the safest way possible,” Olson says. “Every employee is empowered to stop a job if they see an unsafe condition. Marathon’s values match very closely with Parsons’ in terms of how they think about safety and how they value their employees. There is really a great synergy between the two companies. Jim Nelson and Bob Kassube really do speak the same language, and that makes for a great work environment.”

“That level of cooperation makes St. Paul Park an ideal place to develop and perfect programs like pre-task planning, behavior-based safety, and safety learning observations before we roll them out company wide,” Lunzer says.

“Being nominated for the Marathon award was a great honor, and the credit belongs to everyone who works at St. Paul Park,” Olson says. “It’s very much a team effort with Jim Nelson and Bob Kassube leading the way. The fact that we were sitting at the same table with three of Marathon’s largest global suppliers says all that needs to be said about how well the team works. We didn’t come in first this year, but it’s an annual event, and we never stop getting better.”