ABCD of Safety, Rain, and Rhythm of Refinement | Diary Entry - 20th May 2025
Morning: A Reminder from the Preheater
The day started with a short morning meeting, but not without a moment of seriousness. There was an incident in the preheater - a piece of concrete cover from the slab fell off. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but it was enough to jolt everyone into awareness.
Taking this opportunity, I addressed the team with a gentle but firm reminder:
“There are risks everywhere - more so in cement plants where we deal with height, heat, pressure, and rotating machinery. That’s why we must always remember the ABCD of safety:
Always Be Careful, Dear Friend.”
It may sound like a childlike phrase, but that’s the beauty of it - easy to remember, impossible to ignore.
I also emphasised the ‘Stop - Look - Go’ principle:
Stop when you’re unsure or something seems off.
Look around - observe, think, analyse.
Go ahead only when you’re confident it’s safe.
This simple habit, if practised across all levels - from loaders to HODs - can prevent countless incidents. Safety doesn’t need complexity. It needs consciousness.
HOD Meeting & Store Walk
The morning moved ahead with our regular HOD meeting. Updates were shared and key issues discussed. As always, I insisted on walking the talk - literally - with a quick visit to the store. Seeing things with one’s own eyes gives clarity no report can match.
Daily Production Meeting (DPM)
In today’s DPM, I brought focus back on tracking major jobs. Some jobs tend to stretch, not because of complexity but due to poor follow-up. I reminded the team that it’s their job to proactively update progress - not wait to be asked.
“Each job has a lifecycle - and if we don’t measure it, we can’t improve it.”
If we want to finish strong, we must start by planning strong and checking progress consistently.
Evolving Daily Reports
My DPR (Daily Production Report) and DSR (Daily Stoppage Report) templates are maturing. I’ve been refining them daily - adding value by integrating causes, actions taken, pending issues, and preventive measures. It's becoming more than a report - it's turning into a daily dashboard of insights.
Rain, Thunder, and Still Running Lines
At 1 PM, the sky roared and thundering began. Within minutes, heavy rain poured down over the plant. For a while, it felt like nature was unleashing its stored energy. Though the intensity dropped after some time, it continued raining till 5 PM.
Despite this, we managed to keep operations going steadily. Credit to the team’s coordination and our earlier precautions.
Smart Operations: Blasters and Cyclone Draft
One interesting discussion took place during the technical round:
We spoke about automating blaster operation based on cyclone draft. This change could potentially reduce unnecessary stoppages, ensure better response timing, and protect the system from draft imbalance. It’s another example of how small changes in control logic can yield big improvements in plant performance.
We’ll need to pilot it, observe, and refine - but the idea has promise.
Reflection
Today was one of those days where learning, planning, and nature all converged. A falling slab reminded us how fragile safety can be if neglected. A phrase like ABCD and a principle like Stop-Look-Go may appear simple, but they reflect the essence of operational mindfulness.
And then the rain - pouring and patient - reminding us that we must work not only in the plant but also with the environment.
Key Points of the Day:
- Incident in Preheater: Concrete cover fell - no injury, but high alert.
- Shared the ABCD of Safety: Always Be Careful Dear Friend.
- Explained Stop - Look - Go principle for safe decision-making.
- HOD meeting conducted; visited store personally.
- In DPM, reminded team to proactively track and update major jobs.
- DPR and DSR formats evolving into more insightful tools.
- Heavy rain from 1 PM to 5 PM after loud thundering.
- Discussed automated blaster operation based on cyclone draft to reduce stoppages.
- Both lines remained operational throughout the rain.
“When awareness becomes a habit, safety becomes a culture.”
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