Chemical Safety
By Shawn Shoemake | Director of HSEQ, TETRA Chemicals | April 25th, 2025
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
—Benjamin Franklin
Inherent Hazards
Sometimes hazards are obvious to any rational person, like climbing a wobbly ladder or removing an overheated radiator cap. Other times they’re not, like mixing bleach and vinegar to flush out an air-conditioner drain line. Blending the two common household chemicals produces harmful chlorine gas—the same stuff used as a chemical weapon in World War I.
In some cases, the inherent hazard of chemicals is a path of discovery and gradual change. In the 1920s, we learned that painting watch faces and instrument dials with luminescent radium was a very bad idea. The tragic fate of the ‘Radium Girls’—the female factory workers stricken with radiation poisoning—marked a turning point in occupational safety and U.S. labor laws. Yet, radium dials were still made until the 1970s, albeit somewhat more safely and thankfully superseded by nonradioactive glowing dials. Anyone who owns an old luminous watch is advised to never take it apart.[1]
The element lead (Pb) is another case in point. Since antiquity the metal has been known to be highly toxic, yet people continued to use it in ways that caused illness and insanity. One author described lead poisoning as “perhaps the only preventable man-made disease allowed to remain pandemic for centuries.” While the element is still used in ceramics, cosmetics, crystal, solder, and vehicle batteries—with the safety of these uses still debated—not until the late 20th century did we eliminate lead from paint, gasoline, and household plumbing, at least in most parts of the world.[2]
Perception and Reality
To be safe with chemicals requires not only knowledge of their inherent hazards but also consideration of how we perceive and use them. In the example above about bleach and vinegar, the thought of “household chemicals” can be deceptive, conveying a sense that they are relatively benign and safe. Responsible parents know to keep medicines and cleaning products beyond the reach of children, but how many of us know not to mix bleach with other chemicals?
Words and how we think about work environments can have a defining impact on safety—sometimes what seems intuitively safe is actually unsafe. In 1939, fire-prevention engineer Benjamin Lee Whorf observed a tannery that discharged wastewater containing trace animal matter. When a worker lit a blowtorch and threw the match into the “pool of water,” it ignited and fire spread to an adjoining building. The perception of “watery” obscured the presence of flammable gasses that emanate from decomposing organic matter.[3]
Whorf also cited an example concerning causality. “A huge iron kettle of boiling varnish was observed to be overheated, nearing the temperature at which it would ignite. The operator moved it off the fire and ran it on its wheels to a distance, but did not cover it. In a minute or so the varnish ignited.” The worker assumed the “cause” of potential ignition (the fire) had been removed—but the overheated varnish had already achieved the critical flash point.[4] All that was needed was a slight draft conveying more oxygen.
The TETRA Approach
TETRA is in the chemical manufacturing business, and we take chemical safety very seriously. As a leading producer of calcium chloride, zinc bromide, heavy completion fluids, and various additives, we are committed to the safety of our employees and products as well as the environment and surrounding communities. At the core of this commitment are:
- Having extensive knowledge of the chemicals we use, make, and extract
- Identifying and managing risks
- Assuring product safty and quality
- Fostering a culture of safety
TETRA was founded in 1981 to provide completion fluids and additives used in oil and gas wells, so expertise in chemistry and formulating fluids with bromides, chlorides, and other chemical additives has been a core competency for decades. With the fracking boom, TETRA entered oilfield water management, applying decades of expertise in aqueous chemistry to treat and recycle produced water for reuse in hydraulic fracturing. Recently, the Company has developed a solution to desalinate produced water for beneficial reuse and extract critical minerals. Desalinating produced water entails handling hazardous radionuclides, heavy metals, various scales, and trace organic compounds.
Knowing Chemicals
TETRA operates several facilities where extensive knowledge of chemistry and chemicals is a must. First is our state-of-the-art laboratory in Conroe, Texas, where the TETRA Innovation Group develops, formulates, and tests our chemical products and processes. It is staffed by highly qualified scientists with advanced degrees well versed in chemistry and the safe handling of chemicals. Second are our salars and geothermal brines, from which we extract calcium chloride, sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, and, in the near future, bromine and lithium chloride. Third is our chemical plants that use elemental bromine to manufacture blends of calcium bromide, zinc bromide, and sodium bromide, and plants that manufacture calcium chloride. Fourth are our many brine plants that provide and reclaim fluids used in oil-and-gas operations. Last but not least are the many onshore and offshore oil-and-gas sites where we provide chemicals and water management.
In each of these places, TETRA employees are required to have a thorough knowledge of the chemicals they work with. The content of chemical safety data sheets is foundational, but one must go beyond that and be aware of the risks pertaining to each application.
Managing Risks
The first line of defense in safety is to entirely eliminate hazards where possible, like properly labeling chemicals to avoid misuse. The second line of defense is to manage risks where they are unavoidable, such as using chemicals that are inherently hazardous. At TETRA, we identify hazards to ensure risks are assessed, eliminated, or adequately controlled at a level as low as reasonably achievable, a principle known by the acronym ALARA.
The Company has a rigorous chemical management process to control the risks associated with all the chemicals we use. The process guides chemical product development, sourcing, procurement, manufacture, handling, storage, transport, use, sale, and disposal. Before introducing any new chemical to our operations, we first perform a detailed hazard assessment to identify the risks regarding health, safety, the environment, and regulatory compliance. The process also includes the various legalities of registration, licensing, labeling, import, export, and disposal. The process is designed to safeguard people, property, and the environment.
Another means of managing risk is the use of personal protective equipment such as gloves, masks, goggles, and clothing appropriate for handling certain chemicals. TETRA provides all the necessary PPE so employees can always handle chemicals safely, whether in the laboratory, in a chemical plant, or at a wellsite.
Assuring Product Safety
When you step into an elevator, you trust it will safely convey you up or down because you believe someone has been vigilant in overseeing its operational integrity. Likewise, when customers buy TETRA calcium chloride to use on crops or foods, they trust us to assure the quality and safety of the product. Backing that trust is employee vigilance in the production of the calcium chloride. Our chemical production is guided by precise procedures to assure consistent high quality and safety whatever the application.
Cultivating Safety
Virtues for Safety
Along with communication, vigilance and trust are also crucial to fostering a culture of safety. At TETRA all employees are required to be vigilant in their work, always looking out for the safety of themselves and their coworkers. We must trust one another that we have each other’s backs.
Each employee is also obligated to use Stop Work Authority, the responsibility to recognize unsafe conditions or risky behaviors and immediately halt the work to address the hazard. No matter the employee’s station, no matter the scale of the activity, every employee can exercise this authority without retribution, because ultimately safety overrides everything else.
Every month, all employees—again, regardless of role—are expected to record at least one behavior-based observation (BBO) or a hazard. These observations can pertain to work situations as well as home or on the road. The point is to cultivate ever-present vigilance so that behavior observation or hazard recognition becomes second nature and everyone learns to conduct themselves more safely wherever they are.
On the communication front, every meeting at TETRA begins with a safety moment, which, like the BBOs, may pertain to any situation be it work-related or not. Cautioning teammates to not mix bleach and vinegar or disassemble their grandfather’s old military watch would qualify. Additionally, the Company regularly conveys safety tips and alerts via email, intranet, lobby screens, and posters.
Platform for Safety
The nerve center of safety at TETRA is our HSE platform (KPA) where employees access documents (checklists, forms, procedures, and standards), submit BBOs and hazards, log equipment and vehicle inspections, report incidents, take training, and enter job-safety environmental analyses. Facilitating vigilance and driving continuous improvement, the system is accessed via computer or smartphone using a mobile app, effectively putting safety in the palm of each employee’s hand.
Policy for Safety
The philosophy underlying our culture of safety is the TETRA HSEQ policy. It spells out the shared principles of safety for employees, contractors, customers, and suppliers. All of these stakeholders are expected to know that health, safety, environmental, and quality concerns are individual and collective responsibilities guided by the highest standards—no aspect of anyone’s job is less important in this respect.
These HSEQ responsibilities are realized through a number of actions, among them: educating employees so they can perform their duties safely; pursuing the ‘Drive to Zero’ incidents involving people, assets, and the environment; and ensuring our Safety Management System meets or exceeds local and international standards as well as customer requirements through continuous improvement and effective auditing.
Affirming Trust
The centrality of trust in achieving a successful business is not only intuitive, it’s now well documented.[5] Company leaders put their trust in employees to do their jobs well. Employees and shareholders put their trust in company leaders to make sound decisions and guide the business prudently and profitably. Trust is most evident in communication, in what we say, but it’s also manifest in behavior, in what we do. Trust breaks down when we are repeatedly misled or actions contravene good-faith intent—think of Lucy impishly snatching away the football just before Charlie Brown can kick it.
Trust is fundamental to business, and safe behavior and transparent communication are fundamental to trust. One study on the issue found that “organizations where leaders promote a culture of safety and encourage team members to openly express their fears and concerns benefit from a higher level of efficiency and wellbeing.”[6] A perfect counter-example is the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, when an already low level of trust completely evaporated because Soviet leaders suppressed the truth and delayed action, leading thousands to be exposed to high levels of radiation that caused deaths, birth defects, and cancer. The disaster and consequent breakdown of trust are widely acknowledged as a major (if not the primary) factor in the dissolution of the USSR just five years later.[7]
Recognizing the reciprocity between trust and safety, TETRA builds trust through a standard of behavior-based safety. It’s a systematic approach to not only identify at-risk behaviors, but also provide coaching and feedback about actions. For example, when providing feedback regarding a hazard or risky action one should show care instead of being harshly critical.. One could cite personal experience and preface corrective direction with a positive attribute of the recipient, such as his or her attention to detail. By the same token, those receiving feedback should actively listen, be open and cooperative, participate in problem solving, and above all recognize the person recognizing them—because ultimately we are all in this enterprise together.
References
[1] William C. Roberts, 2017, “The Radium Girls,” Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 481–490; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Radioactivity in Antiques,” US EPA Website (online), Accessed 8 April 2025.
[2] Jane S. Lin-Fu, “Modern History of Lead Poisoning: A Century of Discovery and Rediscovery,” in Herbert L. Needleman, ed., 1991, Human Lead Exposure, CRC Press; Sven Hernberg, 2000, “Lead Poisoning in a Historical Perspective,” American Journal of Industrial Medicine, Vol. 38, pp. 244–254.
[3] Benjamin Lee Whorf, 1939, “The Relation of Habitual Thought and Behavior to Language,” in John B. Carroll, ed., 1956, Language, Thought, and Reality: Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf, The MIT Press, pp. 134–159. Whorf became a prominent linguist but chose to retain his career as a fire-prevention engineer for an insurance company rather than pursue a fulltime academic post.
[4] Whorf, 1939.
[5] Alexander L. Lapshun and Gene E. Fusch, 2021, “Trust and Safety as Fundamental Conditions for a High-Performance Team,” Performance Improvement, Vol. 60, No. 3, March.
[6] K. Manley, C. Jackson, C. McKenzie, 2019, “Microsystems Culture Change: A Refined Theory for Developing Person-Centred, Safe and Effective Workplaces Based on Strategies that Embed a Safety Culture,” International Practice Development Journal, Vol. 9, No. 4.
[7] Mark Joseph Stern, 2013, “Did Chernobyl Cause the Soviet Union to Explode,” Slate, 25 January (online); James Jones, Top Hat Productions, 2022, Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes, Sky Studios/HBO Documentary Film.
