The general aim of the study was to determine the effect of employee engagement on performance in a form of quality in the petrochemical industry. This type of study has never been conducted within this particular environment and as such a valuable contribution could be made to more effective performance management within this context. Two questionnaires were administered, namely the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and Total Quality Management. A response rate of 83% was obtained from a sample of 200 employees. The data showed a statistically significant positive relationship between employee engagement and TQM dimensions. The data also showed that there were some significant differences for various demographic groups and their level of engagement. Managers need to enable an organisation to attract, develop and retain highly engaged employees to ensure a sustainable competitive advantage. Limitations within the study were identified and recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Reaction water, a high-strength COD (chemical oxygen demand) petrochemical effluent, is generated during the Fischer-Tropsch reaction in the SASOL Synthol process at SASOL SynFuels, Secunda, South Africa. Distillation of the reaction water to remove non- and oxygenated hydrocarbons yields approximately 25 - 30 ML/d of an organic (carboxylic) acid-enriched stream (average COD of 16 000 mg/L) containing primarily C2 – C5 organic acids, light oils, aldehydes, ketones, cresols and phenols. Together with the Oily sewer water (API) and Stripped Gas Liquor (SGL) process streams, this process effluent is currently treated in ten dedicated activated sludge basins. However, the successful operation of these activated sludge systems has proven to be difficult with low organic loading rates (3.5 kg COD/m3.d) low COD removal efficiencies (<80 %) and high specific air requirements (60 - 75 m3 air/kg CODrem). It is hypothesised that these operational difficulties can be attributed to organic shock loadings, variation in volumetric and hydraulic loadings, as well as variations in the composition of the various process streams being treated. Due to the fact that the Fischer-Tropsch (Synthol) reaction water constitutes 70 % of the COD load on the activated sludge systems, alternative processes to improve the treatment cost and efficiency of the Fischer-Tropsch acid stream are being investigated. Various studies evaluating the aerobic and anaerobic treatment of Fischer-Tropsch reaction water alone in suspended growth wastewater treatment systems have proven unsuccessful. High rate fixed-film processes or biofilm reactors, of which the fluidised-bed reactors are considered to he one of the most effective and promising processes for the treatment of high-strength industrial wastewaters, could he a suitable alternative. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of biological fluidised-bed reactors (BFBRs) for the treatment of Fischer-Tropsch reaction water. During this study, the use of aerobic and anaerobic biological fluidised-bed reactors (BFBR), using sand and granular activated carbon (GAC) as support matrices, were evaluated for the treatment of a synthetic effluent analogous to the Fischer-Tropsch reaction water stream. After inoculation, the reactors were operated in batch mode for 10 days at a bed height expansion of 30% and a temperature of 30 ºC to facilitate biofilm formation on the various support matrices. This was followed by continuous operation of the reactors at hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 2 days. While the COD of the influent and subsequent organic loading rate (OLR) was incrementally increased from 1 600 mg/L to a maximum of 20 000 mg/L and 18 000 mg/L for the aerobic and anaerobic reactors, respectively. Once the maximum influent COD concentration had been achieved the OLR was further increased by decreasing the HRTs of the aerobic and anaerobic reactors to 24h and 8h, and 36h, 24h and 19h, respectively. The dissolved O2 concentration in the main reactor columns of the aerobic reactors was constantly maintained at 0.50 mg/L. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal efficiencies in excess of 80 % at OLR of up to 30 kg COD/m3.d were achieved in the aerobic BFBRs using both sand and GAC as support matrices. Specific air requirements were calculated to be approximately 35 and 41 m3 air/kg CODrem for the BFBRs using sand and GAC as support matrices, respectively. The oxygen transfer efficiency was calculated to be approximately 5.4 %. At high OLR (> 15 kg COD/m3.d) significant problems were experienced with plugging and subsequent channelling in the BFBR using GAC as support matrix and the reactor had to be backwashed frequently in order to remove excess biomass. Despite these backwash procedures, COD removal efficiencies recovered to previous levels within 24 hours. In contrast, no significant problems were encountered with plug formation and channelling in the BFBR using sand as support matrix. In general the overall reactor performance and COD removal efficiency of the aerobic BFBR using sand as support matrix was more stable and consistent than the BFBR using GAC as support matrix. This BFBR was also more resilient to variations in operational conditions, such as the lowering of the hydraulic retention times and changes in the influent pH. Both aerobic reactors displayed high resilience and COD removal efficiencies in excess of 80 % were achieved during shock loadings. However, both reactors were highly sensitive to changes in pH and any decrease in pH below the pKa values of the volatile fatty acids in the influent (pKa of acetic acid = 4.76) resulted in significant reductions in COD removal efficiencies. Maintenance of reactor pH above 5.0 was thus an essential facet of reactor operation. It has been reported that the VFA/alkalinity ratio can be used to assess the stability of biological reactors. The VFA/alkalinity ratios of the aerobic BFBRs containing sand and GAC as support matrices were stable (VFNalkalinity ratios of < 0.3 - 0.4) until the OLR increased above 10 kg/m3.d. At OLRs higher than 10 kg/m3.d the VFA/alkalinity ratios in the BFBR using sand support matrix increased to 4, above the failure limit value of 0.3 - 0.4. In contrast the VFA/alkalinity ratios of the BFBR using GAC support matrix remained stable until an OLR of 15 kg/m3.d was obtained, where the VFA/alkalinity ratios then increased to > 3. Towards the end of the study when an OLR of approximately 25 kg/m3.d was obtained the VFA/alkalinity ratios of both the BFBRs using sand and GAC as support matrices increased to 9 and 6 respectively, indicating the decrease in reactor stability and acidification of the process. Total solid (TS) and volatile solid (VS) concentrations in the aerobic BFBRs were initially high and decreased over time. While the total suspended solids (TSS) and volatile suspended solids (VSS) concentrations were initially low and increased over time as the OLR was increased, this is thought to be as a result of decreased HRT leading to biomass washout. The anaerobic BFBR using sand as support matrix never stabilised and COD removal efficiency remained very low (< 30 %), possibly due to the high levels of shear forces. Further studies concerning the use of sand as support matrix were subsequently terminated. An average COD removal efficiency of approximately 60 % was achieved in the anaerobic BFBR using GAC as a support matrix at organic loading rates lower than 10 kg COD/m3.d. The removal efficiency gradually decreased to 50 % as organic loading rates were increased to 20 kg COD/m3.d. At OLRs of 20 kg COD/m3.d, the biogas and methane yields of the anaerobic BFBR using GAC as support matrix were determined to be approximately 0.38 m3 biogas/kg CODrem (0.3 m3 biogas/m3reactor vol.d), and 0.20 m3 CH4/kg CODrem (0.23 m3 CH4/m3reactor vol.d), respectively. This value is 57 % of the theoretical maximum methane yield attainable (3.5 m3 CH4/kg CODrem). The methane yield increased as the OLR increased, however, when the OLR reached 8 kg/m3.d the methane yield levelled off and remained constant at approximately 2 m3 CH4/m3reactor vol.d. Although the methane content of the biogas was initially very low (< 30 %), the methane content gradually increased to 60 % at OLRs of 20 kg COD/m3.d. The anaerobic BFBR using GAC as support matrix determined that as the OLR increased (>12 kg/m3.d), the VFA/alkalinity ratio increased to approximately 5, this is indicative of the decrease in stability and acidification of the process. The anaerobic BFBR using GAC as support matrix experienced no problems with plug formation and channelling. This is due to the lower biomass production by anaerobic microorganisms than in the aerobic reactors. The TS and VS concentrations were lower than the aerobic concentrations but followed the same trend of decreasing over time, while the TSS and VSS concentrations increased due to decreased HRTs. The anaerobic BFBR was sensitive to dramatic variations in organic loading rates, pH and COD removal efficiencies decreased significantly after any shock loadings. Compared to the activated sludge systems currently being used for the biological treatment of Fischer-Tropsch reaction water at SASOL SynFuels, Secunda, South Africa, a seven-fold increase in OLR and a 55 % reduction in the specific air requirement was achieved using the aerobic BFBRs. The methane produced could also be used as an alternative source of energy. It is, however, evident that the support matrix has a significant influence on reactor performance. Excellent results were achieved using sand and GAC as support matrices in the aerobic and anaerobic BFBRs, respectively. It is thus recommended that future research be conducted on the optimisation of the use of aerobic and anaerobic BFBRs using these support matrices. Based on the results obtained from this study, it can be concluded that both aerobic and anaerobic treatment of a synthetic effluent analogous to the Fischer-Tropsch reaction water as generated by SASOL in the Fischer-Tropsch Synthol process were successful and that the application of fluidised-bed reactors (attached growth systems) could serve as a feasible alternative technology when compared to the current activated sludge treatment systems (suspended growth) currently used. Keywords: aerobic treatment, anaerobic treatment, biological fluidised-bed reactors, petrochemical effluent, Fischer-Tropsch reaction water, industrial wastewater. / Thesis (M. Omgewingswetenskappe)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

In spite of the vast technological progress and improvement in the standard of management systems within hazardous industries around the world, occupational health and safety incidents and fatalities continue to devastate thousands of lives each year. Throughout the last decade, significant improvement has been achieved in the reduction of health and safety incident rates across the South African petrochemical environment. However, a persistent roller-coaster fatality rate still prevails. Recent studies have shown that in order to conquer the relentless battle in realizing sustainable world-class health and safety performance, an organisation has to move beyond the traditional compliance orientated safety focus towards an interdependent safety culture in which safety is ubiquitous and embedded in the hearts of all employees. The root causes of more and more occupational health and safety incidents are no longer as a result of mechanical or systems failure, but instead originate from the attitude, values and beliefs of management and employees with regard to the significance of safety, also known as the safety culture. This has ignited a rising interest in the concept of safety culture among organisations because of the positive impact on occupational health and safety in reducing the potential for fatalities, injuries and workplace incidents. Hence the primary objective of this study is to determine the maturity of the current safety culture in the South African petrochemical environment by identifying particular culture shortfalls which could lead to hesitant progress towards the desired interdependent state. In order to reach this objective, three secondary objectives have also been set. Firstly, an understanding of the concept of organisational culture and safety culture is crucial. In simple terms, organisational culture can be described as the shared values, assumptions and beliefs in an organisation that ultimately direct employee behaviour. Organisational culture is characterised by three layers known as artefacts, espoused values and basic assumptions. These layers represent the manifestation of the organisational culture and vary in terms of outward visibility and resistance to change. Understanding and analysing these layers provide the reasons why employees behave in certain ways. Safety culture is a subset of organisational culture; in other words, it is the manifestation of the organisation?s attitude, values and commitment in regard to the importance of health and safety. Companies which have developed effective safety cultures have demonstrated unequivocal results in closing the elusive health and safety performance gap. Secondly, the fundamental components conducive of an effective safety culture were explored. These components include management and employee commitment to health and safety, accountability and involvement, communication and trust, risk awareness and compliance, competency and learning and finally recognition. Most of the components can be assigned to the artefact level or a combination of the level of artefacts and espoused values with only a small number more appropriately associated with the level of basic assumptions. The effectiveness within each of these areas ultimately dictates the nature of the safety culture and the success in preventing health and safety incidents. The focus of the last secondary objective was to determine the development stages leading to an effective safety culture known as an interdependent safety culture. Each of these stages represents the degree of maturity of the attitudes and commitment of management and employees in relation to the ongoing health and safety improvement in the organisation. The DuPont model suggests that in a reactive safety culture, safety is merely a natural instinct with no real perceived value for the individual or organisation. Moving towards a dependent safety culture, employees start to value safety but only so they do not get caught. The next stage called an independent safety culture is characterised by self preservation. In this stage, the mindset of employees changed towards an attitude of ?I do things safe so I do not get hurt?. In the final stage known as interdependent safety culture, employees embrace safety as a personal virtue not only for their own safety but also in contribution to the safety of their peers. In such a culture it is employees? desire to do things safely so that no-one gets hurt. An empirical study was conducted through a quantitative research approach in the form of a safety climate questionnaire. The target population consisted of first-line managers and non-managerial personnel within the production; maintenance; laboratory; technical, and the safety, health and environment departments in a petrochemical organisation. In light of the results emanating from the empirical study it can be concluded that an overall positive perception was observed towards the selected safety culture components indicative through the mean response scores above the neutral scale of 3. Older and more experienced employees demonstrated a more positive response to the safety compared to younger employees. However, several distinctive safety culture shortcomings were also identified. In the current safety culture, health and safety is sometimes overlooked due to productivity or cost implications. Employees tend to withhold safety related information to themselves as a culture of guilt prevails and mere compliance to safety standards is considered adequate. Solutions to health and safety problems are most of a short-term nature and do not address the root cause. It therefore provides evidence that the organisation under evaluation has not yet reached the desired safety culture maturity stage of interdependence. Although the study population is limited to a single organisation, the shortfalls identified could relate to the larger petrochemical environment and thus could explain the recent fluctuating health and safety performance. This assumption, however, can only be validated through further research within a much greater sample size inclusive of more than one organisation in the petrochemical environment. It is thus clear that the existing safety culture within the petrochemical organisation could lead to potential health and safety incidents if the shortcomings are not appropriately addressed. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

In spite of the vast technological progress and improvement in the standard of management systems within hazardous industries around the world, occupational health and safety incidents and fatalities continue to devastate thousands of lives each year. Throughout the last decade, significant improvement has been achieved in the reduction of health and safety incident rates across the South African petrochemical environment. However, a persistent roller-coaster fatality rate still prevails. Recent studies have shown that in order to conquer the relentless battle in realizing sustainable world-class health and safety performance, an organisation has to move beyond the traditional compliance orientated safety focus towards an interdependent safety culture in which safety is ubiquitous and embedded in the hearts of all employees. The root causes of more and more occupational health and safety incidents are no longer as a result of mechanical or systems failure, but instead originate from the attitude, values and beliefs of management and employees with regard to the significance of safety, also known as the safety culture. This has ignited a rising interest in the concept of safety culture among organisations because of the positive impact on occupational health and safety in reducing the potential for fatalities, injuries and workplace incidents. Hence the primary objective of this study is to determine the maturity of the current safety culture in the South African petrochemical environment by identifying particular culture shortfalls which could lead to hesitant progress towards the desired interdependent state. In order to reach this objective, three secondary objectives have also been set. Firstly, an understanding of the concept of organisational culture and safety culture is crucial. In simple terms, organisational culture can be described as the shared values, assumptions and beliefs in an organisation that ultimately direct employee behaviour. Organisational culture is characterised by three layers known as artefacts, espoused values and basic assumptions. These layers represent the manifestation of the organisational culture and vary in terms of outward visibility and resistance to change. Understanding and analysing these layers provide the reasons why employees behave in certain ways. Safety culture is a subset of organisational culture; in other words, it is the manifestation of the organisation?s attitude, values and commitment in regard to the importance of health and safety. Companies which have developed effective safety cultures have demonstrated unequivocal results in closing the elusive health and safety performance gap. Secondly, the fundamental components conducive of an effective safety culture were explored. These components include management and employee commitment to health and safety, accountability and involvement, communication and trust, risk awareness and compliance, competency and learning and finally recognition. Most of the components can be assigned to the artefact level or a combination of the level of artefacts and espoused values with only a small number more appropriately associated with the level of basic assumptions. The effectiveness within each of these areas ultimately dictates the nature of the safety culture and the success in preventing health and safety incidents. The focus of the last secondary objective was to determine the development stages leading to an effective safety culture known as an interdependent safety culture. Each of these stages represents the degree of maturity of the attitudes and commitment of management and employees in relation to the ongoing health and safety improvement in the organisation. The DuPont model suggests that in a reactive safety culture, safety is merely a natural instinct with no real perceived value for the individual or organisation. Moving towards a dependent safety culture, employees start to value safety but only so they do not get caught. The next stage called an independent safety culture is characterised by self preservation. In this stage, the mindset of employees changed towards an attitude of ?I do things safe so I do not get hurt?. In the final stage known as interdependent safety culture, employees embrace safety as a personal virtue not only for their own safety but also in contribution to the safety of their peers. In such a culture it is employees? desire to do things safely so that no-one gets hurt. An empirical study was conducted through a quantitative research approach in the form of a safety climate questionnaire. The target population consisted of first-line managers and non-managerial personnel within the production; maintenance; laboratory; technical, and the safety, health and environment departments in a petrochemical organisation. In light of the results emanating from the empirical study it can be concluded that an overall positive perception was observed towards the selected safety culture components indicative through the mean response scores above the neutral scale of 3. Older and more experienced employees demonstrated a more positive response to the safety compared to younger employees. However, several distinctive safety culture shortcomings were also identified. In the current safety culture, health and safety is sometimes overlooked due to productivity or cost implications. Employees tend to withhold safety related information to themselves as a culture of guilt prevails and mere compliance to safety standards is considered adequate. Solutions to health and safety problems are most of a short-term nature and do not address the root cause. It therefore provides evidence that the organisation under evaluation has not yet reached the desired safety culture maturity stage of interdependence. Although the study population is limited to a single organisation, the shortfalls identified could relate to the larger petrochemical environment and thus could explain the recent fluctuating health and safety performance. This assumption, however, can only be validated through further research within a much greater sample size inclusive of more than one organisation in the petrochemical environment. It is thus clear that the existing safety culture within the petrochemical organisation could lead to potential health and safety incidents if the shortcomings are not appropriately addressed. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Thesis (MScEng (Mathematical Sciences. Applied Mathematics))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / When building or improving a petrochemical plant, drawings are used extensively in the design process. However, existing petrochemical plants seldom match their drawings, or the drawings are lost, forcing the need to generate a 3D model of the structure of the plant. In this thesis photogrammetry is investigated as a method of generating a digital 3D model of an existing plant. Camera modeling, target extraction and 3D reconstruction are discussed in detail, and a real-world system is investigated.

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The main aim in blending problems is to determine the best blend of available ingredients to form a certain quantity of product(s). This product should adhere to strict speci cations. In this study the best blend means the least-cost blend of ingredients (input) required to meet a minimum level of product (output) speci cations. The most prevalent tools to solve blending problems in the industry are by means of spreadsheets, simulators and mathematical programming. While there may be considerable bene t in using these types of tools to identify potential opportunities and infeasibilities, there is a potentially even greater bene t in searching automitically for alternative solutions that are more economical and e cient. Heuristics and metaheuristics are presented as useful alternative solution approaches. In this thesis di erent metaheuristic techniques are developed and applied to three typical blending problems of varied size taken from the petrochemical industry. a fourth instance of real life size is also introduced. Heuristics are developed intuitively, while metaheuristics are adopted from the literature. Random search techniques, such as blind random search and local random search, deliver fair results. Within the class of genetic algorithms the best results for all three problems were obtained using ranked tness assignment with tournament selection of individuals. Good results are also obtained by means of tabu search approaches - even considering the continuous nature of these problems. A simulated annealing approach also yielded fair results. A comparison of the results of the di erent approaches shows that the tabu search technique delivers the best result with respect to solution quality and execution time for all three the problems under consideration. Simulated annealing, however, delivers the best result with respect to solution quality and execution time for the introduced real life size problem. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die hoofdoelwit met die oplos van mengprobleme is om die beste mengsel van beskikbare bestandele te bepaal om 'n sekere hoeveelheid produk(te) te vervaardig. Die produk moet aan streng vereistes voldoen. Die beste kombinasie is die goedkoopste kombinasie van bestandele (toevoer) wat aan die minimum produkvereistes (afvoer) voldoen. Die algemeenste benaderings waarmee mengprobleme in die industrie opgelos word, is met behulp van sigblaaie, simulasies en wiskundige programmering. Hierdie metodes is baie nuttig om belowende oplossings of ontoelaatbaarhede te identi seer, maar dit kan potensieel meer voordelig wees om metodes te gebruik wat sistematies meer ekonomiese en e ektiewe oplossings vind. Heuristieke en metaheuristieke word as goeie alternatiewe oplossingsbenaderings aangebied. In hierdie tesis word verskillende metaheuristiekbenaderings toegepas op drie tipiese mengprobleme van verskillende groottes wat vanuit die petrochemiese industrie spruit. 'n Vierde geval met realistiese (regte wêreld) grootte word ook aangebied. Heuristieke word volgens intuïsie ontwikkel terwyl metaheuristieke aangepas word vanuit die literatuur. Lukrake soektegnieke soos die blinde lukrake soektegniek en die plaaslike lukrake soektegniek lewer redelike resultate. Binne die klas van genetiese algoritmes word die beste resultate gelewer wanneer die algoritme met 'n kombinasie van rangorde ksheidstoekenning en toernooiseleksie van individue geïmplimenteer word. Goeie resultate word ook verkry met behulp van tabusoektogbenaderings ten spyte van die kontinue aard van hierdie probleme. Gesimuleerde tempering lewer ook redelike resultate. 'n Vergelyking van die resultate van die verskillende tegnieke toon dat die tabusoektogtegniek die beste resultate met betrekking tot die kwaliteit van die oplossing sowel as uitvoertyd lewer. Gesimuleerde tempering lewer egter die beste resultate met betrekking tot die kwaliteit van die oplossing sowel as uitvoertyd vir die voorgestelde realistiese grootte probleem.

O presente estudo propõe um modelo de projeção de preços de curto-prazo para os polietilenos no mercado petroquímico brasileiro. O modelo foi desenvolvido através de testes com o uso das técnicas de regressão múltipla e de redes neurais artificiais (RNA) como instrumentos de previsão, comparando-se os resultados das mesmas. A seleção das variáveis com capacidade explicativa deu-se através de revisão de literatura, opinião de experts e regressão múltipla. Ficou evidenciada a existência de correlações satisfatórias com as variáveis: preço do petróleo, preço das matérias-primas nafta e eteno no mercado doméstico e preços dos polietilenos no mercado internacional. A base de dados consiste em indicadores mensais relativos ao período de março de 2002 a dezembro de 2005, sendo que a aferição dos resultados foi realizada para o período de janeiro a junho de 2006. Os resultados obtidos pela aplicação da técnica de RNA mostraram um incremento na precisão frente à regressão. O erro relativo médio na aferição com o uso de RNA se situou na faixa de 2,9 a 13,4%, para previsão 6 meses a frente, o que sugere a adoção da mesma na implementação futura do modelo construído. / This study proposes a model for forecasting short-term polyethylene prices in the Brazilian petrochemical market. The model was developed by means of tests using multiple regression techniques and Neural Networks as forecasting instruments, and compared their results. The variables with explanatory capacity were selected by reviewing literature, the opinion of experts, and multiple regression. Satisfactory correlations were found to be existent in the following variables: price of petroleum, price of the raw materials naphtha and ethylene in the domestic market, and polyethylene prices in the international market. The database consists of monthly indicators related to the period of March 2002 to December 2005 and the measuring of the results was carried out from January to June of 2006. The results obtained by applying the Neural Networks technique saw an increase in the precision in comparison with the regression. The average relative error in the measurement when using Neural Networks fell in the range of 2.9 to 13.4% for a forecast of 6 months ahead, which suggests that this should be adopted in the future implementation of the model built.

A presente pesquisa identifica fatores protetores e não-protetores de trabalhadores petroquímicos, tendo como base o modelo de gestão praticado por uma empresa petroquímica – multinacional brasileira situada no Polo de Triunfo-RS – e seus reflexos na gestão da Saúde e Segurança do Trabalho. Para atender a esse propósito, o trabalho fundamenta sua teoria em: 1) sociedade líquido-moderna, 2) trabalho imaterial e a gestão, 3) governança corporativa e 4) gestão da saúde e segurança do trabalho. O método adotado é um estudo de caso único, de cunho qualitativo e de natureza exploratório – descritiva. Utiliza-se a triangulação de dados para o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa, baseada em sete entrevistas semiestruturadas, dados da empresa e outras fontes. Como resultado deste estudo, evidencia-se que a organização adota a governança corporativa como modelo de gestão, implicando na diminuição da hierarquia e na responsabilização de cada trabalhador pelo alcance das metas. Nesta condição, identificam-se elementos contraditórios que servem tanto para proteção quanto para não proteção os trabalhadores. Como fator protetor, a autonomia e a cooperação surgem, oportunamente, no poros do trabalho prescrito para aproximar os trabalhadores. Assim como a gestão da saúde e segurança do trabalho, que é reforçada por elementos técnicos e legais que possibilitam a manutenção das suas práticas, mesmo que feita por outras áreas (produção, manutenção etc). Um fator nãoprotetor é associado a gestão de si, característico da busca da cultura de interdependência, potencializado pelas práticas da gestão. O outro fator negativo é a negação dos perigos e o exagerado desejo de calcular os riscos, impactando em remunerações adicionais pela sua aceitação. / Based on the model of governance practiced by a petrochemical company, the present study identifies protective and non-protective factors from petrochemical workers and their reflections in health and safety management. The analised company is a Brazilian multinational located in Triunfo-RS. To fulfill this purpose, the study incorporates the follow subjects: 1) liquid-modern society, 2) immaterial labor and management, 3) corporate governance and 4) health and safety management. The method adopted is a single case study with a qualitative and exploratorydescriptive approach. Data triangulation was applied in this research, based on seven semi-structured in-depth interviews, data from the company and another sources. As a result of this study, it was shown that the company adopts corporate governance as a management model, resulting in the reduction of hierarchy and selfresposibilization of employees for goals achievement. In this condition, we identify contradictory elements which serve both for protection and for failing to protect workers, characteristic of managerialism. Autonomy and cooperation emerges in the pores of the prescribed work to put the workers together. The management of health and safety is enhanced by technical and legal elements that enable the maintenance of their practices, even if made by other areas (production, maintenance, etc.). A non-protective factor is associated with self-management, characteristic of the search for culture of interdependence, enhanced by management practices. The other negative factor is the health and safety hazards and the negation of the exaggerated desire to calculate the risks, impacting on additional remuneration for their acceptance.

188 p. / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2012-12-17T20:37:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 5959595959.pdf: 2368108 bytes, checksum: 065c98849d77e300640299f7665acccc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-12-17T20:37:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5959595959.pdf: 2368108 bytes, checksum: 065c98849d77e300640299f7665acccc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / A petroquímica é um dos segmentos mais expressivos de qualquer economia industrial, produzindo insumos para diversos bens de consumo. A partir da década de 1970, com os dois choques do petróleo, essa indústria passou por intensa reestruturação em todo o mundo, aprofundada na década de 1990. A racionalização dos negócios petroquímicos promoveu uma intensa onda de fusões, aquisições, joint ventures e spin-offs, refletindo as estratégias adotadas pelas empresas líderes, de integração vertical e focalização em core business. As grandes petrolíferas moveram-se downstream, beneficiando-se de vantagens de custo e acesso a matérias-primas. Os anos 2000 foram marcados pela emergência da Ásia como centro produtor, adicionando-se novas capacidades no Oriente Médio, e consumidor, com destaque para a China, apontando que o acesso às matérias-primas e aos mercados com elevado potencial de crescimento são as variáveis com maior capacidade de desencadear movimentos de reestruturação nessa indústria. No Brasil, a petroquímica foi implantada seguindo um modelo tripartite, com importante participação do Estado, via Petroquisa, que acabou por resultar em uma estrutura industrial fragmentada, de empresas monoprodutoras, diversa do padrão mundial do setor. Na década de 1990, a abertura da economia e a privatização, com redução expressiva da participação da Petroquisa, tornou manifesta a vulnerabilidade das empresas nacionais e a necessidade de reestruturação. A formação da Braskem e o retorno da Petrobras deram início ao processo de reorganização da petroquímica nacional. O objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar se o processo ocorrido no Brasil guarda semelhança com aqueles ocorridos em nível mundial, bem como identificar, utilizando-se de modelo das decisões de investimento nessa indústria baseado em determinadas driving forces, as principais estratégias da Braskem, maior player nacional, e da Petrobras, além dos desafios competitivos enfrentados pela petroquímica brasileira, associados à disponibilidade de matérias-primas, escoamento da oferta, mudanças tecnológicas, crescimento da demanda e políticas governamentais. Os resultados encontrados sugerem que a reestruturação ocorrida, além de fortalecer a petroquímica brasileira, equacionou parte de suas fragilidades competitivas, adequando-a ao padrão mundial do setor. Seu crescimento está bastante vinculado ao mercado interno brasileiro e uma maior inserção no âmbito internacional demonstra hoje boas perspectivas de se concretizar, especialmente no continente americano, tanto pela via das exportações, quanto pela internacionalização das empresas nacionais, in casu, a Braskem. Apesar dos desafios que se apresentam, majorados pela crise financeira de 2008, essa indústria conseguiu alcançar melhores condições competitivas para seguir uma trajetória sustentada de crescimento. / Salvador

p. 1 - 160 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-01-22T18:45:37Z No. of bitstreams: 1 44444.pdf: 1312370 bytes, checksum: 2b6317257682750c6c76e29b1bd97f76 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-01-22T18:45:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 44444.pdf: 1312370 bytes, checksum: 2b6317257682750c6c76e29b1bd97f76 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / A realização de paradas programadas de manutenção de plantas industriais é uma atividade que influencia de forma significativa o resultado do negócio de uma refinaria de petróleo. Assim sendo, a gestão de paradas deve ser analisada sob o enfoque estratégico. Dentre as atividades de manutenção que são realizadas durante uma parada, destacam-se as atividades de caldeiraria, que tipicamente representam a maior parcela de dispêndio de recursos financeiros. Estas atividades são realizadas por empresas terceirizadas e o seu desempenho afeta diretamente os resultados de uma parada. Portanto, é do interesse das refinarias conhecerem, de forma mais profunda, os fatores que afetam o desempenho destas empresas neste tipo de obra. O presente trabalho apresenta o resultado de uma pesquisa sobre os fatores que influenciam o desempenho de empresas contratadas de serviços de caldeiraria, no resultado das paradas das unidades de processo da refinaria Landulpho Alves UN RLAM – PETROBRAS, no período entre janeiro de 2005 e agosto de 2006. A pesquisa revelou uma série de fatores que influenciam estes resultados e sugere recomendações a serem adotadas pela refinaria e pelas empresas em busca por um melhor desempenho nas obras realizadas durante paradas programadas de manutenção de plantas industriais. / Salvador