Par Montana, a subsidiary of Par Pacific Holdings, Inc., was recently honored for its 2023 safety performance by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufactures (AFPM).  The award is part of the refining and petrochemical industry’s ongoing commitment to enhance and recognize outstanding workplace safety.

The awards are considered the premier recognition of the industry and are part of a comprehensive program developed by the AFPM Safety and Health Committee to promote safe operations in the refining and petrochemical industries.

The Par Montana refinery in Billings was elected for an Elite Silver Award, recognizing sites that have attained top industry safety performance in 2023 while demonstrating excellent program innovation and leadership over time. Elite Silver status represents the top 10 percent of industry safety performance.

The past year also represented a year of change for the Billings refinery employees as they prepared for ownership transition from ExxonMobil to Par Pacific Holdings. George Graham, the Health, Safety, Security and Environment manager at Par Montana, said being recognized for a year of safety excellence shows that leaders, frontline workers and contractors all prioritized personal and process safety when it was need most.

Kim Jakub, Senior vice President of Rocky Mountain Refining for Par Pacific and former refinery manager in Billings, said the award demonstrates a continuing commitment to safety by everyone at the site. “It is a well-deserved recognition for the Billings team,” she said.

As an example of new initiatives in 2023, the refinery completed the rollout of a new homegrown, safety program as a result of the transition to Par Pacific. This initial rollout was only the first step in a series of new leadership growth and development initiatives, as a component of a sustainable program. The refinery has also implemented new technologies to help monitor for potentially dangerous gases and improved personal protection for planned maintenance activities.