Safety First at a First of a Kind Facility

Safety is foundational, the bedrock that enables us to build and operate FOAK innovations like AirPlant™ One.

By Matt Legaspi, Director of EH&S and Andre Gomes, VP of AirPlants

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It’s 7:30 on a Monday morning and it’s time to get sync’d up with the AirPlant Team, the group working together to build and operate our First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) AirPlant™ One in Moses Lake, Washington. Andre Gomes, our VP of Plants, opens the meeting the same way as he does every Monday, “Does anyone have a safety moment they would like to share?” This subtle consistency keeps safety top of mind. Safety is not just a priority, it is a value that we share. Despite the tall order of building, commissioning, and operating a FOAK facility that combines Twelve’s core technology, CO2 electrolysis, with several other technologies to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), safety is our driving principle and it is part of our values.  

Barely a quarter of a second goes by after Andre’s ask, and it’s Gregor Thomson, our Senior Project Execution Manager, beating us all to the punch to share an anecdote about how we need to be vigilant about windy conditions on our respective treks from the Spokane airport. This emphasis on occupational health and safety is more than just a talking point at Twelve, it is critical to our success as a company that’s pushing technical boundaries and redefining what’s possible.  

As Director of EH&S, I believe in this emphasis on health and safety as the bedrock principle of Twelve’s innovative strategy – it’s how I know we are on our way to doing something truly paradigm shifting. It’s also why I do a double take when I hear Andre say, “I don’t prioritize safety.”

Andre quickly clarifies –

“Safety is a part of my values as a person. Prioritizing it implies it is on a ranked list, something to get right or get wrong, something that can change in priority. But safety at Twelve is foundational—a core value and operating principle. It's who we are and what we stand for. We recruit for it, we hire for it, we train for it – it's crucial we surround ourselves with people and business partners that share the same values and demonstrate that safety is a foundational value every step of the way.”  

Hearing Andre speak to our hiring process, I’m invigorated by the knowledge that hiring for safety isn’t just a talking point, but an imperative. And it’s this imperative that has allowed Twelve to rapidly scale a team capable of redefining what’s possible. Take for example, the recent addition of Jim Klys, EH&S Lead.

Andre recalls “When we first met Jim, what came out really quickly was that he believes safety is a value and is genuinely passionate about helping people to be safe and not to get hurt, but also about developing preventative measures to keep our team from getting hurt in the first place. It was clear safety as a value just clicked for Jim, and he’s passionate about keeping people safe. It was a real culture fit.”  

This culture fit is no less important beyond the traditional employment agreements for our 200 and counting Twelve employees. We’ve been intentional in partnering with contractors, suppliers, and vendors that all view safety as we do – a core value. There’s a genuine cultural alignment that allows us to work so well together. They know how passionate we are about safety.

"We coexist on the same, rapidly changing job site” Andre adds, “so we must look after each other. We can all value safety because it’s not just a transactional relationship - we value one another as human beings.” 

 So what happens, then, on a site full of employees, builders, consultants, and suppliers - all valuing safety? 

• We tackle hazards with a proactive mindset. We spend valuable time repeatedly evaluating the safety and feasibility of carrying out complex procedures, like the production of invisible, yet highly flammable gases that become our E-Jet® fuel

  
  

• We treat all hazards equally. Safely producing flammable gases are just two among hundreds of other procedures needed for AirPlant One to operate safely and successfully. But each and every technical instruction and piece of equipment is repeatedly evaluated with the same attention to detail, because we know any less will jeopardize safety. 

  
  

• We are encouraged to push technical boundaries. We rely on one-another to mindfully make bold choices, because we recognize we cannot innovate on a FOAK project without everyone valuing safety as the key to our success. 

Whether you are at our AirPlant One complex in Moses Lake, Washington, or 800 miles south at our San Francisco Bay Area campuses, upholding safety as a core value remains at the forefront of our innovation.