Cliff Horsley today. He still meets up monthly with a group of other former employees.

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Our veteran retiree still prefers pencil and paper

When Cliff Horsley joined Caltex in September 1939 at the start of World War II he was thrilled to land a job as an office boy. He did not expect then that, except for a hiatus for his army service during which Caltex kept a job open for him, he would only quit the company 44 years later.

The biggest change Cliff witnessed in those four decades has been the introduction of IT. “The commercial world and people’s brains work differently these days,” he says. “Even in my later years at Caltex when computers had been introduced, I never really needed them. I’m not saying computers aren’t good, it’s just that we did things manually well and used different skills.”

Caltex didn’t operate a refinery in the earliest days and product was imported through its ocean terminals. One of Cliff’s first jobs was to plan the supply of tanker cargoes from Bahrain. He would sit down with a sheet of paper half the size of a desk, a pencil and an eraser and program the delivery and unloading of 15,000 tonnes of refined oil without any problems.

“That was all you needed – and of course your brain box,” says the former refined oil supply planner and store manager, who at 86 is one of Caltex’s oldest and proudest retirees.

“Terminals would provide their stock position and estimated requirements by mail and I’d calculate how much each port should receive,” says Cliff. “I’d then order the tanker load taking into consideration variables including a ship’s draft requirements. I also applied for import licences for refined and lubricating oils for Caltex.”

This experience allowed Cliff to be among the first six people assigned to the Kurnell refinery planning group in 1952. He managed the store house for 20 years, then for his last eight years with the company he was coordinator for environmental conservation.

A resident of Caringbah, Sydney, Cliff retired in 1983. He still prefers to read newspapers and doesn’t need a computer. He meets with a group of eight or nine retired Caltex people every month to drink “two schooners of beer” and chat.

“Caltex has been a big part of my life,” he says. “I’ve met some wonderful people and made lifelong friendships. Looking back, if I could, I’d do it all over again.”

When The Star asked Cliff whether he’d like this story emailed or posted to him, he replied: “What do you think? Post it!”

Our legal team is the best

The Caltex legal team at the lawyers' award night The Caltex legal team has been named the Australian In-house Legal Team of the Year 2008 by the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association.

The 15-stong team was praised by the judges for their high rating with internal clients, their role in the development and implementation of major business initiatives and projects, their fostering of good relationships and understanding of Caltex’s values and business objectives with key regulators such as the ACCC. .

They were also commended for their leadership in providing workable compliance programs and training for employees in areas such as Trade Practices.

In a letter in support of their nomination, Caltex CEO and MD Des King gave examples of the team’s contribution to Caltex and reasons why they are so highly valued and respected within the business.

“Advice is delivered in a manner which is clear, concise, to the point and commercial. The lawyers have a very good knowledge of Caltex’s business and an excellent rapport with Caltex personnel,” wrote Des.

He also said the team demonstrated a high commitment to finding out and delivering what clients expected of a lawyer. As a result they were regarded as an integral part of the business team and a valuable resource beyond providing legal advice.

New face for old clock

It was built in 1770, the year Captain James Cook arrived in Australia, is the oldest public clock in Australia and has now had a facelift.

Caltex donated the clock in the Cronulla mall clock tower to the people of Sutherland Shire as a bicentenary gift in 1988. The gift recognises Caltex’s significant role in the local community through our refinery on the Kurnell peninsula, site of Cook’s first landing in Australia.

The turret clock has large time and starter weight mechanisms that require weekly rewinding, carried out mechanically using electric power. It was made by English master clockmaker John Jullion and was originally installed in Stanwell Place, near Heathrow, before being brought to Australia.

Since its installation in the Cronulla mall the clock has been cared for by clockmaker and restoration expert Douglas Minty, who also carried out the recent restoration. This involved removing the clock from the tower, repairing its workings and replacing the faded gold leaf on the clock face.

The restoration work was part of a larger upgrade of the Cronulla CBD, carried out by the local council. Lighting on the clock tower has also been upgraded so that it can be seen at night.

“The clock, gifted to the community by Caltex in 1988 is a monument to Sutherland Shire’s history as Cook’s landing place so it is befitting that we take care to preserve and restore it to its original condition,” says Councillor Lorraine Kelly, the Mayor of Sutherland Shire.

Biofuels at home on the web

Is my car compatible with biofuel? Where can I buy biofuels? What effect do they have on emissions and carbon? What are biodiesels?

These are just some of the questions that car-drivers are asking and that are answered on the content-rich, dedicated biofuels section now on Caltex’s public website.

The site was created due to public interest – and concern - in our unleaded petrol (ULP) displacement program which is replacing regular unleaded petrol at selected NSW service stations with Bio E10 Unleaded. Twelve sites went E10-only in September with more scheduled for conversion between now and Christmas.

“It’s important to respond to the public’s curiosity,” says Mabelle Reyes, Biofuels Marketing Manager. “I don’t believe there’s enough advice out there for consumers wanting to understand why we’re moving towards biofuels.”

“What’s required is accessible information to allow the public to make educated decisions and to understand the reasons why, for example, we are putting in Bio E10 at the bowser and, in some instances, removing unleaded.”

“A misconception is that we are marketing a destructive fuel. Another is that our displacement program is forcing people to buy premium fuels.

“That’s not true. We’re doing it because we believe it to be a suitable alternative for the vast majority of cars and to meet our volume requirements under NSW’s ethanol mandate.”

The new Caltex sub-site clearly and simply explains all the facts and figures around biofuels: why they are being brought in, what they are made from; where they can be used and their cost when compared to traditional fuel.

It contains links to external websites; a glossary of terms and hyperlinks from content sections.

Mabelle believes that once people are intelligently informed about biofuels they are likely to embrace them. “With the right information, the public are fast learners and adapters to change,” she says.

Go online and check for yourself. See how Caltex is helping the public understand and embrace these 21 st century fuels. The address is www.caltex.com.au/biofuels.

Financial crisis crashes oil prices

Crude oil prices have crashed and prices for petroleum products made from that crude oil have also crashed. Slower economic growth means less growth in demand for fuel, even in Asia. In fact, petrol sold for less than crude oil in July, August and November so refiners were losing money on petrol. Only diesel and jet fuel kept refiners in the black.

“Oil prices earlier this year tended to follow resources and stock prices which went up and down like a yoyo,” says Caltex Pricing Services Manager Ian Raskall. “The petrol price from Singapore refineries has shown similar volatility to crude oil prices.

“Oil traders are telling us the price is no longer following oil market supply-and-demand fundamentals as it used to. It’s following equity markets. If someone said a few months ago the oil price would go to $US50 or less, it would have seemed highly unlikely but that’s what we’ve been seeing.”

With the outlook for the global economy uncertain, Ian sees demand for oil reducing further, which should result in lower prices at the pump, at least for a while. However, over time there will almost certainly be upwards pressure on prices.

LPS at work

A moment’s carelessness by a contractor working at Lytton refinery resulted in itchy and inflamed hands and a Lost Time Injury (LTI). This happened when his hands were exposed to chemical residues still present in a bin liner that had been used for storing spent absorbent material.

However, it wouldn’t have happened if the contractor had remembered to put his protective gloves back on. He’d briefly removed them to pull a knife out of his pocket to cut plastic sheeting.

The lesson here is that performing the Loss Prevention System’s safe performance self assessment (SPSA) to check risks as he worked would have made a difference. And that SPSAs should not just be carried out at the beginning of a task, but at any time a new situation arises.

This incident also illustrates how easy it is to get contact dermatitis, a common skin condition caused by exposure to something that irritates the skin or causes an allergic reaction. It usually occurs where the irritant touches the skin, but not always. Many employees throughout Caltex, whether in a retail or reseller operation, working in a refinery or at a terminal may find themselves working with substances that can cause the condition.

And while the contractor mentioned above would probably have avoided his injury if he’d been following safety protocols, pulling on gloves is not the final solution.

The supplier that Caltex gets its industrial gloves from says as much, noting in fine print that glove wearers should do their own self assessment of glove performance. This is because a protective glove that remains impermeable against one type of substance for a given period of time might not have the same longevity when exposed to something stronger. Each glove-wearing situation needs to be judged on its merits.

Similarly, a pair of gloves doesn’t need to have holes in it to have lost its ability to protect. Gloves worn more than once may have weakened and chemicals may have permeated the rubber. Over-used or damaged gloves might offer as little protection as no gloves at all.