Record safety year at Phillips 66

Record performance underscores the need to stay focused and humble as the company moves into 2026

With record safety performance in 2025, Phillips 66 continues to set a high bar for the industry.

Why it matters: Strong safety performance is critical to delivering energy reliably and responsibly. By focusing on frontline leadership, human performance, and continuous improvement, Phillips 66 is working to prevent incidents, protect people and sustain long-term operational excellence.

A converSATION with safety leadership

Phillips 66's commitment to safety and continuous improvement took center stage during a recent "Oil and Gas Health, Safety and Environmental" (HSE) podcast episode recorded at the company's headquarters, featuring Karen Albrecht, vice president of global HSE & compliance.

Albrecht, who began her Phillips 66 journey as a refinery intern in 2003 and is currently based in Houston, leads HSE programs across the enterprise. Her conversation reflected both the depth of her experience and the evolution of the company's safety culture over time.

a record year

A key highlight of the discussion was Phillips 66's outstanding personal and process safety record in 2025, with personal injury rates ranking in the top 10% among industry peers.

Albrecht emphasized the distinction: personal safety relates to injuries experienced by individuals, while process safety centers on preventing unplanned releases from systems such as pipes, pumps and tanks.

"A record year of safety statistics is a gift," Albrecht said. "2025 was a record year, but we can never let up on safety."

That mindset is embedded across the organization, where the mantra "we start with safety" is consistently reinforced, from leadership messaging to field execution.

Designing systems for Human Performance (HP)

The conversation also explored the role of Human Performance in strengthening safety outcomes. At its core, Human Performance focuses on designing systems and processes that make it easier for employees to do the right thing and harder to make mistakes.

"When something happens, we ask, 'If someone else had been in that same situation, would they have made the same mistake?'

If so, then we have opportunities in our systems or our processes that we need to look at more closely to make a sustainable improvement."

Karen Albrecht
Vice president, midstream operations, Phillips 66

Rather than a stand-alone initiative, Human Performance represents a broader culture shift integrated into daily operations through updated language, enhanced investigations and structured learning teams.

Leadership and learning in action

Albrecht underscored the importance of frontline leadership in sustaining progress, noting that leaders must have both the time in the field and the tools to support safe and reliable operations.

Equally important is how leaders respond when issues arise - with curiosity and a focus on learning, rather than assigning blame. Hands-on, high-quality training for employees and contractors also plays a critical role in reinforcing these behaviors.

A culture of continuous improvement

Ultimately, the discussion reinforced a central theme: Safety is not just a statistic. It requires constant attention, shared accountability and a willingness to continuously improve.

Regardless of the situation, teams are encouraged to ask a simple but powerful question: "Where else could this same pattern exist?"

This mindset helps drive continuous improvement and strengthens a culture where safety is owned by everyone.

Click here to listen to the full podcast.