The Vital Role of Shift Communication for Plant Safety There is no question that COVID-19, with skeleton crews and offsite workers, has put pressure on plant operators. Dec 15th, 2020 iStock There is no question that COVID-19, with skeleton crews and offsite workers, has put pressure on plant operators to focus more heavily on the need for clear, concise communications among teams during shift handovers. Shift-to-shift communications is key to plant and worker safety which, if done correctly, mitigates risk and production interruptions. Even years before the added pressure of the pandemic, a severe incident at the BP Texas City oil refinery in 2005 resulted in 15 deaths, 180 injuries, caused serious damage to the structure, created long-term environmental issues, and resulted in millions of dollars lost to the company. The final review of the incident by regulatory authorities noted that poor shift-to-shift communication contributed significantly to the accident.