Column: Why Your Crew Sleeps Through Your Morning Safety Meetings

Every day, there are thousands of early morning safety meetings. It has become a ritual that is hard-wired into our day to day activities. A safety adviser or consultant often leads or is responsible for parts of a safety meeting. At times, however, safety meetings are led by management because many large producers require this of their subcontractors. An unfortunate outcome of these meetings being so expected, is that many of the crew tune out and have fine tuned a practiced look of casual interest in whomever is speaking.

If we take a hard look at the reasons for this disinterest, we quickly land on the manner in which the meeting is being managed. If you don’t experience this with your safety meetings, perhaps you have already dealt with some of the issues I will outline. However, if you find yourself still struggling with participation, interaction and enthusiasm for your meetings, then read on.

Read the full column here.

Pew Calls for Federal Standards for Safe Arctic Drilling

Hunting for offshore oil in remote and unforgiving Arctic waters requires vessels capable of withstanding crushing blows from icebergs, a nearby stash of emergency equipment, and other specialized resources, according to a new report from Pew Charitable Trusts.

In the 142-page document, Pew details the Alaska-sized challenges confronting oil companies that do business in the region and calls on federal regulators to impose baseline standards that would govern offshore oil and gas activity at the top of the world.

Interior Department officials are drafting a formal proposal of minimum standards for oil and gas activity in US Arctic waters, partly with an eye on codifying some of the voluntary steps that Shell took during its 2012 drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska.

During a visit to the state earlier this month, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said regulators would unveil the minimum standards by the end of the year, giving companies with oil and gas leases in federal Arctic waters a chance to decide whether they want to pursue drilling next year.

Read the full story here.

Expro Wins RoSPA Scotland Trophy for Health, Safety Management

Leading international oilfield services company Expro has received another major acknowledgement for its approach to occupational health and safety management from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

Expro’s David Ford receives the Scotland Trophy from Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA chief executive, left, and Eric Wiles, RoSPA chairman.

Expro was presented with the prestigious RoSPA Scotland Trophy at the charity’s Occupational Health and Safety Awards, in a ceremony at the Hilton Glasgow, on 19 September.

The RoSPA Scotland Trophy is presented annually to recognize the highest standard of health and safety management and performance by an organization based in or operating in Scotland.

This accolade adds to the 9 years of continuous recognition of Expro by RoSPA for its consistent and outstanding safety record. Earlier this year, the company was awarded a RoSPA Commendation for excellence in health and safety at work within the oil and gas sector in the Society’s 2013 Awards.

In 2010, Expro received a coveted Gold Medal in recognition of 6 years of industry-leading health and safety performance and commitment. In 2011 and 2012, Expro was also commended in the oil and gas industry sector highlighting its long-term commitment to safety.

David Rawlins, RoSPA’s awards manager, said, “RoSPA firmly believes that organizations that demonstrate commitment to continuous improvement in accident and ill health prevention deserve recognition. Expro has shown that it is committed to striving for such continuous improvement, and we are delighted to honor it through the presentation of an award.”

David Ford, Expro’s Group HSEQ Manager, said, “We are very proud to receive this major award from RoSPA. This accolade is indicative of how much effort Expro employees, across the globe, put into safety and safe working practices in the delivery of our services.”

Read more about RoSPA here.

Foster Wheeler Safety Initiative Receives Award for Excellence

An initiative within Foster Wheeler USA to achieve a safety culture step-change by balancing observable and measurable safety tools with a personal commitment to safety was named recipient of the 2013 Award for Excellence by the Rice Global Engineering & Construction Forum (RGF). Mark Garvey, president of Foster Wheeler USA, accepted the award on behalf of the company’s Realizing Zero initiative in a ceremony at the VIP Banquet opening the RGF’s 16th annual fall conference on 16 September.

“Safety at the worksite and in the office is a top priority for both owners and contractors,” said Chun Liang of Bechtel Corporation, who leads the RGF Award for Excellence committee. “By trying to improve upon an already excellent safety record, the Realizing Zero initiative not only is transformative in nature for Foster Wheeler’s entire organization, it also sets a new, higher safety target for competitors.”

Since the inception of the Realizing Zero initiative in September 2011, Foster Wheeler has reduced its Total Recordable Incident Rate by more than 50%.

“Foster Wheeler is proud to be recognized for the success of our Realizing Zero Program. In designing this program, our HSE leadership has created a culture in which everyone truly realizes that an injury incident is not a statistic, but rather a real person who was harmed due to a shortcoming within our organizational system, a system we all contribute to and are responsible for,” Garvey said. “At every level of our organization, it is Foster Wheeler’s commitment to make sure we do everything in our power to eliminate or avoid any situation that could put the safety of our employees, subcontractors, or clients at risk. Realizing Zero provides a world class process framework for delivering on this commitment.”

Read about the Rice Global E&C Forum’s Award for Excellence here.

Column: Zero Accidents Does Not Equal Safety Excellence

A newly hired safety professional asked the CEO of his organization what was expected of him, and the answer he got was “excellence.” When the new safety guy asked the CEO to elaborate, he replied, “When you get to zero accidents, come back and see me.” It seems that the term “excellence,” as it applies to safety, is commonly misunderstood and poorly defined. So, what is excellence in safety performance? Is it simply a vacuum in which there are no accidents? Is it a short-term success? How will we recognize it when we see it? How can we achieve it if we don’t understand what it truly is?

First, it is important to realize that “zero accidents” or any improvement in accident frequency or severity is a lagging indicator of safety. It is a result and not the process that produces it. It can be achieved through excellent performance, but it can also be achieved by luck or normal variation in accident occurrence. It can also seem to have been accomplished by suppressing reporting through intimidation or artificial stimuli such as bonus and incentive programs. Also, since most organizations qualify the term to include a certain classification of accident such as “zero recordables” or “zero lost-time accidents,” it can be manipulated several other ways in reporting practices and post-accident management.

There are three elements missing from many views of safety excellence that are absolutely critical to a true understanding and definition of the term: strategy, process indicators, and culture.

Read the full column here.

Report Highlights Industry Improvements To Lessen Risk of Major Offshore Accidents

In a report entitled Enhancing Offshore Safety and Environmental Performance, DNV suggests six critical levers to provide a more holistic safety framework across the oil and gas industry.

CEO Remi Eriksen, DNV Maritime and Oil & Gas, says new regulations, such as the EU directive, mirror society’s zero tolerance for offshore accidents. “The offshore industry has achieved an outstanding improvement in occupational safety over the past three decades. Although it has learned much from major accidents in the past, such accidents are still occurring. Our contribution as a risk management expert is to put special efforts into assisting the offshore industry, which is now facing increasingly complex and demanding environments,” Eriksen said.

In order to support this incredibly challenging issue, DNV launched the report, which aims to offer guidance to build a safer working environment.

“The report compiles our global experience of major accidents and studies key factors necessary for improved offshore safety and the management of the associated risks, especially when entering more demanding areas. It concludes that there are six important performance levers which we suggest should form the basis of all planning and execution of oil & gas operations. If achieved, this holistic framework should therefore lessen the probability of a major accident hazard, and thereby mitigate the risk,” Eriksen said.

Read the full story here.

Read the report here (PDF).

Safety Film Reveals Dangers of Hydrogen Sulfide

Left Undone

Express Energy Services has created a short film, Left Undone, as part of its contribution to safety in the energy industry, a news release said. The films aims to educate and inform oilfield workers on the hazards and safety procedures in the event of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) exposure while working on a well site. Hydrogen sulfide is an ever-increasing problem for workers involved in oil and gas exploration and production.

The film, designed to be used in safety training by companies working in the oilfield, is offered to the industry free of charge, according to the release.

In this cinematic production quality film, a family man goes to work and dies in a preventable H₂S incident only to find himself back in bed the next morning—over and over again—with the chance to do what was left undone, the release said.

The film is based on a fictional incident from the point of view of an oilfield services company supervisor working on a rig that has potential for H₂S exposure. The project was conceptualized, managed and produced completely in-house by Express employees, according to the release.

Register to view the film here.

Shallow Water Safety Concerns

Recent Gulf of Mexico well control incidents have US regulators calling for better safety in shallow water. 

Representatives from the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), US Bureau of Lands and Minerals Management, and oil and gas industry representatives gathered in Houston last month to discuss the need for improved offshore safety operations. The meeting follows three recent well control incidents that occurred in shallow water since February. An earlier event, in November 2012, led to the death of three workers during maintenance operations.

Acting Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals Management Tommy Beaudreau, who was in attendance at the meeting, mentioned that there are a few things companies can do to increase safety offshore.

“There are practices relating to the drilling operations, well control and contingency plans that companies must share with each other to protect workers and the environment.”

BSEE Director James A. Watson urged the industry to avoid complacency with regards to safety in shallow water environments.

“While many consider shallow water operations to be less technically challenging than those occurring in deep water, they are not without risk,” Watson said. “Offshore workers need to be empowered to take actions to save lives when they see a leading indicator that something is wrong.”

Read the full story here.

Enhanced Control for Improved Safety Offshore

A new offshore safety directive, issued by the European Union, has been adopted across the continent. Remi Eriksen, CEO DNV Maritime Oil & Gas, and Graham Bennett, VP DNV, business development director, division Europe and North Africa, take a look at the consequences.

The Macondo incident in 2010 shook the offshore industry to its core, not just across every oil and gas company, but also in government and regulatory circles. The 25th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster in July 2013, the continued fallout from Macondo and the continued occurrence of other offshore incidents, have heightened media and public interest in offshore safety.

This put pressure on the European Union (EU) to exercise stronger governance over offshore oil and gas operations.

Consequently, on June 10, 2013, after nearly two years of industry and stakeholder consultations, the EU for the first time adopted a directive on safety for offshore oil and gas activities.

DNV has been monitoring the development of the directive over the last two years. It has also provided input on the directive, both to the European Commission directly and also indirectly via consultations with industry bodies.

Read the full story here.

Recent Accidents Highlight Shallow Water Dangers, Departing Regulator Says

Recent accidents at offshore oil and gas facilities highlight the risks of producing energy on the shallow continental shelf as well as the Gulf of Mexico’s deepest frontiers, said a departing top US regulator.

The incidents include the evacuation of 44 workers after a natural gas well exploded in July and a production platform fire last November that killed three workers from the Philippines. Both episodes happened at older, established facilities in shallow waters—unlike the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster that was sparked by the blowout of an exploratory well located under a mile of water.

The accidents are a fresh reminder that offshore regulators and the oil industry need to remain vigilant both close to shore and in deep water, said James Watson as he ends his 1-year stint directing the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

Read the full story here.

Oil and Gas Worker Deaths Reached Record High in 2012

The oil and gas industry lost a record number of workers on the job last year, according to new preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Fatalities for the industry jumped from 112 in 2011 to 138 in 2012, a 23% increase and the largest number of deaths of oil and gas workers since the current data series for the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) began in 2003. The bureau reported an oil and gas fatality rate of 24.2 deaths per 100,000 workers. That is higher than the 21.2 reported by the notoriously dangerous agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting sector.

The oil and gas industry fatality rate is 7.6 times higher than the all-industry rate of 3.2 deaths per 100,000 workers.

“[T]o me, these aren’t just numbers and data—they are fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, who will never come home again,” Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said in a statement. “Job gains in oil and gas and construction have come with more fatalities, and that is unacceptable. … Employers must take job hazards seriously and live up to their legal and moral obligation to send their workers home safe every single day. The Labor Department is committed to preventing these needless deaths, and we will continue to engage with employers to make sure that these fatality numbers go down further.”

Read the full story here.

Federal Agencies Plan To Collect Data on Offshore Near Misses

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environment Enforcement (BSEE) have signed an interagency agreement to develop a confidential near-miss reporting system for use on the outer continental shelf. BTS will maintain control of the individual confidential reports but will provide important trend analysis and statistical data to BSEE. The system will expand the ability of BSEE and industry to capture essential information about accident precursors and potential hazards associated with offshore operations.

 Read the full story here.