6 HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT MAGAZINE for Oil & Gas industry
We all
Q2 2012
stand together page 2
In this number:
4
10
HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
SAFETY AWARENESS
20
24
CENTRICA GOES FOR...
THE DEAL
17 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WORKING...
28 TAQA IS CAMPAIGNING
and more...
2
3
Foreword
WE ALL STAND TOGETHER The tension before the football match. You and your team have trained hard for years. All eyes are on you and your team. Expectations are high. It’s now or never. You are one with the tactics. The technique and the miles are on your legs. Then the referee blows his whistle. Kick off. The ball rolls. A cross, one-two, long distance kick, head and ... goal!
You and your team are well attuned to one another, trust each other. There is harmony because each team member excels in his role and has the same goal: winning. You’re proud of the teamwork and every inch you play.
The final whistle sounds. You have achieved your first success. But you know that this is just the beginning and you have to work hard again for the next game because you want your performance to be at its best. You keep both feet on the ground because you know your immediate everyday environment is basically your trainer. They share your success. When you win, more people win.
On behalf of THE WAT GROUP
Pier van Spronsen
4
Workin
HE
5
ng more safely offshore through
EALTHY LIFESTYLE A healthy lifestyle improves safety at work offshore and reduces the risk of accidents. Exercise and healthy nutrition have a positive effect on the concentration and performance of employees.
The nutritionists and vitality specialists of Enerjoy, fly regularly to production platforms where they inform people about healthy lifestyle, and they motivate them to make a clear choice for this
6
WORKING MORE SAFELY OFFSHORE THROUGH HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
Katrin Beersen is a nutritionist and trainer at Enerjoy: “We tell people who work offshore, what effect an unhealthy lifestyle has on the risks at work. We also let them see what healthy choices can bring. It is important that these choices suit them. Hence we consider their cultural and social backgrounds and their particular work situation. In this way we motivate people to eat healthier and to exercise more. Our interactive workshops are a lot of fun to people working offshore. This is an important aspect. Because of this, people regard health as something that is fun, smart, attractive and sturdy.”
WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AN UNHEALTHY LIFESTYLE AND SAFETY AT WORK? “The risk of accidents is higher when people have an unhealthy lifestyle. For example, people with obesity and poor condition are unable to evacuate quickly or to extinguish fires. Or your concentration goes down if you don’t keep an eye on your energy level and blood sugar. You are therefore less alert and the chance of errors and accidents occuring is at a greater risk. So an unhealthy lifestyle is a factor that influences the risk negatively. It is important to invest in health. You’ll be more vital, more concentrated at work, you reduce downtime, you pay better attention to possible danger. Beside, you feel better and a healthy lifestyle provides fun and energy. Everyone benefits of course. So safety at work improves when a person is fit and healthy. He will be able to help himself and others better.”
WORKING MORE SAFELY OFFSHORE THROUGH HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
WHY IS THERE A NEED FOR THE VITALITY PROGRAMS OF ENERJOY? “More and more often employers realise that employees are the engine of the organisation. They notice that it’s important to invest in the employees’ vitality. Employers realise that this reduces the risk of accidents from occurring. But it also decreases absenteeism, and the organisation will be healthy in the long run. We notice that many employers have a preventive policy. But it’s not easy to change rules about food. Employees offshore work really hard physically. The demands for working offshore are becoming more stringent. For example BMI and body weight. This is properly monitored during the periodic medical examination.
What is striking, is that many people who work offshore eat junk food and exercise too little. They ‘use’ the unhealthy lifestyle to compensate the hard work they do. I often hear “I work hard, so I’m allowed to eat fat food”. These are ingrained behaviour patterns and will cause their vitality to get worse. But also from the employers’ angle, there is still a lot to be gained. Sometimes the cooks don’t have sufficient knowledge or opportunities for healthy cooking. The employer can ensure that he facilitates healthy food. Beside, the employer may encourage people to choose a healthy lifestyle. So health is a two-way deal. If an employer wants people to change their lifestyle, good support is required. Food is indeed a sensitive subject for people who work offshore. We notice that employers need intermediaries to make the subject attractive, accessible and fun. Intermediaries who convey the subject with passion, whose mission it is and who work effectively. Then of course we come to the fore. There’s a click with the people who work offshore, we understand them on this matter and they feel it too. That’s because we excite them and we create support and involvement with our business. But you have to give people time to change.”
7
6
WORKING MORE SAFELY OFFSHORE THROUGH HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
WHY IS FOOD A DELICATE SUBJECT FOR PEOPLE WHO WORK OFFSHORE? “Life offshore comes with many restrictions. Employees offshore experience it that way. For example, they are limited in their mobility. They must keep to strict rules. Then fatty snacks and large portions are often a ‘consolation’: food is fun. It is a lifesaver. Eating is the only thing that may be done unlimited. If an employer suddenly changes the rules that deal with food, then people don’t just accept that. But people easily accept new rules that deal with work. So food is associated with an emotional factor. We have the intuition that’s necessary to motivate people to choose healthy food. You should really get this right. For example, we have a program called ‘Healthy Eating Offshore’. This allows us to work towards healthy eating behaviour step by step. It’s a pleasant way for people to learn that health leads to vitality, safety and job satisfaction. The choice and responsibility for a healthy lifestyle is theirs, but we guide them in the right direction. We do everything we can to create support and involvement.”
CAN YOU GIVE A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE OF THE SUCCESS OF YOUR BUSINESS OFFSHORE??
Health leads to vitalit
“We organise workshops and cooking training at Dana Petroleum. Since July 2010 this organisation is campaigning with a fantastic Health & Fitness program. We notice that a great number of people really benefit from our workshops. Many people choose a better lifestyle, they are becoming healthier and have gotten a better condition. The result is that more people pass the test for the Emergency Response Team. So, more personnel is suitable for such a team. A great result.” “Together with Dana Petroleum, we have evaluated the campaign. Therefore we have drawn up a survey with Dana Petroleum. In this way we discover how people experience the program and what their needs are. We found that evaluation is also a good way to create support and involvement, because people feel that they are being listened to. The easiest way to implement change, is to first invest in people. The moment you have created support, people will cooperate.”
WORKING MORE SAFELY OFFSHORE THROUGH HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
ty, safety and job satisfaction
ABOUT ENERJOY Enerjoy is an alliance of independent specialists in the field of healthy nutrition, fitness, relaxation and vitality. Enerjoy is experienced in the Oil and Gas industry and has a good relationship with NOGEPA. Enerjoy’s specialists have been invited several times by NOGEPA to speak at conferences. In June 2012, the 32nd International Joint Offshore Doctors Meeting will take place. This year it will be held in the Netherlands. Enerjoy will also be present to speak. More information: www.ener-joy.nl
7
8
IN
HARMONISATION YOU SHOULD
9
“My view on harmonisation of regulations in the Oil and Gas industry is to take the human factor of reflection into the whole process of harmonisation”, says Rob Beeks. He’s a branch director of Tebodin in Hengelo.
UPHOLD
SAFETY AWARENESS
10
IN HARMONISATION YOU SHOULD UPHOLD SAFETY AWARENESS
“AWARENESS IS, AFTER ALL, A CROSS ON HARMONISATION “Our business is the engineering of plants. In this we basically carry out a cross on harmonisation. The harmonisation of engineering is a global aspect; we follow specific standards which are international. For example we look at how to connect a plant safely and operating. This is process safety. It could include aspects such as leaks, failures and faults, all of which can lead to incidents.” “Safety awareness is embedded in all our activities. The installations must be built in a secure way. But you should also be able to work safely and you should be able to maintain the installations in a safe manner. This means that we are doing studies on safety and we are taking care of permits in the preliminary phase. Part of our work is also the guiding of structures and the commissioning of the plants. And in between the engineering of plants. The fact that we continuously come into touch with safety, makes us conduct an active policy regarding HSE.”
IN HARMONISATION YOU SHOULD UPHOLD SAFETY AWARENESS
TWO DIMENSIONS “Tebodin is an active member of Casos. There is much talk about harmonisation, and many good initiatives on harmonisation come from this network. That’s because the contractors welcome the unambiguity in the regulation enormously. I think there are two dimensions to harmonisation. One is breadth. You need to keep it simple. For example you align practices in an easy way. Here you gain the most. A few examples showing that harmonisation of regulation has led to safer work and more efficiency, are the use of an unambiguous Last Minute Risk Assessment and unambiguous access instructions on construction sites for all contractors. Simple but effective for safety.” “The other dimension is depth. As you go deeper, more rules arise and people are further away from harmonisation. The changes are then too great. Therefore it’s important in harmonisation, that people don’t lose sight of the relationship between different activities and especially to keep thinking. If you go too deep, safety awareness can decline. In harmonisation you must uphold safety awareness. Awareness is, after all, a good basis to achieve safety in work.”
COMMUNICATION “Harmonisation of rules and regulations helps to make good arrangements with each other. It’s easier if you speak the same language. A contractor often works for various industries. There’s a different mentality in each industry. If harmonization is the foundation, it’s easier to communicate with the contractor about rules and responsibilities. The downside is the diversity of the contractors. The more you want to harmonise, the more you unify the diversity. But you can’t cast this diversity into rules. Sometimes it’s easier to use simple rules. So keep it simple in breadth.”
11
34
D N A K JAC TYPHUS C A R E INT RAINING T Jack THE NORTH SEA COWBOY
35
Jack shakes his head gravely whilst staring in front of him. I’ve just put a new beer for him on the table.” You see love, I am not some stupid bloke. These trainings are of no use to me. Actually, these trainers could learn something from me I tell ye. If you just think straight and keep those eyes open, nothing can happen.
Yeah, in the old days one could have a laugh or two. At least you had your chitchat with such a man that gave these trainings. There was this time that this man came to talk about BTW...” I interrupt him “But was has taxes to do with safety Jack??? (for BTW is VAT in Dutch) He is silent for a moment and grabs something out of his pockets and hands it to me. I read: ‘congratulations Jack Drost. You have achieved the score of 100% and therefore successfully completed the interactive PTW-training!’ “That’s terrific Jack! I happily pad his shoulder. He coughs badly. He shrugs his shoulders and says; “ You know kid, I had to answer this question over a 15 times before I could get that 100%. I remember the question ‘What are you supposed to do if you can’t do your job according to the permit to work?’ So I answered 15 times in a row ‘Continue working and solve the problem.’ After all, that is what you do, right? But that bloody question came round and round again. At a certain point Trembly-Henry comes along and says to me ; “Jeez Jack, still working on that Interactyphus training??” “Yeah mate, it isn’t working properly. It says I am wrong all the time...” So Henry reads and tells me that I should fill out the answer that says that you stop working to talk with Shift Supervisor or OIM. So I look at Henry saying; “So you really think I stop working to talk??? What do you think I am? A woman?” But without that stupid piece of paper I would have had a problem, so with pain in my heart I chose the answer they wished me to select. Now then, I finally passed. It took over an hour, but then there you are. Certified, for whatever that may be.
Yeah, the sole benefit of a test like that is that you can yawn and pick your nose whenever you wish.
36
JACK AND INTERACTYPHUS TRAINING
I remember that time, long ago, this trainer comes up to me asking : “What about you sir? What do you do with leftovers from paint?” So I tell him: “I can’t put it in my pocket now, can I? So it goes in to that big pond down there.” He looks at me with big eyes “Sir!! You mean you throw it in the sea???” So I nod. And he comes up with all these boring stories about environment, and I shouldn’t have and the poor little fish and more of such crap. But then I told him the story of Red Ronny. He once had to paint something. Ronny’s wife had just left him and he kind of flipped. And that day, I tell ye, he completely loses it. He starts painting, painting, painting. Everything! He was swearing like a devil at this brad of his. So what do you expect from me then? That I would think ‘ Oh, this an odd situation. With whom shall I discuss this?’ No way! I grabbed the tin out of his hands and threw it in the sea. Nothing could go wrong with that anymore. Then I smacked him on the head, which made him calm again. I told him women aren’t of any good and that clearly made him feel better. That’s what I told the trainer. Well he made some notes in his booklet. I think he was impressed and learned something from me that day.
Jack spits on the floor. “And now you have these interactive trainings on that computer. With some sort of Dr.Phil who is there in a little angle of your screen telling you that you have to stop working when the alarm sounds. Well, of course you stop working when you hear the alarm sign. You run to the place where something is happening to watch! No....those trainings might be good for these youngsters who have the brain the size of a shrimp, but for a smart guy like myself it’s of nu use. To hell with their 100%”
Jack Drost aka N.B.
37
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
WORKING AND WORKING >
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WORKING AND WORKING
I dreamt I was a pilot on a commercial flight from Amsterdam to Melbourne. The year is 2021. No one needs to think ahead anymore. Everything is preprogrammed. Nothing can go wrong anymore. I am friends with the autopilot. My job just happens. That’s the way it goes for years now. I am used to that and I feel good about it. We take off and soon we fly above stunning clouds. But just as quickly things suddenly go wrong. Lights are flashing, I hear alarming sounds. A computer voice calls “terrain terrain, pull up”. I notice that I laugh and I am completely surprised. The autopilot system suddenly fails. I am not prepared for this because I am sitting in a new cockpit, with new buttons and with devices I don’t know anything about. Do I have to think now? But I forgot how to think. I realise I have no control over my job anymore and therefore no control over my life and that of the passengers. Is this a test? What can I do? Is there anything at all I can do? I try to contact the airport but no one answers. I step out of the cockpit to call for help. I notice that everyone shrugs and sits quietly. “Why aren’t you worried” I shout. “Terrain terrain, pull up”…
My alarm clock sounds, it’s 6 am. I startle awake from this nightmare. For a moment I’m lost but soon I realise that today is just a new regular work day. I rise, stretch, take a shower, brush my teeth, get dressed and go downstairs to have breakfast. That’s my routine for years now. I think about the nightmare and I don’t understand why I had that dream. Then suddenly I feel that this dream has stirred something in me. Something reflects before my eyes and only I know what it means. I am shocked. It’s something that influences my life, my work, my health, my safety but that of others too. It’s the assumption of work conditions that are not common. Dangerous conditions. But if you’re used to doing what you do for years, these conditions are common. You don’t see the danger anymore, even though you know there are plenty of examples of accidents that occur because we actually work on autopilot. So I work on autopilot too and I don’t think anymore. Apparently I’m not feeling good about this anymore because why all of a sudden do I come to this realisation?
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WORKING AND WORKING
Is it a premonition? I dwell on this observation. I’m surprised that this is really just getting through to me now. But I also realise that I am a lucky man because nothing has ever happened to me. But I also realise how stupid I am not to have learned from the incidents that happened to others. Because I’m still on autopilot. I have turned left for years. What will happen if I suddenly turn right? Something’s gotta change. But what? I’m surprised that I even ask myself this question because I’ve already known the answer for a very long time. It would be smart to check all the conditions beforehand to be able to work safely. Just a check whether the work environment is ok. Just a check whether there are no spills. Just a check if I have done a TRA. Suddenly a lot of topics rise up. Ones that I want to check before I start to work. Now I’m that pilot who uses a checklist before take off. One who knows exactly whether it’s safe to take off.
Centrica Ronald Pijtak HSEQ Manager Centrica Upstream Netherlands
goes for
Centrica is looking forward to a future in which Health, Safety, Environment, Quality and optimal performance are harmonized. In which all employees are fully aware of HSEQ and it’s fully embraced by a new business culture. A culture in which HSEQ is as important as eating and breathing. Aim: Incident Free Operations.
Bearing this goal in mind, Centrica is progressive in HSEQ and the organization starts up a major change. A change leading to an organization that works like a well oiled machine. In brief: optimal performance, with attention for people, installations and environment. Centrica sees opportunities in this to take the organization to a higher level and stand out. Chances to grow towards an organization that guarantees a safe, healthy and pleasant place of work. In which respect, trust and care for each other are interwoven.
Which steps has Centrica taken towards Incident Free Operations?
The first steps With the program ‘Incident Free Operations’ Centrica took the first steps already in 2008. The goal was to inform both contractors and own staff about HSEQ rules and procedures and to look for ways to improve. At the same time the ‘Work Group HSEQ Awareness’ was established. This work group is a soundboard from and to the organization. Furthermore this work group puts in motion the communication about HSEQ.
Steering group In 2011 the ‘Steering Group HSEQ Awareness’ was brought into life. In this group are, amongst others, MT-members. The steering group is responsible for all the steps Centrica takes towards Incident Free Operations. It gears all the steps to the working group.
CENTRICA GOES FOR INCIDENT FREE OPERATIONS
Awareness training “How do you motivate people?” This was the central question in a conference organized by Centrica in 2011. Part of the conference was an ‘Awareness training’. Goal of this training is to create an open culture in which dialogue and discussion about HSEQ are perfectly normal. HSEQ, after all, will have to be at the heart of everyone’s work.
HSEQ is at the core of your tasks, your way of thinking and working.
Intervention techniques and- training The next step to a culture of open communication was an intervention-training. Onshore andoffshore employees were taught different techniques to address each other about unsafe actions and situations and how to intervene. So employees learn to intervene at an early stage in the chain leading to accidents. In this way Centrica builds a culture in which there are no obstacles to report unsafe actions and situations. A culture in which people are honest with each other and make plans for improvement. A culture in which we go for good performance.
HSEQ at the centre The responsibilities and the ways in which someone needs to contribute to Incident Free Operations, are described in job descriptions. In the Business Management System of Centrica all job descriptions, responsibilities, agreements and procedures are gathered. In all job descriptions the specific HSEQtasks are described. Here everybody can see what is excepted from him or her. For if you make agreements, you need to live by them. And working according the rules isn’t something you just do on the side. HSEQ is at the core of your tasks, your way of thinking and working. It’s at the heart of everything you do. It is also important that you are judged in relation to that as well. Centrica will put an effort to this in the coming years.
HARMONISATION
BELIEVING IN WHAT YOU DO AND SHEER HARD WORK ARE REWARDED.
This is true for the initiat
Ronald Pijtak of Centrica
harmonization of measur
companies in the Gas- a
ultimate goal. The goal i
working safely, paying at
health, and turning home with a good feeling.
tive that The WAT Group has taken together with
a and Piet van Dam of Shell/NAM three years ago:
res concerning safety, health and environment for
and Oil industry. But reward is not the
is everybody Onshore and Offshore
ttention to his environment and
ewards after the work is done
HARMONISATION: THE DEAL!
THE DEAL! Last April 4th Ronald Pijtak of Centrica and Gerard Burgers of Oranje-Nassau Energie gave a presentation on harmonization to the Nogepa Executive committee. Harmonization was one of the items on the agenda for this meeting. After this meeting eleven of the twelve companies in the Oil- and Gas industry agreed on harmonization. This agreement means these eleven companies will make a joint effort in order to harmonize the rules in the industry. Hereby focusing on unambiguous information to all employees and contractors, both Onshore and Offshore. The companies that fully agreed on harmonization are Centrica, NAM, Chevron, Dana Petroleum, GdF Suez, ONE, TAQA, Total, Vermillion, Smart Energy and Sterling Resources. Meanwhile also the Gasunie has decided to join in and work together for harmonization.
CONVICTION Just like The WAT Group, Ronald Pijtak of Centrica and Piet van Dam of Shell/ NAM were convinced three years ago already that harmonization was highly necessary. These three parties have joint forces and started carrying out a survey in the Oil- and Gas industry. The main question in this survey was: “ How can problems arise?� It was found rapidly that a lack of harmonization was the answer. For the differences in views, and the differences in rules and regulations in all companies lead to hazardous situations and accidents. It was also found that harmonization saves time and money for the companies. A result of the survey is the website www.hselifeunio.com which has been online since the beginning of 2012. This website aims at giving unequivocal information to the companies concerning safety, health and environment. It is a platform and a mean of communication which makes sure all companies speak the same language.
HARMONISATION: THE DEAL!
The website is kept up-to-date with information concerning harmonization of rules and regulations. The coming two years the site will be further enriched with this unambiguous information. One of the initiatives the parties are working on now, is the DVD ‘Interactive induction Offshore’. It gives a precise image of what working offshore implies. The rules regarding working offshore are alike throughout all companies. This clear information on the DVD fits in perfectly with the initialized harmonization. Also a HSE Life Unio App shall be launched on the HSE Life Unio website.
After three years of really hard work the parties that have taken this initiative are looking forward to cooperate with the other companies in reaching complete harmonization.
TAQA IS CAMPAIGNING
In January TAQA has launched a year-long campaign in its organisation called “Safety as a Culture”. With this campaign TAQA wants to point out that every employee must take his or her responsibilities and take HSE seriously! Goals include increasing knowledge and creating commitment. More importantly, TAQA expects all of its employees to give suggestions to improve procedures and practices. Because working safely is something you work on together.
PERFORMANCE Goal is to improve HSE performance and to lift the organisation to a higher level.
INCREASING KNOWLEDGE The campaign has been moulded into a “game”. Every month TAQA poses questions on a website that has been created specifically for this campaign. All employees must answer these questions. In this way they increase their knowledge about health, safety and environment. Each quarter one of these themes is central and there are play rounds on that certain theme. “Health” is the central theme in the first quarter. In the second quarter “Safety” is central. Subsequently “Environment” will be discussed. Finally there will be a Super round.
TAQA IS CAMPAIGNING
COMMITMENT Besides answering questions, TAQA believes it’s extremely important for all employees to think along with the organisation, to help and to give positive suggestions each month to improve procedures and practices. TAQA expects everyone to take an active part and to put their shoulder to the wheel. But TAQA also wants to hear from you. In this way, TAQA wants to increase commitment and cooperation. So everyone knows what is happening with HSE and everyone contributes to a healthier, safer and environmentally friendly working condition. If there is a word that definitely fits this campaign, it’s “helicopter view”. The employees’ commitment is not limited to any particular department, but affects the entire organisation.
SUGGESTIONS For TAQA, receiving suggestions from all employees to improve HSE performance is the most important part of this campaign. Throughout the year and at the end of the campaign, TAQA will be transparent about the suggestions. TAQA will examine how to implement suggestions in a practical and useful way. The organisation will communicate this clearly to all its employees. So a reward for the best suggestions is in place. The overall winner will be offered a trip to a tropical island.
AUDIENCE The campaign focuses on anyone working for TAQA: employees Onshore and Offshore, Office staff, contractors and consultants. In short: everyone who works under the responsibility of TAQA in accordance with HSE regulations.
Jan Jager HSE manager TAQA
June 6 is Shell Safety day at Shell worldwide. Safety is the central topic that day. But of course every day is a proper day to pay attention to safety.
DAMAGED IN
NOBODY GOES TO WORK IN THE MORNING
TO TURN HOME N THE EVENING
NOBODY GOES TO WORK IN THE MORNING TO TURN HOME DAMAGED IN THE EVENING
We discussed this with Johan de Haan. He is the Groningen Asset Manager at NAM: “ We expect people to be alert and come up with suggestions that improve safety. Nobody goes to work in the morning to turn home damaged in the evening. This means that you address your colleagues, but also the organization about misbehaviour. We introduced SMAT* for this. We need to involve people who work at our locations in the dialogue. We specially need to give them the possibility to help us so that we can take measures to help them function even better. Personal safety and safety in general is after all a theme of constant care. For there are always people who seem to think that if you set the clock still, time won’t pass.’ *SMAT stands for Spreek Mensen Aan Techniek in Dutch. An English equivalent would be ‘Talk to people Technique’.
RULES If you work at NAM, or wish to work at NAM, we expect you to respect the safety-rules and help to improve safety at work. But there are more aspects that contribute to working safely. ‘Everybody who works at NAM or for NAM must accept that we established a set of rules to guard personal safety. And that this isn’t strange, for also in traffic you have rules which if not obeyed cause chaos. Everybody who doesn’t like rules, should exhibit their craft elsewhere. You won’t be welcome with us in that case. If you work for us, you need to work in accordance to certain rules. Rules that need to be respected.’
PERSONAL SAFETY ‘Personal safety, for me, is related to how someone acts within risky situations, but it’s also related to how you act to it as an organization. Business culture is the key in that respect. Personal safety is the backbone within NAM. Our motto is “goal zero, we care”. This means we care for our people and we wish to express that. Making sure that you turn home happy and sound. Of course we wish zero incidents. In the last few years the average of reported incidents per million worked man hours was relatively low. There have also been periods in which there were no incidents. But the amount of reported incidents increased again last year. So the conclusion is that our recent business culture doesn’t lead to a sustainable result yet. ‘
NOBODY GOES TO WORK IN THE MORNING TO TURN HOME DAMAGED IN THE EVENING
PROCESS SAFETY ‘We need to make sure that we do not only discuss personal safety all the time and thereby losing our attention for another aspect of safety, the process safety. In this industry attention for volatile explosive substances is essential. If you don’t acknowledge the risks when working the wrong way, then it’s not about bruised ankles and a cut in the finger any more, we’re talking fatal accidents and explosions then. The danger lies in people starting to get ‘used’ to things. The moment people start to accept a potentially hazardous situation, you can just sit and wait for an accident to happen. Ever since we tightened up the supervisors role our incident-statistics were better again. And this is where the danger comes in. In 2011 we thought we had it under control and we let our guard lower, and then unnecessary incidents took place. In brief, we need to stay alert continually.
BUSINESS CULTURE It’s important that we create a business culture in which we give people the liberty to come up with suggestions about what could improve. It’s not only about working well in a technical sense, but also that you create a culture of care around it for one doesn’t exist without the other.
When you look closely
at successful safety records in organizations, you see it’s always a combination of a well developed pattern of rules and a strongly developed sense of consciousness. Meaning that you observe the rules and understand that they are established for safety. Of course you start by running your business efficiently, but you also need your culture to run along with it. In order to run your business successfully it’s important to stay in contact with the people carrying it out, for this is what eventually improves your performance. It’s this cooperation that leads you to a higher level. This is what we need to work at.’
We need to stay alert continually
NOBODY GOES TO WORK IN THE MORNING TO TURN HOME DAMAGED IN THE EVENING
‘When we slipped in a higher rate of incidents the first time, we made an analysis of the incidents. The cause of the incidents was always a malfunction in the equipment or that someone had done something wrong. But there was no reference at the context in which the incident took place. In other words; what were the rules that applied (or should have applied) in that situations and ,more important, what was the role of the supervisor?’
SUPERVISOR ‘Making mistakes is human. That’s why I think it’s important that you “keep an eye” on them, and this is what the supervisor does. Most incidents take place because someone makes a decision, with the best of intent, which turns out to be a bad decision. It’s the role of the supervisor to help to prevent these kind of decisions or reduce the impact of misjudgements. He needs to create a culture in which people accept and respect the rules. We set up the training course “HSSE Leadership for Frontline Leaders” to enhance the supervising capacity within our organization. But safety also start with the welcoming of new people in your organization. You need to be very clear on the expectations you have of someone. Making clear how someone needs to work, and what the rules are, so that the person is immediately on the right track. Therefore we shall implement an important expansion-program the coming years. It’s an interesting experiment in which new operators shall receive a safety briefing by their supervisor and thus immediately getting to know the rules of the game. I hope we can even act tighter then so we eventually shall reach the point of zero incidents again.’
ALWAYS ALERT NAM’s Safety- and Environment performance are relatively good, but to maintain this high level it’s necessary that every single day every single person is alert on what might go wrong. From individual employee to supervisor and manager, in the office and in the field, for both NAM and for the contractors. We all bear a responsibility. The responsibility to mind each other, to address each other and above all to listen to each other. This concerns both personal safety and process safety.
HARMONIZATION IS GOOD FOR EVERYBODY
BY GERARD BURGERS
Benefits of harmonizing information about safety and health, especially for contractors who are to work on a drill site and on production location for Oil and Gas. • Provision of unambiguous information concerning safety for all those involved in working at a location and potential diminution of incidents and costs. • Spin-off further harmonization of issues with potential cost reduction. • Motivation • Communication by the most modern of means • Simplification of the management system
HARMONIZATION
HARMONIZATION IS GOOD FOR EVERYBODY
INTRODUCTION
In the past the individual companies producing Gas and Oil have developed a fantastic amount of information in order to guarantee safety and health for all people working at their locations and to prevent damage to the environment. The necessity for this development was obvious: there wasn’t much information available yet. In many countries there was even nothing available and so it gave a company the possibility to expose its own vision and image to the world. In addition the number of service-providing companies was smaller and they mainly worked with the regulations and information given by the companies they worked for.
Meanwhile the world had changed. In the public sector there is much information to be found by ways of modern systems of communication. There are many specialized service-providing companies who all have their own (obligatory) management system, including information concerning the work related risks. Understandably the individual companies are a bit aloof about cooperating in providing information about safety. In the past a lot of time and money was invested in developing systems and much intellectual ownership was put into it. Furthermore there is this worry that the vision of a company would be harder to expose when cooperating.
IS GOOD FOR EVERYBODY HARMONIZATION IS GOOD FOR EVERYBODY
The best example of a broad, shared approach, is the development of the Veiligheidcertificaat Aannemers (VCA) It was once initialized by a couple of companies with a far-sighted vision in the Petrochemical Industry in the Botlek-area. The goal was to use this as a criterion of selection for contractors with a safety-policy of good quality and consistent performance. Now the VCA is an internationally acknowledged certificate and applies on most branches of industry. An important focus is of course on the company-specific risks. The number of accidents at work has strongly decreased and the development of the VCA has contributed to that. That does by no means imply that further improvement isn’t possible. Unambiguity in supplying information is an important aspect of improving performance and preventing accidents and all the misery they entail.
BROADEN AND INTENSIFY THE COMMUNICATION ABOUT SAFETY AND HEALTH, HEREBY USING THE SOCIAL MEDIA AND MODERN MEANS OF COMMUNICATION Harmonization in supplying information on safety and health and preventing risks could go the same way as the development of the VCA and NOGEPA -regulations went. The HSE Life Unio initiative is primarily focused on giving information to the contractors that work in the Oil-and Gas industry. The other goal is to broaden and intensify the communication about safety and health, hereby using the social media and modern means of communication of this day and age. Of course there is no reason to believe that supplying the contractors with clear, unambiguous information should only be limited to a small group of Oiland Gas producing companies. It is actually a good step to a greater development.
HARMONISATIE GOED VOOR IEDEREEN
BENEFITS OF HARMONIZATION
UNAMBIGUOUS INFORMATION Over a 300 companies are active in the offshore industry. The employees of these companies work at different Oil- and Gas companies. One of the goals all companies share is to prevent incidents. But every company explains its message slightly different and sometimes applies different criteria. Most contractors work with different companies and the diversity in information could easily lead to making unconscious mistakes whereby incidents can happen (slips and lapses). And right here lies the opportunity for improvement.
SPIN-OFF FOR FURTHER HARMONIZATION There are far more possibilities for harmonization, for instance in work clothing and safety-materials. Meaning a uniform standard, but not wearing a standard uniform. Interactive introductory video’s is an aspect with which you instantly save a lot of money. 1) For the oil-and gas producing companies: by working with a template in which a few modules by firm and even by specific location are integrated, on top of the generic modules. Both for onshore and offshore. The NAM innate gateway video is a good example of this. This one will also be applied within HSE Life Unio. 2) For contractors: if the video has been watched with one of the companies and the test was passed successfully, the PSL can be marked out and Vantage can be updated. The general part is then valid within all participating companies for the agreed period of time. By doing so you prevent that 85% of the contractors needs to watch the same video many times a year. That would, after all, only cost time and money and would be demotivating.
HARMONIZATION IS GOOD FOR EVERYBODY HARMONISATIE GOED VOOR IEDEREEN
MOTIVATION Harmonization can improve motivation. Nuisance comes over little issues most of the time. Al these little differences in approach aren’t understood by outsiders and can be really annoying, making attention slip away unnecessarily. In the end we all wish the same: turning home safe and sound. Contractors may rightly expect from us that we do our utter best to make it as easy and efficient as possible for them.
COMMUNICATING BY THE MOST MODERN OF MEANS This is not a direct result of harmonization, but as many times happens with a new initiative, it becomes a sort of state of the art technological application. In this case everything is always accessible to everybody, online via laptop, iPad, iPhone and android devices. Changes can immediately be adapted and it’s not necessary anymore to wait for more changes so that a new version of a document can be made, and thereby creating a slow distribution. Of course, as with all electronic information, you need to check the information regularly to check whether there are adjustments.
MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS The harmonized information available online is not a replacement of the existing procedures and instructions of the individual companies, but can eventually lead to a major simplification of them. For newcomers in the operational world of the Oil- and Gas industry, the harmonized and online available information is a great advantage. They can profit from an enormous amount of experience and knowledge that the “old” firms have learned, sometimes even learned the hard way. As said before, harmonization gives possibilities to expand: asbestos and benzene for instance do not only appear in companies that produce Oil or Gas. But it’s important not wanting too much in too little time. First you learn to crawl. Then, after some time you automatically learn to walk.
Gerard Burgers HSEQ manager Oranje-Nassau Energie B.V.
42
for industry, by industry HSE LIFE is a forum for those working in the petroleum and natural gas industry. HSE LIFE focuses particularly on those working wherever HSEW is really an issue or really should be an issue: on the shop floor. HSE LIFE magazine is published by: The WAT Group B.V. P.O. Box 20033 7302 HA Apeldoorn The Netherlands Mobile: +31 (6) 462 95 25 6(7, 8, 9) www.thewatgroup.com On this issue worked Natascha Bruti, Marjou Janse, Marcel van Spronsen, Veselin Raznatovic, Ramon Roelofs, Pier van Spronsen, StĂŠphanie van Stockum, Janine IJssel de Schepper, Bob Janssen, Marc van Baasbank and the Members of the HSElife UNIO Steering group: Piet van Dam, Ronald Pijtak, Jan Jager, Sietse Wijnstra, Gerard Burgers Please e-mail any comments about subjects discussed in this magazine to info@thewatgroup.com attn. Janine Ijssel de Schepper.
Articles may not be taken from this publication within the meaning of Article 15 of the Netherlands Copyright Act.; Š The WAT Group B.V. 2012