Executive viewpoint—Dixon

Safety is always of paramount concern in oil and gas operations. But, in an industry under constant scrutiny over its safety track record, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure—and demonstrate—that all risk-reduction measures that could be in place, are in place.

Human and equipment safety considerations are now a major element in operators’ considerations, when deciding to which contractors they should award business. The robustness of measures to prevent all incidents, from major oilfield disasters to day-to-day workplace accidents, are regarded as priority areas for assessment when contract awards are made.

Bourbon places the safety of people, assets and the environment, both onshore and at sea, at the top of its list of four client satisfaction drivers.

At Bourbon, this has meant introducing, in 2011, an approach that the company has called Operational Safety Management (OSM), which is designed to enable the successful implementation of the latest industry standards, across all of the company’s activities. OSM effectively takes all the best practices and safety recommendations drawn up by the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF)—a group embracing all the major industry players—and puts them into a package of practical, workable measures now being adopted across the Bourbon group.

Aside from my responsibilities at Bourbon, I also am a member of OCIMF’s offshore marine operations group, as well as part of a working group led by Shell, which aims to drive best safety practices across the industry.

Promising results. So far, the results of Bourbon’s safety drive have been highly encouraging.

The Total Recordable Incidence Rate (TRIR) at Bourbon dropped from 0.69, in 2012, to 0.48 over more than 45 million exposure hours in 2013, well below the industry average of 2.00. Meanwhile, the Lost Time Injury Rate (LTIR) at the company fell from 0.10 in 2012 to 0.06 in 2013, compared to the latest available industry average of 0.54 in 2012, provided by the ISOA 2012 industry report.

So, how has Bourbon tailored industry standards to meet its own needs? Faced with a safety record with scope for large improvement eight years ago, the company decided to revamp its safety framework. That culminated in the introduction of OSM and its 12 headline drivers, which are intended to be aligned perfectly with those outlined by OCIMF in its Offshore Vessel Management and Self-Assessment (OVMSA) program.

This enables clients to audit Bourbon’s safety record with ease. Safety scoring for each of these drivers is directly comparable with that used by OCIMF—running from level 1 (basic) to level 4 (excellence).

OSM provides all Bourbon organizations and employees, both offshore and onshore, with tools to measure and improve their management systems. It is time for our industry to move away from the traditional HSE aspects to a more operational safety focus, where many more people are involved. It’s not just the safety officer’s job to keep everyone safe anymore, it’s everybody’s job.

Maximum awareness. Measures, such as OSM, are intended to convert short-term improvements into sustainable long-term gains, building on a series of safety campaigns now ingrained in the company’s operating ethos. A few years ago, Bourbon launched a worldwide “B Safe” campaign, based on observation and behavior cards, to emphasize the importance of safety awareness, and to anticipate situations where risk could arise.

The drive to ensure that all employees are aware, that each individual has a crucial role in maintaining the safest possible operating environment, was extended with Bourbon’s “Safety Takes Me Home” campaign, launched in 2012. The campaign aims to increase knowledge and awareness in important health and safety issues, engaging every employee in adopting a responsible and proactive attitude toward personal health and safety, as Bourbon strives to reach its “zero incident” objective.

Underlining the theme that simple measures can sometimes be the most effective, I point to Bourbon’s emphasis on the “Stop Work Policy,” empowering every employee to stop work when any issues or concerns about safety are raised. There is also the clear-deck policy, which means that only those workers directly involved in loading-and-unloading operations are present on deck, and only when cargo items are safely landed or ready to be lifted.

Bourbon’s clear-deck policy means taking people out of the firing line. Traditionally, on offshore support vessels, the crew is on deck, as cargo is being raised or lowered by cranes. But that’s a time when people are at risk of getting hurt, and there is no reason for them to be there until the cargo is actually on the deck. So, we said, “Let’s keep people out of the way, until the operation is complete.” By doing that, we have significantly reduced accident rates during cargo operations.

The airline industry—where small errors could have major consequences—introduced methods of analyzing the “human factor” some years ago. This meant looking at why people make incorrect decisions that compromise safety, and how they can be prevented from doing so in the future. Today, an airline pilot, for example, cannot hold a license unless he has taken a “human factor” course.

This is one of the last frontiers for work safety—once we can understand why people make the choices they do, which lead to all types of incidents, from minor accidents to major disasters, then we stand a very good chance of being able to prevent them.