HSE Management in a Drilling Environment

Abstract

Abstract Since the commencement of the Pearl GTL drilling activities in Qatar's North Field in 2004, five drilling rigs have been taken on contract and, to date, it has been a 4-year, 3 million man-hours LTI free operation. Recognizing the challenges of an overheated industry, introducing large numbers of inexperienced staff on the drilling rigs, proactive HSE management by engaging ALL levels of the operator and contractors' organizations has resulted in top quartile HSE and operational performance. The HSE management starts at the inception of the project and is part of the tendering process. From the moment the contracts are awarded HSE engagement sessions are utilized to align expectations and generate a road map of deliverables as per the Upstream (Well Engineering) HSE Management System (HSE MS). The success of a "One Team" approach to HSE management is through leadership commitment, i.e. displayed by fully supporting the assignment of resources. In the preparation phase this is reflected in ‘hazardous exposure reducing’ investments, Off-site HSE induction sessions with all crews and management, ‘STOP for safety’ sessions and continuous HSE support in creating HSE cases (Rig Specific/SIMOPS). Providing joint support in the execution phase for implementing and further optimizing HSE tools with the crews who are actually executing the job, has led to a deeper understanding and buy-in. Examples of tools utilized are Hazard Identification Bow Tie Development, Toolbox Risk Identification Cards (TRIC) as a supplement to the widely used Job safety Analysis (JSA) and STOP reporting with participation rewarding.