Human Performance and Safety Culture Initiatives Transform Safety Performance

Abstract

Abstract At the time of acquiring a remote greenfield gas development in 2013, the project's total recordable injury rate (TRIR) for the site development phase was 2.0. Though this rate was considered competitive for the industry sectors in which the local contractors generally worked, it was considerably higher than that prevailing in the oil and gas industry and did not meet corporate expectations. Several potentially serious near misses provided additional impetus for action. Six staged programs were initiated to enhance the overall safety culture and instill human performance principles: Tenets of Operation; Stop Work Authority; Incident Free Operation; Managing Safe Work; Contractor Health, Environment and Safety (HES) management; and Fatality Prevention. An overall safety-improvement roadmap guided the sequencing and integration of the programs to complement one another and avoid information overload. The programs were deployed through orientations, field engagements, mentorship, workshops, safety meetings and leadership engagements. Clear accountability and behavioral expectations were communicated and reinforced. Fieldwork was designed to avoid known construction error traps and incident investigations were required to elucidate not only why an incident occurred by how the situation evolved to the point that the condition existed. Over time safety metrics were re-focused from TRIR to evidence of program implementation and safeguard verification to ensure the heightened focus did not drive reporting underground. After deployment of the programs the array of contractors was reduced to eliminate those where progress could not be demonstrated. The project experienced progressive improvement in safety performance and a steadily declining TRIR. The number, frequency rate and severity of incidents decreased in each successive year. By the end of 2017 the project had accumulated 7 million work hours without any serious injuries, and without incurring a recordable event in 2017. In addition, site productivity improvements tracked with improved safety performance, after accounting for the initial implementation period. A notable culture shift was also apparent in the local communities: the contractors began applying the programs and best practices they learned while working on the project to other, non-oil and gas projects. This shift demonstrated how a strong safety culture could lead to world-class performance and benefit local communities for years to come.