Responder Safety - Evolving Safety Systems, Processes, and Behaviours in an International Oil Spill Response Cooperative

Abstract

Abstract Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) is a United Kingdom based industry cooperative for emergency oil spill response and preparedness. The company provides emergency surface and subsurface response to oil spills on a global basis. The nature of emergency oil spill response requires responders to understand and deal quickly with the safety risks arising from working in new and unfamiliar surroundings. The risks derive from the physical nature of the incident, the geographical locations, the local weather conditions as well as working with new colleagues and organisations. OSRL was originally established in the United Kingdom in 1985 and now employs 265 people in 9 countries. This growth has been the result of mergers with response cooperatives in the United States and Singapore and the introduction of a new subsea well capping services division. A common understanding and alignment on safety in an organisation with a range of nationalities and cultures as well as local compliance requirements is critical to safeguarding employees. To ensure this, OSRL began a programme to review safety management systems, processes and procedures as well as employee behaviours. An Operations Excellence Management System, known as ‘The Blueprint', was introduced to provide structure and control in corporate documentation as well as providing better navigation to employees in locating specific procedures. The introduction of the Blueprint prompted a major overhaul of OSRL's core safety procedures, in particular, risk management. While the basic principles of risk assessment were similar, there was a difference across the company in how risk assessments were prepared, approved and presented. The International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) Life Saving Rules were introduced. The Rules provide clear guidance on how to prevent accidents known to have caused industry fatalities in the past. OSRL also undertook a review, with employee participation, of the company's values that led to a new corporate ‘Values Compass' with safety at the centre. Employees are encouraged to take personal ownership of their own safety and that of colleagues. Awareness is promoted by setting formal objectives, linked to remuneration, on hazard identification and behavioural safety observations. This paper will show the strategies and initiatives applied to develop a framework of rules, processes and behaviour to support and protect OSRL responders from the range of safety risks encountered when responding to an oil spill.