After-action Reviews Research Articles

Santos Basin, Brazil: Successful Drilling Campaign 2008-2010

This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper OTC 22336, ’Case History: Performance of a Drilling Campaign in the Santos Basin, Brazil, 2008-2010: A Success Story,’ by Humberto Carrizo, Giovanny Ortuno, and Tarcilio Dutra Neto, Repsol Sinopec Brasil S.A., prepared for the 2011 Offshore Technology Conference Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, 4-6 October. The paper has not been peer reviewed. The evolution in well design and continuous-improvement actions are reported for the execution of five shallow-water and deepwater wells drilled by Repsol using a third-generation semisubmersible rig during 2008–2010. As part of the continuous-improvement approach, the quality-assessment/quality-control (QA/QC) procedures were tightened throughout the campaign. The proper use of after-action reviews at the completion of each well phase was paramount for the lessons learned from each well and their application to subsequent wells. Introduction The exploration-drilling campaign during 2008–2010 in the Santos basin used a moored semisubmersible drilling rig and was the first campaign in Brazilian waters by Repsol Sinopec Brasil. The blocks where these operations were performed are approximately 180 naut miles from the shore base. These wells were post-salt prospects in shallow and deep waters. The map in Fig. 1 shows the well locations for Wells A, B, C, D, and E. In the lower right of the figure is the order in which they were drilled, together with the respective water depth. The complete paper details well design and well operations from spud to total depth (TD). Actions considered key for performance achievements are framed by a continuous-improvement process, with tangible actions to reduce total time on well, and can be summarized as in Fig. 2. The total time on well can be reduced within the two stages of the well-construction process. During well planning: Make well-design improvements and/or plan application of a new technology. During project execution: Make well-operation improvements to remove invisible lost time (ILT) and reduce non-productive time (NPT). Well Planning Well-design activities carried out by the multidisciplinary project team are governed by the company’s well-construction process (WCP). The WCP is a gated four-phase process: visualization, conceptualization, definition, and execution. At the end of each phase, a gate-event meeting occurs in which a multidisciplinary technical team, based at headquarters, appraises information from the phase and then, depending on the results, decides whether to continue to the next phase. The WCP receives well data from the geological and geophysical team, and these data are essential input for well-design activities until the well design is fixed at the second gate and the basis of design is delivered. Design activities end with the drill-well-on-paper document. At the third gate, the drilling program is signed as the main deliverable before starting well operations.

Learning about knowledge management for improving environmental impact assessment in a government agency: The Western Australian experience

How does knowledge management (KM) by a government agency responsible for environmental impact assessment (EIA) potentially contribute to better environmental assessment and management practice? Staff members at government agencies in charge of the EIA process are knowledge workers who perform judgement-oriented tasks highly reliant on individual expertise, but also grounded on the agency’s knowledge accumulated over the years. Part of an agency’s knowledge can be codified and stored in an organizational memory, but is subject to decay or loss if not properly managed. The EIA agency operating in Western Australia was used as a case study. Its KM initiatives were reviewed, knowledge repositories were identified and staff surveyed to gauge the utilisation and effectiveness of such repositories in enabling them to perform EIA tasks. Key elements of KM are the preparation of substantive guidance and spatial information management. It was found that treatment of cumulative impacts on the environment is very limited and information derived from project follow-up is not properly captured and stored, thus not used to create new knowledge and to improve practice and effectiveness. Other opportunities for improving organizational learning include the use of after-action reviews. The learning about knowledge management in EIA practice gained from Western Australian experience should be of value to agencies worldwide seeking to understand where best to direct their resources for their own knowledge repositories and environmental management practice.

After-action reviews: A venue for the promotion of safety climate

This study investigated the role of after-action reviews on perceptions of safety climate at the group and organizational levels. Moderated and mediated regression analyses of data from 67 firefighting crews suggest that after-action review frequency positively influenced both levels of safety climate. Safety-oriented group norms fully mediated the relationship between after-action review frequency and group-level safety climate. Fire-station busyness moderated the relationship between after-action review frequency and organizational-level safety climate, such that the relationship was non-existent for highly busy stations. These findings suggest that after-action reviews constitute a specific venue through which managers can promote safety climate in high-risk environments.

Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative

Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative

Human Factors Challenges in After-Action Reviews in Distributed Simulation-Based Training

This paper discusses human factors issues in designing methods to develop and deliver After Action Reviews (AARs) in the Navy-sponsored Debriefing Distributed Simulation-Based Exercises (DDSBE) research program. DDSBE is intended to develop and test methods for collecting, analyzing, presenting, and distributing performance data in the emerging Navy distributed simulation training environment. In addition to research-driven AAR design, the program includes considerable software development: building a simulation testbed, developing and integrating automated and semi-automated data collection tools, and designing and implementing automated analysis methods. Considerable data will be collected automatically. Consequently, trainers will not be required to observe an aspect of performance to include it in an AAR. Although AARs are used after actual military actions and after live training, we confine our discussion to distributed simulation-based training, the focus of DDSBE.

Hospital Integrated Lanes Training: Brigade-Directed Implementation of a Medical Lanes Training Program during Annual Training

The "lanes" concept of training was integrated into a medical site support mission of the 804th Medical Brigade, U.S. Army Reserve, during Annual Training, 1993 at Fort Drum, New York. This training, termed Hospital Integrated Lanes Training (HILT), included STX, FTX, patient play, and full use of Deployable Medical Systems equipment. The medical care of over 33,000 personnel participating in tactical annual training exercises was not interrupted during any concurrent phase of lanes training. Brigade operations planners developed an array of medical exercises that involved both moulaged and paper patient play. These exercises began prior to hospital set-up and continued for 24 hours a day throughout the tactical exercise. Injuries likely to be encountered during combat operations were inserted into the play singly and under a mass-casualty scenario. The standard of care for all injuries was determined with the Army Medical Department Center and School guidance. Prior coordination of brigade medical assets with external air and ground ambulance organizations broadened the scope of the training and facilitated effective use of command and control, communications, and equipment over a wide geographic area. Medical records were collected and evaluated at the conclusion of all exercises. After-action reviews were conducted by all medical units to assist in the planning of future HILT exercises. The HILT concept is a valuable tool for the complex training requirements of field medical units organized under medical Force 2000. The concept of integrated lanes training allows for the development and continuous improvement of individual and sectional skills for medical personnel and should be applied within all echelons of care.

Correcting Casualty Estimates

Data from battle simulations can be used to estimate the casualties in real battles. An instrumentation system measures and records events and variables and controls simulated kills of battle units in military field experiments. After-action reviews show that kills have not always been assessed properly. Since the kills assigned during a trial affect the simulated battle (and the data), the estimates of expected casualties may be incorrect. It is possible to correct initial casualty estimates to account for errors in assessing kills.