Management commitment drives HSE performance
An Offshore Production Operation Management Team addressed the question “How can we improve and raise our HSE performance to the next level?”
They determined that management commitment and leadership was the primary driver, generating employee involvement with shared responsibility based on open and honest communication. The result: HSE as an integral part of day-to-day business.
To accomplish this there were a number of programme and organisational changes. These included:
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Highlighting HSE performance reports at quarterly employee meetings
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Management attendance at all field safety meetings
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Incident investigation reviews
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Communicating and supporting HSE initiatives and accomplishments
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Featuring HSE objectives in performance reviews for managers and supervisors
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Expectation that employees would ‘shut the job down’ if conditions became unsafe.
Benefits
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From 1998 to 2000, combined employee and contractor incident rates were reduced by:
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71% for Total Recordable Incidents
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100% for Lost Time Incidents
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Enhanced savings/profits due to less property damage; reduced medical expenses, compensation/insurance costs, and legal fees; fewer replacement workers; less equipment downtime.
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Improved company image and reputation.
Lessons learned
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Not a quick fix/overnight exercise; progress takes years.
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An integrated programme is necessary
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Senior management support for cultural change is essential for credibility and effectiveness.
