Safety Is An Attitude & Accidents Predict
Injuries
During the thirty five years I have worked as an Health and Safety Manager/Consultant in the Oil & Gas/Pipeline Construction Industry, I have observed and documented many injuries, accidents and losses. Over the years, it became apparent that many accidents and losses, unique to specific crews or work involving specific equipment, were reoccurring. As I investigated and analyzed more accidents, I recorded the immediate, contributing and root causes of each accident and the necessary corrective actions. It was soon evident I could organize these accident case studies into separate files, titled by crew and equipment. I called these files my "Crew Injury Prevention" files.
To prevent a recurrence of these common
accidents, I reviewed accidents from my Injury Prevention files at worker
training sessions. There, at the orientation, and at safety meetings, with the
foreman and workers of the crews where these accidents frequently occurred, I
identified the causes of these potential accidents. This was before the term
"hazard recognition" was in common use. This simple technique of
hazard recognition has proven to be very successful in preventing injures and
losses where I was employed.
My experience has shown me that the foremost
essential key to effective loss control & injury prevention is knowledge of
actual loss events of the past. Accidents predict injuries. Accidents can be
prevented by the elimination of their causes. If you train your employees to
recognize the causes of the common accidents and losses of the past, they will
be advantageously positioned to avoid those same accidents and losses in the
future. This knowledge of the causes of common accidents and losses on the right
of way gives your HSE Manager an enormous advantage, empowering him to focus
right in on specific areas, at the contributing and root cause of accidents
before they occur. An added bonus is that talking to the workers about real
accidents really holds their attention during training sessions, further
maximizing their learning curve. I know this to be true. For over twelve years,
on sixteen separate mainline projects, I utilized this approach. The result was
phenomenally successful: No serious debilitating injuries or fatalities where I
headed the Safety Management Team. I can say unequivocally that this approach
will result in a significant reduction of accidents and losses wherever it is
implemented.
A few years ago I re-titled my "Injury
Prevention" files "Hazard Recognition" files in a larger body of
work titled "Hazard Assessment Data Base". Today these files
constitute an extensive and comprehensive list of crew and equipment specific
hazards. I currently rarely see or hear of an accident which is not already
documented in my database. Furthermore, I am confident in claiming that I can
identify, almost all accidents or losses which you will ever see occur on a
pipeline construction project.
Another essential key to effective HSE
management is molding attitudes in the workplace. It is essential to understand
that only the workers on the right of way can prevent injuries. Simply put, "Safety is an Attitude". Management must, to this end, encourage the
worker's suggestions, and remain receptive to and show respect for those
suggestions. If "Safety First" is your motto, then molding attitudes
is your priority. The first step is to establish open lines of communication
between the workers and management. To achieve this you have to gain the
worker's respect and trust. Trust can only been achieved by having someone
talking to the workers at the worksite, soliciting their suggestions. The person
best suited for the job is someone who knows the work intimately. Workers
respect a supervisor who talks to them, on the ground, eye to eye on their own
terms. Finding a knowledgeable HSE manager who is comfortable in this role is
not easy. The greatest potential for accident control exists at the point where
the action takes place. This is where your policies and procedures are put into
practice. An effective Safety Program can only survive with the co-operation of
your workforce no matter what country you are in: Canada, Australia, Malaysia,
The U.S.A., The Middle East, Turkey, Russia. You may be spending millions of
dollars on a Safety Program but if you don't establish that rapport necessary to
gain the attention and trust of your workforce you are wasting your money. Once
your workers start talking to you, you are on your way to achieving an accident
free work place. Molding the attitudes of an entire workforce is achievable.
Your yard-stick for measuring success is how frequently your workers speak out
about hazards they have identified. As you start to get feedback from the seeds
you planted, it can be exciting and very rewarding.
In most first world nations, legislation is
increasingly recognizing the necessity for better training and supervision of
workers, comprehensive documentation of safety data, and strict, thorough safety
reporting from pipeline companies and contractors. Legislation is now also
holding pipeline companies responsible for accidents by establishing mandatory
fines. In the U.S. alone, since 1986, there have occurred 39 deaths/189 injuries
with natural gas pipelines and 35 deaths/247 injuries with liquid products
pipelines - the companies involved: Colonial, Yellowstone, Koch ($35 million in
fines & penalties), Olympic ($120,000 for negligence), Williams, Texas
Eastern, and others. Pipeline accidents like the ones in Bellingham, Washington
and Carlsbad, New Mexico which ensnare corporate executives in prolonged
litigation are not isolated incidents. Law firms are now advertising "free
pipeline injury evaluation" for people who have been injured in incidents
involving pipelines and who want to file a lawsuit against a large national or
multi-national corporation.
The law firms involved in this type of
litigation will tell you what type of documentation you will need, after the
fact, to prove you have done everything in your power to ensure the health and
safety of your workers and the general public. I have made these inquiries and I
have structured my documentation in a format the lawyers can use to protect you,
the corporate and field manager. In the event of any worst-case, loss scenario,
such as a multiple fatality, this documentation can be used effectively in a
third world police station, court room or government regulatory inquiry, and
could mean the difference between becoming embroiled in a lengthy legal
nightmare or walking free after quickly being exonerated of any liability.
Anyone who has worked in a management position
on a pipeline construction project is by now aware of this due diligence threat.
Many foremen, as front line supervisors, recognize that the onus of this new
legislation and the subsequent liability is being passed down the ladder onto
their shoulders. They anticipate that when something goes wrong, they will be
the scapegoat. They are uneasy and unhappy about this development. These key
employees, responsible for the company's daily production quotas need help
dealing with this burden. The type of documentation and training I provide
effectively passes this burden on down the ladder onto the shoulders of the
workers themselves. The comprehensive training I provide forces them legally to
become responsible for their own actions. Empowering the workers to act and
speak out in their role as stakeholders in the Safety Culture, also mandates
they share the burden of the due diligence. In this way, the detailed,
comprehensive and site specific training they receive increases the workers
responsibility, thereby lessening the due diligence burden the supervisory staff
have to carry.
There is a new Safety Culture in the Offshore
Industry. In a playing field where there used to be many players, there are now
only a few owner companies: BP (Amoco, Arco, & Conoco) Exxon-Mobil,
Chevron-Texaco, and Shell all of which are now requiring tougher safety
standards, programs and goals. The contractor's managers, superintendents and
foreman who used to operate offshore, unrestricted by any rules, are now faced
with the real meaning and reality of the words: "Safety First". It is
a very tough learning curve for many of the old timers. It is best handled by an
HSE Manager who was there in the "old days", is a
"Pipeliner" and fully understands how to effect the necessary abrupt
shift in attitude, within the framework of a production schedule.
I have never met another safety professional in
the pipeline construction industry who was knowledgeable of these common,
repetitive accidents, losses and injuries and their respective causes. Nor have
I seen any worker training in the industry which attempted to identify, in any
degree of detail the many specific and unique hazards I am familiar with, on and
around the different equipment on the different crews, on a pipeline right of
way.
All HSE managers have to be well versed in the
framework and tools of the now universally accepted generic Safety Culture. The
framework of this culture is comprised of many types of documents: Mission
statements, safety manuals, audits, inspections, observations, safety workshops,
job hazard analysis, safe work practices and procedures, hazard alerts, tool box
talks and safety meetings. There are "Codes of Practice" that define
"Scope" and outline "Purpose", "Responsibilities"
and "Requirements". The resulting paper trail validates the existence
of and is the language and body of this new Safety Culture. On the surface, this
paper trail appears extensive, however, if it is examined specifically for
hazard recognition, it is revealed as cursory and without substance. By
upgrading your training with specific hazard recognition details, you can
actually reduce the volume of documentation at the same time you increase the
strength of your Loss Control. Both are positive steps forward.
Both in politics and HSE management in the Oil
& Gas sector, this rule applies:
