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2007 Award Citations
Global Offshore Safety Awards
International Association of Drilling
Contractors
The International
Association of Drilling Contractors “Health, Safety, and
Environmental Case Guideline” was launched in October, 2006, and
since that time has become increasingly popular with offshore
drilling contractors in many areas around the world. The
“Guidelines” provides a framework for developing an integrated
health, safety and environmental management system for use in
reducing the risks associated with offshore drilling activities.
The document provides
the worldwide drilling industry with a means of harmonizing global
health, safety and environmental principles applicable to mobile
offshore drilling units into a single methodology tailored to the
offshore drilling contractor community. Use of the
“Guidelines” allows drilling contractors to align their business
activities with a variety of international standards and regulatory
requirements assuring transparency of operations on a global basis.
As currently
implemented, this offshore management system represents a voluntary,
core set of principles which can be applied to any mobile offshore
drilling unit regardless of geographic location. As such, the
guidelines provide a sense of consistency to operating personnel
when conducting hazardous offshore drilling operations.
Though not compulsory,
use of the “Guidelines” can assist regulatory authorities when
evaluating drilling contractors’ management programs, providing them
assurance that the program encompasses a series of best industry
practices designed to minimize the risks of operating offshore.
This framework will greatly assist regulatory bodies, drilling
contractors, and oil and gas producers in achieving higher degrees
of personnel safety and environmental protection worldwide.
The “Guidelines” are
rapidly gaining worldwide acceptance and exposure not only in North
West Europe and Australia, but in Cuba, Canada, Angola, South Africa
and Trinidad and Tobago. As large, multinational oil and gas
operators acknowledge the importance and benefits of the Health,
Safety, and Environmental Case Guidelines, their use may expand to
other offshore oil and gas provinces around the world.
This excellent
achievement has great potential for enhancing the safety of offshore
drilling operations worldwide and member countries of the
International Regulators’ Forum greatly appreciate the work the
International Association of Drilling Contractors has performed in
developing this document.
IADC was cited by
International Association of Drilling Contractors, Atwood Oceanics
Australia Limited, and Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling.
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras
Prior to 1995, Petróleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) was a self-regulated,
fully integrated Brazilian government-owned company having a
monopoly in all sectors of the Brazilian oil and gas industry (i.e.,
offshore and onshore exploration and production, refining,
transportation and distribution of oil and gas). Petrobras'
monopoly position in the Brazilian oil and gas market was ended by
an act of the Brazilian Congress in 1995. At 1997, ANP was created
as an independent Federal Government agency to oversee and regulate
the commercial exploration, development, and operational safety
aspects of the offshore (upstream) sector and downstream sectors of
Brazil's oil and gas industry. Petrobras is now the biggest oil
company operating in Brazil, ranked 8th in the World National Oil
Companies (NOC) and 14th in the global ranking.
In 2000, Petrobras started
reformulating its HSE Management System and set 15 corporate
guidelines based on five pillars: visible commitment, line
responsibility, deviation management, continuous learning and focus
on human behavior. The implementation of the new Top-down Process
Safety Program was supported by an investment of US $1.5 billion in
the last year.
The guideline related to acquisition of services has
obtained outstanding results and played a significant role in the
global HSE performance, due to the huge number of influenced
contractors (220,000 persons, according to Company's data). This
corporate guideline includes HSE aspects in all stages of the
contracting process, in a structured and integrated manner.
From 2000 to 2006 there was a tenfold decrease in the Fatal
Accidents Rate and a fivefold decrease in Lost Time Injury
Frequency, taking into account only contractors.
This excellent self-initiative has great potential to
improve the safety of offshore operations not only in Brazil, but
also in other regions of the world. This award recognizes Petrobras
leadership in raising safety awareness efforts as a key driver for
best sustainable business performance.
Petrobras was cited by the
Agência Nacional do Petróleo, ANP, Brazil
Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and
Production Association
In the Netherlands there are currently 14 operators active in the
offshore and onshore oil and gas industry and they employ around
2,500 people. Together, they produced 67 billion cubic metres of
natural gas and 1.5 million cubic metres of oil in 2006. The
operators are united in the Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and
Production Association (NOGEPA).
The
majority of the work performed by the operators is carried out by
contractors. It is estimated that up to 15,000 contractors perform
work for various operators on around 140 offshore platforms and 700
land locations. The Permit to Work (PtW) system is an important tool
in managing the risks related to the tasks to be executed. A uniform
PtW creates an excellent platform to effectively and jointly address
the risks of jobs to be executed by visiting contractors and company
site/platform personnel. All parties involved – oil and gas
companies, contractors and regulators – have for a long time
recognized the potential benefits of a uniform PtW system.
Recommendations were made by the State Supervision of Mines and the
NOGEPA at the annual meeting that the oil and gas producing industry
should adopt a uniform PtW system.
In
2003, the NOGEPA Operation’s Committee decided to develop one
comprehensive PtW system for the Dutch oil and gas industry. An
important aid was the uniform PtW system already developed by
‘Deltalinqs’; an association for the common interests of the port
and industrial companies, which operate mainly petrochemical and
chemical plants in the Rotterdam/Europoort industrial area. Two
NOGEPA members had already embraced this PtW system and many
contractors in the Netherlands were already familiar with it.
Therefore, it was decided to concentrate on investigating whether
the Dutch oil and gas producers could join this system too. A
working group was formed within NOGEPA which reviewed the
’Deltalinqs’ PtW system and produced a revised version of what
became the “Deltalinqs / NOGEPA Permit to Work”. This created
a unique situation in that a major part of the Dutch industry is now
standardized on one PtW system.
By
2004 all the NOGEPA members had standardized and implemented this
system within their operations. The PtW system includes a Task
Risk Analysis, an introduction package and is available in both
Dutch and English. The system proved to be effective in addressing
the risks involved in tasks to be executed in the field. This
was was confirmed by a subsequent State Supervision of Mines PtW
inspection project in 2006. The implementation of the uniform PtW
system has been perceived as a valuable improvement by the
contractors active in the Dutch oil and gas industry.
Finally, this PtW system has the potential to be adopted in other
regions of the worldwide oil and gas industry.
NOGEPA was cited by the State Supervision of Mines (SSM), the
Netherlands.
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