Offshore Safety - Getting The Emphasis Right
Authors: Thorman R. 
Published: December 2007

THORMAN, R. *****NO COMPANY

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Introduction

Safety is a subject which, in this industry, is always a pre-occupation, whether or not some incident has, for the moment, focussed media and public attention on it. The reason is both moral and commercial. Moral in that we all have an obligation to minimise risks to people; commercial in that none of us has a vested interest in accidents, and more particularly because we know that safety, efficiency and cost effectiveness go hand in hand and are not in conflict. Good safety management is quite simply one aspect of a good and efficient operation: there is every reason to strive after it. The only question is how?

Our industry is man-made and man-operated. All accidents are either Acts of God or caused by people. There is no other agency involved.

In regard to Acts of God, we can pray. In regard to the remainder we need to get hold of and hang on to the crucial point, that people are both the cause of point, that people are both the cause of accidents and the prime defense against accidents.

The title of my paper refers to emphasis.

The theme of my paper will be that because people are individuals and difficult to generalize about, the great weight of attention is given over to hardware, equipment, systems and procedures which can be specified, spelt procedures which can be specified, spelt out, written down and measured against, with at least the appearance of authenticity and with a comfortable feeling of responsibility.

My question will be whether this concentration of thought and resources on one important aspect of safety management is detracting from the attention and resources given to the even more important one, the people who are the cause of accidents and the prime defense against them. Are we getting the emphasis right?

My suggestion will be that the way the dice are loaded, we need a collective conscious and continuous effort of mind to get the emphasis right and to keep it right.

I believe the issues are relevant throughout the industry, although I see them primarily from the standpoint of a drilling contractor.

Let's look at the loading of the dice.

REGULATION

We work within a framework of external international and domestic regulation. In the drilling industry we are not short of it. The list of things we comply with is impressive and of course it represents only the tip of the iceberg because behind many of the titles are volumes of detailed regulations, guidance, notices, standards, codes, procedures and requirements. procedures and requirements. We do not, as some might think, and indeed as some might prefer, spend our lives locked in battle to resist external regulation. On the contrary we contribute extensively to the continuous process of formulating and updating it since it is a means whereby the best available can be drawn together and made the standard.

Of course regulation is a human activity, and the value of the end product depends heavily on the standard of the contribution made by all the people, including those from the industry and from the numerous sources of specialized expertise, who have a hand in it. But taken as a whole, the regulatory process has a very significant and beneficial impact on safety development both in quality and in the areas it covers.

It also consumes considerable resources in the thought, skill, and money, which go in to devising and complying with it.