bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Active Hearing Protection Device Provides Unique Possibilities for Hearing Research
Authors: Gjestland T. , Kvaløy O. , Tronstad T. V. , Melvær A.
Published: March 2016

Objectives/Scope

The objective of this research project is to study the connection between noise exposure and possible hearing damage. A key feature in the project is QUIETPRO, an active hearing protection device manufactured by Honeywell.

Methods, Procedures, Process

QUIETPRO is an in-the-ear hearing protection device, HPD. It features among other things a special test routine that is activated after the earplugs have been fitted into the ear canal. Improper insertion is detected. A warning signal is given unless sufficient protection has been verified. The noise levels at the eardrum and outside the earplug are logged continuously throughout the working day. The actual noise dose the user has been exposed to is calculated in real time, and an audible alarm signal is activated if the dose exceeds a pre-set limit. QUIETPRO also features an automatic hearing test that can be activated on demand for instance before and after a working day. The test is simple and fast (typically 2 minutes duration) and it is self-administered. Data from the hearing test together with stored noise exposure data is uploaded to a database at the end of the working day.

Results, Observations, Conclusions

The system has been used for some time at two Statoil offshore installations. Personnel exposed to especially high noise levels, typically 100-110 dBA and above (heli-deck crew and maintenance personnel doing sand blasting and needle picking) have been using QUIETPRO regularly. This paper will present examples of performance data and demonstrate how the exposure and audiometry data can be used to detect the onset of a hearing damage at a very early stage.

Novel/Additive Information

Never before have researchers had access to exposure data and audiometry data on a detailed day-to-day basis. This unique database containing very detailed individual hearing and noise exposure data will give us an exceptional opportunity to study exposure-response relationships.
Gas Flaring Reduction Initiative Ofon Phase 2 Project
Authors: Braide Opakirite , Remoue Christophe , Rat Guillaume , Anozie Ikechi , Vandeville Patrick , Ahiamadu Nnamdi , Okoroafor Uzoma , Brown Wendy , Ganga Dieudonne
Published: March 2016

In line with its Headquarter's commitment to sustainable environmental practices and Global Gas Flaring Reduction (GGFR) Partnership initiative, Total Exploration and Production in Nigeria (TEPNG) identified the Ofon field as a major contributor to its gas flaring volumes and responded by initiating the Ofon Phase 2 Project. This was also a key step toward realizing the Company's plan, at Group level, to reduce the flaring of associated gas and greenhouse-gas emissions, on operated sites.

Ofon is an offshore field that came on stream in 1997, and is located some 180 kilometers from Port Harcourt (about 65 kilometers from shoreline), South of Nigeria, in 40 meters of water depth. It is operated by Total E&P Nigeria Limited in a Joint Venture agreement with NNPC having 60% ownership and Total 40%. In its first phase, all associated gas was flared with minor fuel gas usage. Main objectives of OFON 2 projects are: ▪Stop routine flaring by the end of 2014,▪Increase oil reserves and production from 25 to 65 kbopd,▪Monetize gas through the Nigeria LNG plant and Domgas via Amenam facility,▪Inject water to repressurize the reservoirs to ensure good sweep efficiency and increase oil recovery.

The Company's flare down objective in Ofon field was achieved on 15th December 2014, accounting for an immediate 10% cut in the overall volume of gas flared by the Group's Exploration & Production activities. The start-up of Ofon Phase 2 had made it possible to avoid the flaring of one million standard cubic meters of gas per day under normal operating conditions. This reduction in gas flaring is estimated to have led to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from 80ktCO2 equivalent to less than 8ktCO2 equivalent in the Ofon field.

The project has also complied with Nigerian law of zero-flaring in oil and gas facilities. The Company is by this singular effort actively implementing the World Bank's initiative to eliminate all routine flaring of associated gas by 2030.

As part of the Ofon phase 2 project, the new 70 kilometers pipeline had made it possible to pipe the gas to the OML 99 Amenam offshore gas hub, from where it is exported to the Nigeria LNG Plant at Bonny.

A further 24 new wells scheduled to be drilled on Ofon field will make possible to market 3 million cubic meters of gas per day.

Other significant achievements by this project include improved waste heat recovery and produced water management as well as the high level of local content in engineering and fabrication of the facilities including the Living Quarters built almost exclusively by local contractors for the first time ever in Nigeria.

All activities have been conducted with the highest demand on safety and respect for the environment. Project achieved outstanding performances with more than 4.1 millions man-hours offshore without LTI including 1.5 million man-hours in SIMOPS.
A Social License to Operate in the Arctic: Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities for Offshore Oil and Gas Activities in Greenland
Authors: Smits C. C. , Huber E.
Published: March 2016

To supply the World's future energy demand, new areas such as the Arctic region are being explored to find oil and gas resources. Offshore Arctic oil and gas operations are to an increasing extent subject to global public opinion and scrutiny. Potential impacts can easily become a topic for discussion, locally and globally. This manuscript will explore the challenges and opportunities of a social license to operate for oil and gas activities in the Arctic. Building or re-building a sustainable, trustful relationship with local communities is crucial, as well as balancing the risks and benefits at a local level. However, the challenges for Arctic oil and gas activities do not only relate to the local level, but are intrinsically linked to the global level including the debate on climate change and the use of fossil fuels. At the same time, if the social license to operate of an Arctic project is under pressure, this can potentially affect the social license of not only a company but the entire oil and gas sector.

The main challenge for oil companies that want to explore the Arctic is the strong link between their project's social license to operate and the political and legal licenses it needs to obtain. Pressure on the social license could alter the conditions or put on hold the political and sometimes even the legal licenses of an activity. Furthermore, the strong link between Arctic projects and the global level could potentially jeopardize the global success of the entire industry. Creating a level playing field in the fragmented governance of Arctic oil and gas activities is a challenge. Collaboration with local, national and international stakeholders, the use of social media, and a thorough understanding of a social license to operate and its influence on a project, company and the oil and gas sector is therefore paramount. This manuscript will use oil and gas development in Greenland as a case study to shed light on the mechanisms that link these licenses and what opportunities oil companies have to positively influence their social license to operate. This includes working on trustful local relationships via human capital development and using industry knowledge to connect to other stakeholders and work on the industry's image via social media.

The Arctic is a pressure cooker, with the potential to quickly mobilise crowds at different levels of scale. The social license to operate of an Arctic project is strongly linked to other geographical scales and the reputation of the company/the sector it belongs to. Any lesson learned here can be applied to other parts of the World.
Is There Scientific Evidence to Support the Selection of Hydraulic Fracturing Rules?
Authors: Campin David
Published: March 2016

The application of hydraulic fracturing to hydrocarbon-rich basins has evolved since the first tentative steps to stimulate conventional oil reservoirs in the United States Mid-West in the late 1940s, into a widely practiced technology, principally used today in gaining commercial flows of unconventional hydrocarbon reserves. The early application of the technology was directed toward draining methane from coal seams as a safety measure (Thakur 2014), evolving to assist commercial recovery of coalbed methane as the first systematic use in the unconventional resources. In conjunction with the application of horizontal drilling and completions technology, real time micro-seismic monitoring technology, and understanding of the nature of unconventional resources geology, the phenomena of modern shale gas and oil extraction transformed the US energy landscape. Following this break-through in the US, other jurisdictions commenced similar pursuits for their unconventional petroleum potential. The application of hydraulic fracturing was just one more aspect in a rapidly evolving complex business where regulations were in a state of permanent catch-up.

Regulations to address specific environmental1 risks2 associated with on-shore hydraulic fracturing evolved as use of the technology spread to new jurisdictions. State oversight of hydraulic fracturing is the norm worldwide other than for single-level federal jurisdictions such as the UK. Elsewhere, federal regulation is generally restricted to the outer envelope of environmental impacts such as air quality standards and receiving water standards, except with the case of off-shore activities. State regulations tend to be directed to the exploration and development processes with local government exerting control using planning rule3s such as noise and set-back. Off-shore regulation of hydraulic fracturing is dominated by federal authorities across the globe due to complexities of national waters and contiguous hydrocarbon basins extending across national economic zone boundaries (Nordtveit 2015, Gordon and Paterson 2015). This paper builds on earlier work where hydraulic fracturing regulations from fifty five jurisdictions were assessed (Campin 2013). Self-selected rule categories (fifty nine elements) were identified based on frequency of occurrence in the various regulatory frameworks examined. The rationale and justification for environmental protection parameters is examined and documentary evidence is assessed for selected rules. This paper draws from the peer reviewed, scientific literature or official reports from government agencies and is restricted to the on-shore sector.

Regulation in the absence of a critical evidence base has been strongly criticised by the industry as serving no useful purpose and imposing unnecessary cost. The evidence base included in this paper demonstrates the presence or lack of connectivity between regulation and science across various jurisdictions.
An Innovative Approach to Well Safety by Increasing Operational Awareness through Real-Time Monitoring
Authors: Baksh Nazaad , Wadhwa Anil , Ahmed Anmar , Hill Steve
Published: March 2016

The prevention of well control incidents requires stringent well-design and casing standards, blowout prevention equipment, safe drilling practices, and multiple layers of controls and workflows. However, industry statistics suggest that most well control incidents occur due to human factors such as misinterpretation of data, delayed response to abnormal well conditions, and drilling crew physical fatigue. Real-time data has long been used by major operators for drilling optimization and well placement activities, but not so much for well control.

Exception-based monitoring of real-time data by remote operators can increase operational awareness of drilling crews, who can significantly minimize well control risks by taking proactive and precise actions. However, there are several challenges in the way that current technology is used. Real-time streaming data from a well can consist of 50 to 500 tags that make it challenging to simultaneously and continuously monitor such a large amount of data. The current technology requires determining the well condition from single-curve plots and generic alerts—a technique that is time consuming and allows for errors. Poor-quality data can also adversely affect interpretation, analysis, and decision making.

We have developed a new real-time alarm solution to overcome some of the above challenges by combining signal processing and complex logic to manipulate raw and fragmented data and to emulate the thought process of a drilling operator. This real-time system enables drilling operators to set up different alarm thresholds for various activities of well construction such as drilling, tripping, and circulation. A user-friendly alarm console provides valuable situational awareness, enabling the operator to proactively respond to abnormal conditions using real-time alerts based on well condition.

The Drilling and Completions Decision Support Center (D&C DSC) team at Chevron Energy Technology Company uses this technology for well control in its global operations. The following paper explains the technology platform of this system, data processing techniques, and some of the drilling events previously identified.
Implementation of the UN Guiding Principles in Conflict-Affected Settings: Aligning Human Rights and Conflict Sensitive Approaches
Authors: Cleland Roper , Orsini Yadaira
Published: March 2016

Objectives/Scope

International Alert (Alert), a leading peacebuilding NGO, is updating its seminal Conflict Sensitive Business Practice (CSBP). Originally published in 2005, CSBP guides companies on how to operate in conflict-affected settings in a way that mitigates business risk while reducing any negative impacts arising from operations. A key focus area for the update is the alignment between the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and CSBP; the update explores the opportunities and limitations of human rights due diligence in fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCAS) and the value of integrating with conflict-sensitive approaches.

Methods, Procedures, Process

The research set the following questions as an entry point into exploring how human rights and conflict sensitivity align:

Results, Observations, Conclusions

The research identifies three areas that require particular attention when conducting human rights due diligence in FCAS:

Novel/Additive Information

While there have been significant efforts to undertake more rigorous human rights due diligence in line with the UNGPs, there is little practical guidance on what this means for companies operating in FCAS. Given that human rights violations are particularly pertinent in FCAS, practical guidelines are highly relevant and bridge the gap between the conflict sensitivity and human rights debates.
Together, Better: Stabilizing Stakeholder Relationships and Maintaining Social Capital During Major Economic Decline
Authors: Bucke Linda
Published: March 2016

In early 2014, after nearly a decade of planning, designing, engineering and early-works development of the Total E&P Canada (TEPCA) Joslyn oil sands mining and extraction site in northwestern Canada, the Joslyn project was delayed indefinitely. Significant changes to global energy market conditions and escalating project execution costs necessitated the change and a shift in business direction.

Although Joslyn is no longer considered a near-term priority for Total SA, maintaining an appropriate degree of social capital with TEPCA stakeholders is critical to ensure the asset will be accepted by regional stakeholders should the company, its industry partners, or another energy developer recommence project development in the future.

During the past seven years TEPCA's societal initiatives have raised the bar and set new standards with urban and Aboriginal stakeholders in the Northeastern Alberta region with highly active community engagement and community integration initiatives and partnerships; comprehensive long-term benefit agreements forged between the company and Aboriginal groups such as the Fort McKay, Mikisew Cree and Athabasca First Nations and the Fort McKay and Fort Chipewyan Métis; and, sustainable community investment programming that builds capacity and enduring shared value potential for stakeholders.

As Joslyn operations transition from active operations to paced site development, Aboriginal stakeholder uncertainty levels and interests will need to be well understood and addressed. With the goal at the societal level to ultimately create an optimized position for TEPCA to sustain Joslyn in its current state of suspended development and to also readily, efficiently and expediently recommence operations, Aboriginal Stakeholder relationships must be managed with prudence, resolve and efficacy. How the relationship with Aboriginal and regional stakeholders is managed over the short term will impact the company's ability to return for future development.

This paper will discuss the process TEPCA representatives underwent in an attempt to preserve the relationships, social license and reputational investment it established with stakeholders at the community leadership, business and grassroots levels. It will delve into learned lessons regarding the criticality of open and transparent communications, phased in approaches to devolvement and divestment and also outline how company/stakeholder relationships continue to evolve and progress today.
A Robot that Removes Operators from Extreme Environments
Authors: Peerless Ian , Serblowski Adam , Mulder Berry
Published: March 2016

Hydrocarbon exploration and production is moving into increasingly extreme environments as exemplified by the Kashagan field in Kazakhstan. This has high concentrations of high pressure hydrogen sulphide gas, extreme climactic variations, and remote normally unmanned islands that can be difficult to access at certain times of the year. Therefore, the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) decided to investigate whether its production operators could work from the safety and comfort of the control room while operating on-site robots.

Sensabot evolved from this challenge. It is characterised by its ability to operate in potentially explosive environments, long intervals between routine maintenance, and the fact that it can operate in walkways that have already been designed for human access.

The Sensabot project was launched in 2010 and has been led by Shell on NCOC's behalf. The Mark 1 Sensabot was delivered in 2011 and contained an array of cameras, gas detectors, a vibration detector and a microphone. Trials of this robot were very successful so the development project was continued resulting in a manipulation arm and Sensabot Mark 2. The latter is now proceeding through the certification process for Zone 1 explosive environments with a view to deployment in Kazakhstan during 2016.

Leaders of upstream oil and gas companies will benefit from an understanding of Sensabot's capabilities and of the implications for improved operational safety. There are also early indications that robots might improve operational efficiency in extreme environments.
HSE for Youth: How Sharing HSE Expertise Externally Reinforces the Principles Internally
Authors: Barnier Muriel , Stott M. L.
Published: March 2016

In 2008, an oilfield services company launched HSE for Youth, a program that reinforces a health, safety, and the environment (HSE) culture among employees to help make HSE become a lifestyle habit for the entire family.

The program is designed to reach young people 7 to 18 years old, both employees' children and youth in local communities, and focuses on nine topics: Ebola, injury prevention, internet safety, road safety, personal security, HIV/AIDS, malaria, water, and climate change.

The paper describes the program's implementation; the learning materials developed, and program results. The paper also discusses how the program has evolved and how it has been sustained since its launch 8 years ago.

Ownership and leadership of the initiative are under the umbrella of the company's HSE function, supported by a global HSE for Youth manager. Organization and delivery of the workshops involve trained volunteers from the company's HSE experts, employees, and their spouses.

The paper discusses the educational content methodology used, how the program has been reinforced with a quality control framework, mandatory criteria to run workshops, and how material was redeveloped to better fit specific age groups and address key specific subtopics. The paper also discusses how the program has been sustained over the years through a train-the-trainer program, which now comprises master trainers in all regions of the world.
Underwater Sound Radiation From Subsea Factories
Authors: Binnerts B. , van Beek P.
Published: March 2016

In the oil & gas industry there is a trend towards more subsea activities such as the processing of the Oil and Gas in so-called ‘subsea factories’. Regulations aimed at managing the impact of underwater sound on marine life are being put in place by different nations. Many offshore operations require an assessment of the potential impact of underwater noise on the environment, which requires knowledge of the sound transmitted by the subsea components. However, until now little is known about the underwater source mechanisms, the acoustic strength of these complex installations, the coupling of the emitted source sound to the surrounding medium and the impact of the sound on the underwater wildlife.

With the measured noise spectrum (in air) of a complete turbo compressor installation and correcting for the differences between radiation into air and sea water, a stylized, equivalent noise source power spectrum is constructed. Steps towards validation of the radiation correction are in progress. The contribution of the source to the subsea soundscape is computed by coupling the source model to an acoustical propagation model. Predicted levels can be used as an input for environmental impact studies.

In water source and radiated sound levels are presented in this paper. The accuracy of the in air to underwater conversion methodology is discussed and knowledge gaps are identified. The high speed turbo compressor dominates the broadband sound pressure levels generated by the total subsea processing factory. Subsea processing sound exceeds the sound from a ship, especially is shallow water and for calm sea states due to the high frequency content of the subsea processing sources. The sound field of the compressor contains almost all of its energetic content above 1000 Hz, while for example ship generated sound is typically below 500 Hz.
Managing Biodiversity Challenges in a Sensitive Remote Scottish Island Environment
Authors: MacPherson Calum S. , Keown Rachel , Hynd Craig
Published: March 2016

Most of Shetland is covered in blanket bog mainly consisting of peat, one of the rarest wildlife habitats in the world. Construction of the Shetland Gas Plant (SGP) required the stripping of a layer of this peat. Early surveys of the area proposed for SGP and its associated pipelines recorded significant numbers of otters living and breeding in the area. The import pipeline landfall was shown to be a particularly important area, with two otter (lutra lutra) families living there. The Shetland otter population is one of the densest and most important in Europe. The area is also home to numerous species of nesting birds.

The focus of this paper is to describe the measures that have been taken to both preserve the peat during the construction of the SGP and minimise the adverse effects on the animals. A summary of the archaeological findings beneath the peat is also described.

The paper will explore the learning's in detail, highlighting the importance of not tracking over peat with machinery, cutting turves regularly and peat turf storage. Peat handling and restoration is a unique challenge to the SGP development.
Addressing the Gaps Between Occupational and Process Safety Culture
Authors: Lakhiani Sunil D. , "Trey" Morrison Delmar R. , Sala Joseph B.
Published: March 2016

Safety culture has been identified as a critical element in high consequence incidents in the oil and gas industry over the past few decades. Traditionally, safety culture, which is the collection of beliefs, perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of the stakeholders within an organization regarding safety, has been viewed in terms of occupational safety: i.e., perception of components and norms that affect personal safety. It is clear that lapses in occupational safety can lead to injuries or fatalities to individual workers. However, lapses in process safety can cause injuries or fatalities to groups of workers or the public, or extensive damage to the facility and environment. The visible nature of hazards to individual workers often leads companies to focus more on occupational safety culture as opposed to process safety culture since occupational safety performance is easier to recognize. Process safety hazards are related to the process, conditions which are not necessarily obvious but are hidden within the complex systems comprising the chemical, mechanical, and controls of the process unit. Thus, process safety requires engineering discipline to systematically identify and manage the potential hazards posed by a process system throughout its life. Process safety culture is the collective group of values (i.e., beliefs, perceptions, attitudes) and behaviors that affect the safety management of processes in an organization.

In the traditional safety culture assessment approach, the focus is on individual behavior, attitudes, and perception of process safety concerns such as management of change, process hazard analyses, near-miss reporting, etc. has been missing. Due to such gaps, the application of traditional safety culture assessment tools and methods in the process industry does not provide a comprehensive status of the state of process safety culture in such organizations.

The objective of this paper is to discuss the differences between the occupational safety culture and process safety culture assessment techniques and present methods and guidelines to develop a process safety culture assessment tool.
Process Safety Elements that can Prevent the Worst Case
Authors: Gala Deepak M. , Quick Richard , Dupal Ken
Published: March 2016

Over the past 30 years the oil and gas industry has made great strides in developing a culture that promotes personal safety for all workers in well site and support roles. Comprehensive personal safety programs and ever-improving safety records are fundamental goals of operating companies and their contractors. While awareness of personal safety principles (examples include personal protective equipment and lock-out/tag-out procedures) has improved personal safety at the workplace, it has not prevented catastrophic process safety lapses such as the 2010 Macondo explosion and spill, GOM, USA, the 2009 Montara blowout and spill, Timor Sea, Australia and 2003 Gao Qiao gas well blowout, Chongqing, China to name few.

Process Safety incidents are distinctive from other incidents as they may result in catastrophic outcomes. The ‘Think Process Safety’ initiative aims to reduce the number of incidents by helping staff to understand their role in keeping all hydrocarbons safely in the pipe, well or reservoir at all times. The focus is on avoiding, correcting and learning from the minor events to prevent the more serious, and potentially catastrophic incidents.

To prevent future incidents both large and small, the industry needs to continue focusing on personal safety and at the same time make a paradigm shift and pay the same attention to process safety. The inter-relation between personal safety and process safety will be discussed herein.

The paper will primarily share the approach of ten elements that are deemed to be critical to process safety in wells operations; examples include physical barriers, emergency response, subsurface uncertainties, well control equipment, and standards and procedures.

The Think Process Safety initiative supports engagement at every level from senior leaders to frontline workers and contractors. Examples of each of the ten elements will be presented in addition to how employees are benefiting from implementing from each one.
Major Hazards - Seamlessly Embedding Considerations of the Environment
Authors: Jennet Christelle , Libre Jean-Marie , Bain Andy , MacPherson Calum , Whittaker Luke
Published: March 2016

TOTAL have recognised the fact, that there has been a need to put more focus on the environmental aspects associated with major accidents hazards. Major accidents as defined by the Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Case) Regulations 2015 have been specifically assessed by the UK affiliate to identify if they could result in a Major Environmental Incident(s) (MEIs); in line with the EU Directive 2004/35/EC on environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage.

Hydrocarbon releases of over 1,000bbls have therefore been modeled using the OSCAR software for events such as topside / subsea releases and wells blow outs in order to define fate and location of hydrocarbons from these releases. The exposure/effect (acute mortality, population loss, quantity of oil reaching/endangering shoreline habitats) of the releases on Valued Ecosystem Components (VECs) has then been assessed to define restitution time of the relevant organisms/habitats. Results of the modeling have been assessed so that any event that has a potential effect on the VECs classed by the Company as "Catastrophic" (>3years restoration time) or above is classed as MEI. The incidents not identified as MEIs are then screened along with other liquid releases using a complementary method. This method utilises a matrix to define the environmental severity, based on the volume and toxicity of the release as well as the sensitivity of the marine environment and when relevant (shoreline) the extent of the release.

The above Offshore Safety Case regulation defines Safety and Environmental Critical Elements (SECEs) as "parts of an installation where either (a) failure could cause or contribute substantially to a major accident or (b) it has a purpose to prevent, or limit the effect of, a major accident". For major accidents potentially resulting in MEIs, a review of existing barriers was undertaken to demonstrate their adequacy and sufficiency. As an outcome of this process, Critical Elements performance standards were reviewed and amendments proposed as required.
Recognizing and Driving Excellence Through a Mature HSE Recognition Program
Authors: Brooke-Lander Melanie , Kuykendall Dina
Published: March 2016

The value of positive reinforcement for instilling good HSE behaviors is well-documented and plays a vital role in motivating employees to improve and reach for the next level of HSE performance. However, it's not easy to design a credible HSE recognition program that drives excellence and is aligned with company goals and objectives, without adding an undue administrative burden.

Our HSE recognition programs have evolved over time as our organization has changed, and as we learned what worked and what did not. Key lessons described in this paper include how to maintain the energy of participants; determining whether the program should be inclusive or exclusive; matching the scope and breadth of the program to the culture of the company; and the type and value of rewards given. We also drew input from a benchmarking study conducted in 2009 which looked at recognition programs at peer companies and large companies from other industries.

The cornerstone is our annual HSE awards program, which promotes team leadership by recognizing teams that have achieved excellent HSE performance in alignment with our business and HSE goals and initiatives. The most coveted of these awards is the Chairman's HSE Excellence Award, which has a 15 year track recor d of success and is presented by the CEO. This program evolved since its inception, when it was designed to be inclusive and recognized teams that met or exceeded target criteria for the prior year. This award is now presented to only five teams globally that have best demonstrated sustained HSE excellence over a three-year period.

As the Chairman's Award was refined into a more exclusive recognition program, a second award program was introduced. The new President's HSE Recognition award program was designed to recognize superior HSE performance during the past year and is bestowed by business segment presidents. The program consists of two awards: The President's HSE Performance Award (which recognizes performance based upon leading HSE indicators) and the President's Perfect HSE Day Award. Both awards require teams to achieve 365 Perfect HSE Days – a full year with no recordable injuries, serious motor vehicle accidents, and no major spills. More than 110 teams won a President's HSE award in 2014, up from 42 in the first year.

Additional HSE recognition programs are managed on a local level to reward employees for proactive HSE efforts, including Stop Work, superior HSE Observations and heroic efforts to help fellow employees or community members, among others. Together, these recognition programs serve to build our HSE Culture by providing a lofty target to aspire to and strive for, stretching and challenging employees to achieve breakthrough HSE performance.
Barriers, Collaboration and Well Control - A Service Contractor's Response
Authors: Novia Matthew D. , Fernandes Mary D.
Published: March 2016

For decades, service contractors have played a vital role in enabling the recovery of hydrocarbons in wells across the globe; and they are relied upon for providing the technology and services needed to construct and service wells in increasingly challenging environments. Rising to these challenges naturally comes with the expectation that service contractors will perform their work without compromising HSE or well integrity. However, this expectation sometimes easier said than done when variables outside of the service contractor's control are taken into consideration such as: numerous third-parties and their equipment, variances in processes across different companies, and the integrity of well barriers owned and/or maintained by the operator or other contractors. Many of these challenges are magnified by inadequate communication and missed opportunities for collaboration.

This paper discusses a service contractor's approach to drive a step change in the way the industry collaborates when performing services critical to well integrity and well control, with particular emphasis on processes that take service contractors outside the "silos" in which they have historically worked. This approach includes the following key components: An overview of internal processes for well barrier identification, verification, and well controlHow collaboration with external parties has been embedded into the well control assurance processes for job planning and executionA discussion of lessons learned during implementation of this process

These components are steps toward an ideal collaborative environment around barriers and well control from the perspective of a service contractor. Ultimately, this perspective emphasizes the criticality of collaboration at the wellsite to bridge understanding between risk acceptance and risk management.
The Global Initiative: 20 Years of Government and Industry Cooperation
Authors: Ruck Philip , Coolbaugh Thomas , Guevarra Joselito , Rhodes Anton , Taylor Peter
Published: March 2016

The Global Initiative (GI) is a partnership between IPIECA, the global oil and gas industry association for environmental and social issues, and the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The programme aims to enhance oil spill preparedness and response capacity for potential spills at specific locations around the world, by bringing industry (through IPIECA) and governments (through IMO) together. 2016 marks the 20th anniversary of the first Global Initiative efforts – as such, this paper will reflect on the key achievements and progress made since the GI was established in 1996.

Typical activities of a GI programme include the identification of responsible government agencies in charge of oil spill preparedness and response at national levels and the offering of technical workshops, training courses and exercises, which promote the ratification and implementation of relevant IMO conventions (i.e. the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation 1990 and the conventions relating to compensation for damage caused by oil spills from shipping), the development and approval of national oil spill contingency plans and regional/sub regional co-operation plans, and improved communications between governments and industry. Currently there are programmes established in four regions: (1) the Black Sea, Caspian Sea and Central Eurasia (OSPRI), (2) West, Central and Southern Africa (GI WACAF), (3) South East Asia (GI SEA) and (4) China (GI China). Updates on progress and activities of these established programmes over the last two years will be given, as well as a reflection on key achievements since their inception.

Results from the various GI programmes have been positive and the programme has raised the capacity in the regions of focus since its establishment in 1996. Case studies and specific results will be provided as an indication of how the situation in these regions in terms of oil spill preparedness and response has improved as a result of the GI programme.

The paper will also highlight other regions being considered as potentially suitable for GI activities based on an examination of current and future risk factors. These include regions such as the Mediterranean and East Africa, and recent progress in these regions will be discussed.
Breakthrough HSE Performance in a Large North American Oil and Gas Business Through Change Leadership and a Focused Strategy
Authors: Dunsmore Braden , Ellis Hein
Published: March 2016

On the backdrop of current oil and gas economics, flawless, safe execution and operational excellence have never been in greater demand and have never been more difficult to achieve with margins, talent and organizational sustainability under pressure.

This paper demonstrates how leadership, strategy and actions were undertaken to implement and achieve a sustainable improvement in HSE performance and culture. Dramatic improvement in performance occurred across multiple high-risk oil and gas environments, spread across a wide geography. The steps taken are described, the planning and implementation behind these steps are discussed, and the results and impacts are presented.

Early 2014 showed concerning trends on HSE performance and culture in this business area. Steps taken included a change of key leadership positions and establishment of a mission with key supporting pillars that helped elevate safety importance as a first-line approach to improve overall HSE performance, financial performance, competency and business execution.

Leadership visibility was driven and tracked, together with the number of perfect HSE days achieved. An annual commitment day was supplemented with quarterly safety stand-downs. In addition, regular monthly podcasts were used to address business performance, always focusing strongly on safety first. Near-miss reporting was emphasized, and incidents that occurred were fully reviewed with senior management through Incident Review Boards.

By mid-2015, key safety statistics had improved by 38% on 2014 performance and 46% on 2013 performance to levels below the peer-reported average. Year-on-year reductions of 60% total recordable injuries and 35% days away from work were achieved. This business unit was awarded 5 of 11 company's presidential safety performance awards. Leadership, transparency, and authenticity were keys to the safety culture. In addition, the elevation of safety to a critical emphasis before other business metrics helped prevent incidents, and resulted in fast and dramatic improvements. Combining the correct tracking of leading and lagging indicators, together with regular feedback on performance, drove a truly interdependent safety culture.

These results are a practical guide to managers and leaders seeking to tackle safety and performance improvement
Culture Change Framework Dramatically Improves Safety Performance
Authors: Dunsmore B. , Rainbow G.
Published: March 2016

The importance of having a ‘good safety culture' has long been recognized for achieving great HSE performance and yet, perhaps due to the complexity of analyzing culture, it's often a struggle to positively impact it. This paper explains the use of a simple framework to plan, implement and achieve a dramatic improvement in safety culture. Real culture change and associated improvement in safety statistics occurred at a major chemical manufacturing location. The model is described, implementation is discussed with challenges, and the impacts of its use are presented. The result is a practical guide to managers and leaders seeking to improve safety performance.

The practical advice given in this paper is useful to any oil and gas manager, regardless of level and scope of business. This advice is particularly relevant to dealing with remote locations and high-risk operations where chemicals and machinery are in use. This approach fits well into the current environment, where budgets and costs are significantly reduced, and careful planning is required to minimize cost and ensure any investments for safety deliver returns.

A site where recordable incidents and spills were expected became a model facility with over 1,000 perfect HSE days, resulting in two Chairman's and two President's HSE awards bestowed in subsequent years. The managers and leaders in these businesses had their own beliefs and standards on safety leadership permanently changed for the better. To our knowledge, this is the first time such a culture framework has been adapted and used for this purpose.
Who are Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Stakeholders?
Authors: Pollard Edward , Bennun Leon
Published: March 2016

Engaging constructively with stakeholders is vital to managing Biodiversity and Ecosytem Services (BES) risks successfully. Understanding and engaging with stakeholders is relevant at both corporate and operational levels and is necessary throughout the project life cycle. We have identified a wide range of potential stakeholders who have BES interests and how these interests can provide opportunities for risk management at a corporate or asset level.

Stakeholder engagement, especially regarding relationships with local communities around assets, is often a key part of a company's activities to manage social risk, but has been underlooked as part of managing environmental riks.

Stakeholders with an interest in BES are both internal and external to the company, and exist at a global, national and local level. They can be from groups ranging from company staff, or local communities near an asset, to scientists and non-governmental organisations national and internationally. Engaging with different stakeholder groups can help: comply with regulators, meet the expectations of lenders, and thus enable financing;enhance transparency and improve reputation, and thus the social licence to operate;identify important biodiversity features (for example during an impact assessment screening process);understand the status of important biodiversty features, how relevant stakeholders value them (for example as part of baseline studies);help determine Priority ES that could be impacted by the project, that are important components of livelihood and that are irreplaceable (for example as part of an ecosystem services review), and thus avoid social conflict, and potential project delays;identify actions to mitigate impacts on BES;build partnerships with parties who will implement long-term elements of the mitigation hierarchy (for example for restoration programs and biodiversity offsets).

Many of the issues which may arise regarding stakeholder expectations on BES are partly or predominantly cultural, socio-economic or political, rather than ecological. It is crucial therefore to coordinate the different components of engagement (environmental, social and public relations) and that the relevant company/project teams collaborate so that they understand how stakeholders value and use BES and their expectations concerning BES management.
A Sustainable Supply Chain Model For Promoting Collaboration With Hydrocarbon Sector Suppliers And Contractors
Authors: Carmona Luis Gabriel , Correa Fernando
Published: March 2016

Corporate sustainability increasing requires sustainable supply chain management. This concept has been successfully applied in Colombia, where Mansarovar Energy operates, but had not involved the hydrocarbon sector. Mansarovar saw an opportunity for the adoption of a sustainable supply chain model and in 2015 adapted one to meet their specific needs. The resulting Web+, where Mansarovar acted as the anchor company, is still in its pilot stage but results have been encouraging. The model was designed as a voluntary partnership to promote sustainability within supplier and contractor activities that are part of Mansarovar's supply chain with the support of a certified training/enabler organisation. Ten participants were involved and the seven successfully proposed sustainability projects are estimated to save $117,000 per annum due to the resulting reduction in energy, waste and agro-chemicals consumption and other social or organizational co-benefits. This indicates that sustainable practices are all the more important when oil price drops and are integral to hydrocarbon sector profitability in both the short and long term.