Committed HSE management Vs TQM: Is there any difference?
Authors: Aitken J.D. , McMath C.R. , Lombardo G.J. 
Published: December 2007

Safe performance of oilfield service operations at unfamiliar customer installations requires service personnel that are highly trained and motivated. When such operations are made in over sixty countries with an independent, multi-cultural work force, an additional level of difficulty in achieving an improved level of HSE (Health, Safety & Environment) performance is introduced. Recognizing these challenges, one company set out in 1989 to implement a comprehensive HSE management system suited to this environment.

The system, described here, was launched with total commitment and participation of all levels of management and was designed to empower the work force rather than force them into compliance. This included a realignment of management priorities to give HSE a primary place along with other management responsibilities.

One central theme of the system is a single standard applied to all HSE actions, throughout the world and at all levels of the Company. Thus, for example, all employees including all managers go through the same basic HSE training courses on a regular basis.

After six years, a cultural change has taken place, along with a notable reduction in both accident frequency and severity, measured in terms of lost workdays. This reduction in lost workdays is an easily quantifiable cost saving which by far outweighs the total cost of the HSE system implementation.

While the HSE management system was designed to specifically meet the needs of the company, the techniques used closely parallel those of Total Quality Management which, in the last years, has gained momentum as a new paradigm" in the HSE field. In this company's experience, a common sense application of sound management to the HSE process has led to a TQM system.

Introduction

Most traditional safety management systems have been designed to function in industrial plants where the working environment is relatively stable and the workforce is organized into groups with a clear hierarchy. In such an environment, the safety system can be clearly defined and introduced to the workforce through continuous, long-term education. Many major hazards in the workplace (such as fixed heavy machinery) can be minimized by correct guarding, clear operating procedures, warning signs, etc. Supervisors can exert an ongoing control of the workforce to ensure safe behavior.

While a drilling rig may be considered a similar situation for the permanent rig personnel, it is not so for temporarily assigned service company employees. They may not only be unfamiliar with the particular installation, but also may introduce additional complications, such as complex or hazardous equipment and operations into this work environment.

Thus, "transient" service company employees need to be proactive to ensure the safety of themselves and other rig personnel involved in the service operations, as well as ensuring their activities do not endanger those not involved, the customer's installations or their surroundings.

One service company, with a culturally diverse workforce operating throughout the world, set out to face this challenge. A coherent safety management system was created which has moved HSE into a position of primary importance. Without setting out to do so, the system incorporated most of the principles of Total Quality Management. The success of this approach can be seen not only in the overall attitude of employees to HSE, but in the reduction in workplace accident frequency and severity.

The Company's Business

The company provides drilling-related services to the oil and gas exploration and production industry in over sixty countries world-wide. Its workforce is drawn from all geographic areas of operation, with a uniform expatriation policy applied to all. Thus, many employees of varied cultural and ethnic backgrounds not only work in their home countries, but may be assigned to operations anywhere the company operates.

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