Re-Energising the Life-Saving Rules
Authors: Bryden Robin , Gradinger Sabine , Dick Nijen , Paul Tony 
Published: March 2016

Background

In 2009 Shell1 introduced 12 Life-Saving Rules, setting out clear and simple "do's and don'ts" covering activities with the highest potential safety risk, to keep our company a safe place to work. The International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) later adopted these Life-Saving Rules as an industry standard. Since their introduction in Shell there has been a 75% reduction in fatalities and a 35% reduction in lost time injuries. The Life-Saving Rules are arguably the single biggest contribution to achieving "No Harm" in Shell. Over time normalization of the rules led to a reduced awareness. To ensure that they remain upfront, known and active across all our worksites, an ambitious "re-energise" programme was undertaken.

Aims

The programme to re-energise the Life-Saving Rules was designed to drive the organisation from a culture of compliance to culture of commitment, understanding and believing that the Life-Saving Rules do save lives.

Description and development

The focus of the "re-energise programme" was on training hazard recognition, the importance of peer-to-peer intervention and reporting, with the aim of driving the organisation from a culture of compliance to a culture of commitment.

The role of supervisors was key to the programme and all material was designed so that it could be used by any front line supervisor to facilitate an interactive dialogue around the Life-Saving Rules. This was essential for reaching more than 500,000 employees and contractors globally, via approximately 25,000 supervisors and contract holders.

High quality simple and structured Life-Saving Rule engagement materials were developed, including 5 realistic animations, facilitator guides and supporting material, to enable a supervisor led discussion on what the relevant Rules mean across diverse work environments. The animations focus on the Life-Saving Rules most relevant for the respective work environments – offshore, manufacturing, road safety, marine and office - and contain compliant and non-compliant situations.

The animations have the benefit of showing high-risk situation and rule violations without putting people at risk. The films were only pictorial to avoid language barriers. In order to enable easier use of the material for contractor companies and non-operated ventures, all materials are made freely available in neutral, non-Shell branded versions.

Impact and benefits

Over 500,000 staff and contractors globally across 28 languages were engaged in an interactive way, which improved hazard recognition and fostered commitment to safe behaviour. The feedback from staff and contractors on the "re-energise" engagements was overwhelmingly positive. Over 17,000 supervisor-led engagement sessions took place across Shell with feedback from more than 42,000 participants. Over 5,000 different contractor companies were provided with the engagement materials. Anonymous employee feedback, showed more than 94% of respondents agreeing that the session was useful, interactive, helped them better identify violations, that they feel better informed and confirmed they are more committed to the Life-Saving Rules.