Raising Environmental Awareness among the Workforce

Raising Environmental Awareness among the Workforce M.J. Booth; M.J. Booth Shell UK Exploration and Production Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar P. Shirt P. Shirt Shell UK Exploration and Production Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the SPE International Conference on Health, Safety, and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Caracas, Venezuela, June 1998. Paper Number: SPE-46698-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/46698-MS Published: June 07 1998 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Booth, M.J., and P. Shirt. "Raising Environmental Awareness among the Workforce." Paper presented at the SPE International Conference on Health, Safety, and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Caracas, Venezuela, June 1998. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/46698-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE International Conference and Exhibition on Health, Safety, Environment, and Sustainability Search Advanced Search AbstractOne of the major challenges facing E&P operators is to raise environmental awareness and understanding among their staff and contractors so that the management of environmental issues becomes an integral part of everyday working. To a large extent this integration has been achieved with safety. Employees know they can contribute directly to the goal of improved safety and workforce involvement has been a major factor in bringing about the improvements in E&P safety performance we have seen in recent years.In contrast the workforce can feel divorced from the key environmental problems lacing the industry. With the important exception of spill prevention they do not believe they can make a significant contribution on issues such as flaring and venting, energy efficiency and the reduction of oil in water. These are seen as complicated problems for management, which can only be solved by major engineering expenditures.Any successful environmental programme must be based on wholehearted management commitment, a structured programme of engineering upgrades, and continuous operational improvements. But without the involvement of the workforce no programme will succeed in the long term.The paper examines how a major operator set about raising the levels of environmental awareness and involvement among staff and contractors at all levels in the organization, both offshore and onshore. This went far beyond a traditional environmental campaign. Management Champion groups were set up to drive improvement in key areas. The offshore staff set up a group to review all operating procedures for their environmental content. An environmental questionnaire was sent out to all members of the workforce to obtain their input.Workshops were organized to enhance lateral learning and benchmarking was undertaken with other operators and other industries. Environmental Days were held at the major locations. All this was underpinned by a multitude of locally generated activities ranging from simple office initiatives to projects to contribute to sustainable development. Keywords: programme, upstream oil & gas, reduction, spe 46698, society of petroleum engineers, workforce, workshop, contractor, installation, objective Subjects: Environment, Air emissions, Climate change This content is only available via PDF. 1998. Society of Petroleum Engineers You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.

Topic: Reservoir Engineering and Simulation Methods
Subfield: Ocean Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences