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3 questions on how IOGP helps its Members to operate more safely

In each edition of Pulse, we publish a short interview with an IOGP colleague or committee member. This month’s interview, which follows the release of the latest report on safety performance indicators, is with David Jenkins of BHP, Chair of IOGP’s Safety Committee.  This Committee promotes the integration of safety into every aspect of E&P operations and establishes benchmarks against which to measure safety performance

  1. Since both fatalities and injuries are down from the previous year, do you regard the industry’s safety performance in 2019 as good news?

Any reduction in fatalities and injuries must be welcomed, but when you think of the broader impact of these incidents on families and colleagues, even one is one too many and we cannot relax our focus.

That said, the downward trend is not coincidental, it represents a sustained effort by IOGP members to address the most common causes of fatalities and serious injuries identified through IOGP safety data reporting and a defined project plan to address them.

  1. It is eight years since IOGP released a set of ‘Life-Saving Rules’ (Report 459) that were designed to provide simple and concise controls to mitigate risk and reduce fatalities. Ten years on, can you determine if the newly released 2019 safety data shows they had any impact on the industry’s performance?

Aiming at clear, simple and consistent communications about the core controls required to mitigate the risks associated with those tasks which contribute to so many of our fatalities and serious injuries.

While it’s difficult to show direct causation versus correlation the Life-saving Rules are driving our improved safety performance, when we reviewed the 2019 data we identified 84% of fatal incidents which were likely preventable if the core elements of the relevant Life Saving Rule were followed.  It would not seem unreasonable to suggest the broader industry adoption of Life-saving Rules following the recent update made a contribution to improved performance.

  1. How do organizations use data like the 2019 safety performance indicators?

Firstly, I’d like to recognise all the members of the Safety Data Subcommittee and the IOGP Secretariat, with special mention to Kirsty Walker and Wendy Poore for their continued efforts and passion in producing this excellent report.

I encourage all IOGP member companies to study the data and use it to provoke wide and meaningful conversations on how we can continue to improve safety performance in the coming years.

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