2. Discussion Guide for Managers
June 2013
Colleagues,
This year is the 25th
anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster. This was the single
biggest disaster in the offshore industry, where 167 workers lost their lives and it
marked a major turning point in how we manage the safety of assets and facilities in
our industry.
We are taking the opportunity to remember and reflect upon the disaster and the
changes that have ensued, and will mark the occasion with a Safety Stand-down
either on the day or during the week of 19 June 2013. With our new leadership and
our strategy update, it is time for us to transition our thinking on safety, and strike a
balance between our focus on personal safety and process safety, or asset integrity.
We have made good progress with our personal commitments and our focus on
OICC since our last stand-down, and I am pleased to see what an impact this has
had. Wherever in the assets I go, I see the OICC commitments on the walls of
offices and site compounds and the concepts of OICC have become incorporated
into many of the everyday processes that we use to manage safety. These concepts
apply equally to asset integrity and personal safety.
I hope all of our One Team will take the opportunity to stand-down, over the next
week, to watch the Piper Alpha Anniversary video (where possible) and to take time
to remember our colleagues who lost their lives. In addition, we should reflect on the
implications for us 25 years since. We work in an inherently hazardous industry and
we all have a role to play in delivering process safety, whether we are designing our
facilities of the future, constructing them, operating them or supporting those doing
these activities.
Please use this opportunity to balance our thinking between personal safety and
process safety. These two concepts are not mutually exclusive; they are in fact co-
dependant. Our HSSE approach needs to deliver a risk-based balance between
personal and process safety elements reflecting asset inherent risks and applicable
human factors.
Thank you for your support and I look forward to hearing the insights and
conversations that this stand-down generate.
Mike Mott
Senior Vice President
HSSE, Asset Integrity & Group Well Risk Management
3. Discussion Guide for Managers
June 2013
STAND-DOWN OBJECTIVES
Use Piper Alpha anniversary stand-down to:
Discuss and support balance of process safety with personal safety
Enhance understanding of asset integrity / major accident hazard risk across
the group
Recognise that we all have a role to play – in assess, design, construction,
operation or support – with on-going consequences
Understand that this is not a one-off event; this is the way we conduct our
business
Determine if there is a potential Piper Alpha in BG and what more we can do
to reduce the risk
MATERIALS AVAILABLE
For the discussion meeting:
Portal announcement from Mike Mott (introduction to discussion guide) –
sets context for stand-down
This discussion guide – which provides an outline of responsibilities for
supervisors/managers in having discussions with One Team during the stand-
down and guidance for making it successful
Piper Alpha video link – overviews disaster and resulting lessons; provides
context for discussion
Asset integrity presentation – provides information on asset integrity,
useful for One Team members less familiar with the topic
Local asset integrity scorecard (from Asset HSSE Manager)
Other supporting materials:
Major Accident Hazard site – BG and external
Andrew Hopkins videos –internal BG only
Asset Integrity Portal site – internal BG only
4. Discussion Guide for Managers
June 2013
Other supporting materials (con’t):
Major Accident eLearning Module – internal BG only – approximately 3000
people have already completed this training (LMS HSSE Major Hazard
Awareness)
Major Hazards Awareness DVD – BG and external
Details on Piper Alpha disaster – BG and external – provides background
CONTEXT
Asset integrity is a major risk for the Group. Performance (as per Asset Integrity
Scorecard) is below target.
The investigation into the Piper Alpha disaster revealed system failures, and an
absence of a robust safety management system. Recommendations arising from the
investigation have changed the way our industry is managed and regulated and
included the introduction of safety cases and improvement to emergency response
capability and resources. The commemoration gives us an opportunity to see where
we can do more and to balance our focus on both personal safety and process
safety/asset integrity.
The format of the stand-down is up to the local AGM / management team and will
depend on the jobs and responsibilities of the One Team members, typically:
Teams that understand asset integrity can use the Piper Alpha video as a
catalyst for discussion
Teams that have more of a limited understanding can use the additional slides
to help explain the concepts, as well as, watch the video
5. Discussion Guide for Managers
June 2013
STAND-DOWN PREPARATION AND FORMAT
Suggested preparation for a discussion
As a leader or supervisor, your duty is to ensure all team members have the
opportunity to participate in a stand-down. You may want to use this guide to help
you prepare for this discussion.
Purpose of the discussion
We need to build on our commitment to personal safety and achieve the appropriate
balance with process safety. The purpose of this discussion is to give everyone an
opportunity to gain awareness and understanding of what process safety means and
the role they (and their teams) play in this. Your team discussions will be a success
when every member is clear on the role they play and we have a clear
understanding of process safety/asset integrity.
Before the discussion
Schedule sessions in advance so that all employees and contractors in a
natural workgroup have the opportunity to participate. The suggested
scheduled duration should by 60 minutes to allow for the 22 minute video
and subsequent discussion. For some teams, the duration is likely to be
longer to reflect a deeper conversation
Reserve an appropriate space for a discussion; this might be an informal
space around your working environment
Have a look at the supporting video / material and decide how you would
like to use them
Obtain any support material you feel will be useful to share in the
discussion
During the discussion – suggested format
1. Welcome your One Team – begin with a safety moment and state the
discussion purpose
Discuss and support balance of process safety with personal safety
Enhance understanding of asset integrity / major accident hazard
risk across
Recognise that all have a role to play – in design, construction,
operation or support – with on-going consequences
Understand that this is not a one-off event; this is the way we
conduct our business
2. Discuss if there is the potential for a Piper Alpha in BG and what more we can
do to reduce the risk
6. Discussion Guide for Managers
June 2013
3. Watch the Piper Alpha video (where possible)
4. Watch / use the Asset Integrity presentation (if appropriate)
5. Lead a discussion on the implications with your One Team (5.1 or 5.2)
5.1 Teams who understand, or are directly responsible for, asset
integrity:
What went wrong on Piper Alpha?
o Failure of permit to work
o Failure of ‘Stop Work’ authority
o Failure of Emergency Response Planning
Could such an incident happen here?
What can we do to further improve asset integrity
performance?
Specifically, what is our response to the below challenges?
o Is YOUR work adequately controlled?
o Do YOU feel competent to do the jobs YOU are asked
to do?
o Are YOU sure safety critical communication is
mutually understood and acted upon?
o Do YOU feel pressure to maintain production and
avoid taking equipment offline?
o What is the worst thing that could happen today?
What would YOU do?
o How are YOU playing your part in making YOUR
workplace safe?
OR
5.2 Teams who have a more limited understanding of / role in asset
integrity
Do we understand what role we have in asset integrity
Have you completed the major accident hazard e-learning
module?
Do we know what a Safety Case is?
Are we familiar with our local ‘safety case’?
Are we familiar with our local HSSE Management System?
What could we do to reduce the risks of a Piper Alpha
happening here or elsewhere in BG?
Is there anything that we need to do now?
6. Create the opportunity for participants to give their view
7. Conclude; ensure that the team is clear on their understanding of asset
integrity and the role they play
7. Discussion Guide for Managers
June 2013
After the discussion
Schedule regular reviews to discuss progress with the team and recognise
successes
Provide feedback to HSSE by completing this survey
o What proportions of your team were aware of Piper Alpha?
o What proportion of your team had a good understanding of process
safety /asset integrity before this stand-down?
o Do you feel your level of knowledge about asset integrity is
sufficient?
o What additional material / support would be helpful?
o What observations were made about BG’s preparedness /
performance around asset integrity
8. Discussion Guide for Managers
June 2013
A FEW DEFINITIONS
Asset Integrity is the outcome of good design, construction, operation, and
maintenance. It is the desired state for our physical assets in that they are sound
and that they perform, as per their design, in a safe and effective manner over their
full lifecycle. The term is synonymous with process safety, which is also widely used
in the industry.
Asset integrity is delivered through the design, implementation and operation of
barriers to prevent and contain any incident.
The primary indicator of asset integrity performance is loss of primary
containment.
A major accident hazard is something that has the potential to cause a fire,
explosion, or release of a substance, or any other event connected with operation of
the facility, with the potential to result in multiple fatalities or serious injuries to
workforce or surrounding populations.
Case
Major hazard facility is an operational facility which has the potential to cause a
major accident or environmental event due to the storage, handling, processing or
transport of hazardous or toxic materials or other activities carried out on the facility.
Personal safety (Occupational Safety) refers to the protection of individual workers
and is typically managed through effective hazard identification and establishment of
safe systems of work that protect workers.
The primary indicator of Occupational Safety performance is TRCF (Total
Recordable Case Frequency)
Typical personal safety risks in our industry are driving, lifting, working at heights and
other similar activities for which we have dedicated Life Savers.
Asset integrity /major accident events are more rare than personal safety events, but
the number of impacted individuals, impact on the environment or damage to asset
infrastructure can be much greater. However, such incidents occur more often than
we sometimes think.
In BG, asset integrity, occupational safety and other components of the HSSE are
managed through a rigorous and systematic application of our 14 Point Management
System.
