How a proactive safety culture can contribute to achieving good HSE results

In Statoil, HSE is a line management responsibility. HSE professionals are, on behalf of the General Manager, the line management and the rest of the organization advising, assisting and adjusting. The line is accountable for their own HSE achievements.Statoil suffered a very serious accident 1 January 2008, when a person fell 5,5 meters to the ground and was hospitalized. This triggered a completely new focus from the top management; Management Hands-On approach in all parts of projects and operations.The results started to improve from the previous two years. Statoil is using a system called Synergi to register all HSE cases. This includes registering of inspections, trainings, drills, non-conformities like conditions, near misses and accidents.It was put a lot of focus into registering as many cases as possible, to maintain the focus amongst the organization. Incentives and stop cards were a part of that program.The outcome of Synergi is that one register man hours worked, and compare this with for instance the number of Loss Time Injuries, Serious Incidents (both actual and potential), and Total Recordable Injuries (All injuries requiring more than first aid treatment). These indicators are being used in the complete company, and have been measured for years, being used also as so called KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators). 12 September 2008, Statoil Iran had a fatal accident onboard one of the vessels contracted to work for the company in the Persian Gulf. This was one out of two fatalities the Statoil company suffered in total for 2008, and it triggered an even higher management focus upon HSE: • Management Commitment• Close Cooperation and Open Communication• Risk Understanding and Risk Management• More Proactive Reporting Culture and extensive use of Synergi• Closing of actions from audits, verifications, inspections, investigations and Synergi cases• Implementation and Updating of Governing Documents• Utilize Lessons LearntAfter implementing and continuously following up these focal points, the Statoil Iran organization experienced very good HSE results for 2009, much better than company average, and for the year of 2009, Statoil Iran is nominated as one out of six finalists to the Statoil CEO HSE Award.