When the instruction came from Shell HQ in the Hague that all contractors working for Shell worldwide had to develop safety cases, the industry reaction in the Gulf of Mexico was less than enthusiastic. But now that all this is in place, even the contractors say that a few months work gave them a head start equivalent to many years of gradual improvement.
When an initiative was taken by Shell Exploration & Production Company (SEPCo) to implement a health, safety & environment (HSE) management system, it required a shift in HSE management for not only SEPCo, but for its contractors as well. Safety cases were developed for all offshore SEPCo contractors in the Gulf of Mexico, which included asset integrity for critical operations and assets.
Shell Exploration & Production Company management realised it could be a difficult task to complete. But, as SEPCos risk management engineer Marco op de Weegh put it, Early on we saw that, if this was done right, it would not only comply with requirements, it would also add value to our business. And we would be able to demonstrate to any party how SEPCo conducts its drilling and completion operations in an effective and safe manner.
Every operator in the Gulf oil and gas industry knows how rigid the various safety cases can be, and how much reporting and paperwork they require when directed by legislation. It is a prevalent opinion that what has been necessary in the cold, stormy waters of the North Sea should not be applied to the Gulf of Mexico. So SEPCo had to demonstrate how a safety case approach would be beneficial to the contractors, and fit for purpose.
An offer they couldnt refuse
SEPCo made an offer that was hard to refuse. The company took the initiative to assist the contractors for the work that had to be done in the development and demonstration of each safety case. Without being able to demonstrate safety cases, the contractors would not be allowed to work for SEPCo. And the safety cases were to cover all aspects of health, safety & environmental as well as asset integrity for facilities involved in SEPCos drilling and completions operations.
Says SEPCos HSE supervisor Joe Murphy, Although we were careful not to duplicate the safety cases that were legislatively driven in other parts of the world, we included all applicable regulatory requirements (IMO, Minerals Management Services and USCG), recognised industry codes, and SEPCo standards in our safety cases.
But the actual work of developing a safety case that was fit for purpose in the Gulf required a methodology, experience, skills and knowledge to work out how to build on the existing systems, which the contractors already had in place. SEPCo needed a third party to help with this. Det Norske Veritas was selected from a bidding process to assist with this task.
Role of the enabler
The role of an independent third party working with the contractors proved crucial to the success of developing and implementing what was initially viewed as a challenging, enormous task and effort. Knowing the goals, concerns and challenges of both SEPCo and contractors, DNV was able to develop a suitable and practical methodology and provide the necessary assistance to guide SEPCo and each contractor through the process. DNV worked closely with the two groups as a partner, mediator and resource. The mediating improved the process effectiveness to a degree beyond what SEPCo, as an operator, could have managed alone, says DNVs project manager Kal Jassal.
DNVs primary focus during the course of this project was to make sure each contractor took ownership of its respective demonstrations, while seeing DNV as a resource to help guide it through the process.
Says SEPCos Joe Murphy, DNV was the enabler in introducing safety cases successfully in the Gulf; it was not just a facilitator. DNV provided the methodology, knowledge and negotiation skills needed in order to carry out this project. And it even did so well within budget and schedule. SEPCo is now using DNV to help establish the safety cases and asset integrity demonstration for its onshore operations.
A contractors view
Bill Chiles is CEO of drilling company Chiles Offshore, a typical SEPCo contractor in the Gulf of Mexico. Says Chiles, Demonstrating safety cases was a mammoth task. It looked overwhelming at first, but teaming up with Shell and DNV gave us a boost. And the working relationship was facilitated greatly by the fact that we shared the same values. Chiles, Shell and DNV are extremely quality oriented and all willing to do whatever it takes to meet the HSE and asset integrity goals. We were planning to reach the same levels of quality, but now we had the chance to do so in one big leap, instead of working on our own for two or three years.
Chiles Offshore has a simple philosophy when it comes to health, safety and environment issues: Zero incidents, period.
Working with the safety cases enabled us to take a deep look at all we were doing. We got an overview while improving all our equipment in a very systematic manner, says Donald Gregg, senior vice president of operations & engineering.
Chiles Offshore emphasises that as it is taking on more and more work outside the US, the benefits of demonstrating internationally acknowledged safety cases will lead to more jobs and less duplication of documentation in preparing for new contracts.
