BackDROPS Forum - Aberdeen, 12th September 2013
Greg Reid opened the Forum, provided a Safety Brief and round-the-room introductions were made.
DROPS Update – Greg Reid, DROPS
Membership:
Delighted to welcome the following new DROPS members:
Ventura Petroleo, Brazil
Majulia, Malaysia
Global Integrated Services, UK
Global Energy Group (Access & Coatings), UK
Global Lifting Services, Nigeria
Tool@rrest, UK
Tesco Corporation, USA
Rigmar, UK
OFTS, USA
Hatch Energy, UK
Climb Offshore Alpinismo Industrial, Brazil
DROPS International:
Very successful DROPS Forum held in Stavanger, Norway 2 weeks ago as part of a broader Falling Objects Conference hosted by Statoil and potentially the model for future Norway Forums.
DROPS North America will meet in Houston in October to establish Focus Group(s) to develop / resolve local issues. They will report back to us thereafter.
DROPS Asia will host a Forum in Brunei on November 28th kindly sponsored by Shell. Registration is now open online at www.dropsasia.com.
DROPS are likely to present as SNS Pool Safety day in Netherlands in October
Proposals are now being considered for a Middle East DROPS Forum in UAE during Q1 of 2014.
Early discussions underway for a possible DROPS Forum in South Africa in 2014
Keep an eye on the “Events” section at www.dropsonline.org for latest details of all upcoming events.
DROPS Training:
Since last forum, several DROPS Train-the-Trainer sessions were delivered at Silverdot’s Banchory offices and sessions will continue to be hosted regularly in UK – see www.dropsonline.org for details.
Training has also been held in Malaysia, Australia, USA and Ghana.
DROPS training is planned for Middle East (details online now), Sakhalin and South East Asia.
DROPS Forums:
Next Forum in Aberdeen on Wednesday 4th December includes festive lunch. Kindly ask that you respond to invitation process and advise any subsequent cancellation as early as possible.
Forum dates for 2014 will be an output of December’s Forum proceedings.
Today’s Presenters:
Greg welcomed and thanked today’s presenters
Many thanks to our Presenters. We welcomed Simon Noack from Pro3 Products of Australia who demonstrated his products during coffee break and at the end of the Forum. Participants were encouraged to visit Simon’s stand.
DROPS Website:
DROPS Website has now been moved to a new host / server in preparation for relaunch later this year. This presented a few glitches and IT problems which have now been overcome.
DROPS Backroom:
Membership subscription renewals were issued in August - thanks to all who have processed promptly
We are receiving a steady stream of requests for hardware/products and third party services. As DROPS don’t endorse any, our standard response is to direct the Enquirer to our member list and ask that they ensure supplier / service provider conforms to DROPS Best Practice, eg Reliable Securing. New website will offer member companies the opportunity to add brief description of any services / products offered.
We always wish to hear of and share details of new products, practices, systems, tools and techniques that can help in our fight against dropped objects
Safety Alerts and Lessons Learned:
A number of Alerts and Lessons Learned will be presented today. Most of these presentations are made available to download from the website.
Please continue to share alerts and lessons learned with us – send details to admin@dropsonline.org
Similarly, if you would like to discuss a presentation slot or recommend an appropriate presentation/speaker, please contact admin@dropsonline.org
Dropped Objects – Aligning Understandings and Solutions – Sean Young, BP
Sean gave an overview of a Dropped Object communication pack that he developed to help raise DROPS awareness and share learnings across the different departments within BP. Sean reviewed the BP statistics for dropped objects and recognised that DROPS was an issue in many different areas, not just Wells/Drilling. Over 5 years, there was an average of 13 dropped objects each month in BP’s North Sea operations. The Wells Department recognised there was a problem some time ago and have had varying degrees of success in reducing dropped objects but BP are now focusing on dropped object prevention across all departments and areas.
The communications pack was essentially aimed at the Operational side of the business and focused on how to translate current best practices that are delivered within Wells department. Sean highlighted how BP raised awareness and engaged the workforce. This included examples and reviews of real incidents along with film clips, slide packs and posters that were used to promote interest and awareness. This included a particularly harrowing scaffolding incident that had been re-enacted for educational purposes. A number of special focus areas were addressed including weather (snow coverage / high winds) and helicopter operations (inadequately secured equipment and equipment stored close to the helideck and subject to downdrafts). The Communication pack included presenter’s guidance / prompts and is intended to be cascaded through the workforce with the goal of engaging as many people as possible, making them more accountable and above all, keeping it simple. The results have now resulted in 30% reduction of dropped objects within all non Wells/Drilling Departments. Positive feedback from safety advisors and OIMs helped the roll out and the continued campaign which is ongoing.
HSE Update – Donald Dobson, HSE
Donald presented the HSE statistics for the period up to September2013, confirming that were solely offshore UK oil and gas based statistics. Analysis shows there is a similar trend across the years, despite significant work being done to prevent dropped objects. However Q3 for 2013 is looking very positive. Donald highlighted where the incidents occurred and what where the main causes. He also presented more specific details on a number of Drillng /Wells incidents, including a 32kg valve that fell 13.5m to the rig floor; a stud and nut that fell 25m to the platform deck and also where an IP suffered head injuries when a sheave parted and fell 10m. Describing certain Crane and Lifting incidents, Donald highlighted examples of a crane boom striking and dislodging a piece of redundant communications equipment (2.1kg falling 30m) and a 25kg sheave falling 45m to the deck. Further examples are included in Donald’s presentation which is available todownload
DROPS Campaigning in Production Operations – Olga Semenchik, Sakhalin Energy (SEIC)
Olga opened her presentation with an overview of the Sakhalin-2 Project and she began with a short video clip of a very recent incident reflecting on the importance of effective DROPS awareness. In this incident, a lifting beam was being lifted when the inner sleeve fell and missed 4 workers very narrowly.
Olga went on to review the steps that Sakhalin Energy have taken in order to deliver a top quartile safety performance. Their statistics showed the majority of dropped object incidents actually happening in the office and yard facilities, including an example of an item falling from the ceiling within the company nursery just before the children were due to arrive. Other examples included roofing components falling on walkways and a tall cupboard falling in the coffee area.
Sakhalin Energy began their programme of dropped object prevention in 2009 by implementing best practice, developing a communications campaign and cascading DROPS training through the organisation. DROPS risk assessments and toolbox talks are now routinely undertaken as well as a formal and regular programme of DROPS inspections. Ongoing initiatives are also underway to encourage the prevention of dropped objects within the offices and company housing facilities. The SEIC presentation is available to download
Baker Hughes Dropped Object Incidents – Mike Travis, Baker Hughes
Mike shared with the forum the 2012 statistics for incidents globally within Baker Hughes. This showed dropped objects as the second most prevalent type of incident with some resulting in injury and sadly 1 fatality. An overview of the Baker Hughes data for the past 3 years was reviewed and a number of specific incidents were presented in greater detail. Analysis of the Baker Hughes statistics shows that most dropped object incidents were happening at onshore facilities. In their continued commitment to reduce dropped objects, a DROPS programme has now been implemented and this has been integrated into the Baker Hughes Health & Safety Management System.
Our Progress in Dropped Object Prevention – Donald Napier, Marathon
Donald presented the background to their development of a DROPS programme for Marathon’s Brae field (3 fixed offshore installations and associated onshore supply / support chain. The goal of the programme is)to raise awareness on dropped object prevention and to prevent recurring incidents. A standard has been developed covering onshore and offshore and this is configured as 3 key elements: pro-active measures, dynamic measures and static measures. Donald spoke about the structure of the Marathon Dropped Object Management System and described how the model works. The tools used included safety audits, DROPS training and hazard hunts, pre-task assessments, guidance for using temporary elevated areas and clear expectations were defined. Dynamic and static controls were explained in more details and these included working at height and integrity inspection work. The successes of the programme were shared, noting that the overall DROPS focus in Brae operations is very high and this is showing positive results in performance. The next stage is to include Platform managers assuming responsibility for managing DROPS within their own facilities, continuing the proactive focus on potential dropped objects and training to provide dropped object awareness. The full presentation is available to download
2013 Focus Group Updates – Focus Group leaders
Greg introduced the focus groups and invited the leaders to give an update on what they have achieved to date:
Reliable Securing – Revision 3 is mostly ready and Allen provided a brief overview of where the latest update changed. A final approval draft will be issued to members and the booklet will go to print ready for pre-release at the December forum in Aberdeen. Sakhalin Energy have kindly offered to assist with a Russian translation in the new year and any organisation that can assist with further translation is encouraged to contact us at admin@dropsonline.org
Back-loading – A kick-off meeting is established for 1st November and any new members are encouraged to join this group. Please contact secretary@dropsonline.org
New build / post refit – This group will not be progressing and we will look to colleagues in DROPS Asia for feedback from efforts they have undertaken in this area.
Asset Integrity – Several group meetings have taken place and the next meeting will see CNR sharing their efforts on the topic with the focus group.
DROPS Competency – A few meetings have kicked off and an agreement for a recommended competency standard is going to be worked on as a deliverable. New leader has been allocated and an update will be shared at the forum in December.
Open Floor and Any Other Business
DORIS was discussed noting that the trials had indicated good potential for the system but very poor uptake in terms of data population. It was highlighted that a fully operational and global DORIS system would require considerable effort, including upgraded infrastructure and significant IT support. The original DORIS focus group will be recalled to formally undertake a feasibility assessment and to revert to DROPS with their recommendations for the way ahead.
Greg thanked everyone for their participation and invited the attendees to offer any issues for further discussion in the open floor session.
Next (European) meeting
Date: Wednesday 4 December 2013
Time: 0945-1230 followed by Christmas lunch
Venue: Marcliffe Hotel, Aberdeen
Host: DROPS Global Steering Committee Members