BackDROPS Forum - Aberdeen, 29th April 2014
DROPS UK Forum Minutes
Marcliffe Hotel, Aberdeen
Greg Reid opened the Forum, provided a Safety Brief and round-the-room introductions were made.
DROPS Update - Greg Reid, DROPS:
Membership:
Since last Forum we welcome the following new DROPS members:
We are also pleased to welcome the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) as associate members.
DROPS International:
DROPS North America forum will be held in Houston on 26th June. Potential presenters, sponsors and attendees are now being contacted and details posted to website.
DROPS Asia Forum in Singapore on 22nd May at Suntec City Convention Centre. Kindly sponsored by Talisman Malaysia and Keppel Offshore Marine, registration is via www.dropsasia.com. Further events are planned for China and Indonesia later this year with details posted to website in due course.
A Middle East DROPS Forum was held in Oman on 31st March. Sponsored by PDO, Sea and Land Drilling, Dalma, KCA and Weatherford the event was very well attended and minutes are now available on the website. The next Middle East event is being planned for autumn in UAE. Details on website soon.
Keep an eye on the "Events" section at www.dropsonline.org for latest details of all upcoming events.
DROPS Training:
Since last forum, several UK DROPS Train-the-Trainer sessions have been held at Silverdot's offices and another is being held next week. See the DROPS Training section of www.dropsonline.org for details of all upcoming training
International training was held in Houston and Oman in March. Training is available in Brisbane, Australia on 29th May. Training is also available in USA: in Houston on June 25th and Lafayette on 1st July. Unfortunately, next month's Singapore DROPS training is fully subscribed. Further DROPS training is being planned for Middle East, Canada and South East Asia.
For further details and registration for any DROPS training contacttraining@dropsonline.org.
2014 European DROPS Forums:
The remaining 2014 UK DROPS Forums will be held in Aberdeen at the Marcliffe Hotel on Thursday 4th September and Thursday 27th November.
The annual Norway Forum will be held in Stavanger on Thursday September 25th with venue and schedule to be announced soon. Thanks to Statoil for supporting this Forum.
A Forum is still under consideration for Copenhagen in the autumn, subject to interest.
Today's Presenters:
Greg thanked the Presenters: Jan Olav sharing Statoil's recent scaffolding experiences; Philip from Azimuth Corporation discussing DROPS and the Human Factor Synergy, Donald providing his usual HSE update and Jim Smith of Safety Grip Solutions with a tabletop demonstration of safety mat products. Visit www.safetygripsolutions.com
After coffee break, Allen Smith raising the question 'is dropped object prevention akin to rocket science?' Thereafter, attention turning to DROPS Focus Groups with an update on our existing efforts and the opportunity to discuss and nominate potential focus topics for the year ahead.
Session to close with a brief open floor session for Q&As, feedback etc
Safety Alerts and Lessons Learned:
Greg noted that a number of Alerts and Lessons Learned would be presented and with approval these presentations would be made available to download from the website with these brief minutes.
Greg reviewed an MSF Alert issued earlier to all members in respect of covers for vessel deck anchor points discovered in forklift pockets on containers. The MSF Alert can be viewed / downloaded at http://www.marinesafetyforum.org/upload-files//safetyalerts/msf-safety-flash-14.06.pdf
Greg shared an IRATA safety bulletin raised in response to a series of dropped objects. DSL's Chris Warne noted his connections with IRATA and agreed to explore opportunities to further share information between organisations.
Attendees were invited to continue sharing alerts and lessons learned, and discuss or recommend presentations / speakers, by contacting admin@dropsonline.org
DROPS Backroom:
Rogue's Gallery - update programme has commenced. Thanks to Shell for their sponsorship and all who have donated exhibits.
Reliable Securing - Greg met with SfS Norway to discuss the guidance and they foresee very minor barriers to the harmonising of their guidance and ours for the next revision. Russian translation is available to download. Arabic, Malay and Portuguese (Brazilian) translations are in hand but we do seek member support with additional translations.
OGUK have requested our input / assistance in embellishing the dropped object prevention sections of their next issue (6) of Cargo Packing and Handling Guidelines. Agreed to offer this task to the Backloading Focus Group
No response to our request for contacts within container design sector however Swire's Rep has now agreed to explore communications
Reminder that payment for some campaign pack subscriptions remains seriously overdue - members requested to expedite payment.
Greg's DROPS update presentation is available to download here
Scaffolding Challenges in South Korea - Jan Olav Farstad, Statoil
Jan Olav presented some challenges and issues that have been encountered with a newbuild project in South Korea. The background was that there are generally poor scaffolding standards in the construction yard, quite a few personal injuries and a high number of dropped objects. General practices and standards for the yard were discussed and typical observations included use of rope instead of proper railing; trip hazards; missing toe boards; and poor anchor points for fall arresters. Several photos of the yard were shown and examples of safety issues were highlighted. Also shown, was a Statoil presentation to the South Korean yard to show side by side pictures of how they solved issues with gaps between boards in Norway. A general discussion ensued in the room, highlighting questions raised at the yard, other operators' experiences in SE Asia, communication and behavioural challenges and potential solutions. Statoil goal is to achieve a scaffolding standard at the yard… ideally the British Standard… but this remains distant. Examples were shown of some of Statoil's basic safety posters developed to effectively increase the awareness of the local workforce. Jan Olav asked the audience (and the broader DROPS community) to feedback any solutions, suggestions or lessons learned on the subject. Please email directly at JANFA@statoil.com .
Some attending members were able to feedback directly with personal experiences of similar issues. One solution offered was to have scaffolding clearly scoped, assigned and reviewed at the initial contract stage. Another member used SGB materials and expertise to help with local training and safety issues. Also, the Scaf-tag system and training was found helpful. Saudi Aramco were noted to have an excellent pictorial scaffold guide and Greg reminded the audience that they all have the excellent Cost of Accidents DVD by Harsco as part of DROPS member Campaign Packs.
Jan Olav's presentation is not presently approved for web-posting.
Dropped C-Plate Incident - Jan Olav Farstad, Statoil:
Jan Olav provided a brief informal overview of a very recent incident involving a C-Plate that fell from the Elevator. Full details will be available after initial investigations have been concluded.
DROPS and the Human Factor Synergy - Philip Ebeneyer, Azimuth Corporation:
Philip gave a presentation that observed human factors and how they influence how we work, particularly in regard to safety and more specifically DROPS. He covered a variety of psychological topics that the term Human Factor encompasses. He considered how human behaviours could be influenced, looking at cognition and perception and the use of clever graphic design and instructional message design in communication. Philip noted the success of his "Go Home Safe" language-free instructional DVDs (including Tools @ Height) and their capacity to deliver clear instruction across a multi-cultural and multi-lingual workforce.
Philip went on to present a short video that demonstrates his ISEA app suite which simplifies the gathering, formatting, collation, reporting and exchange of information and data. Particularly useful at remote locations, eg offshore, it is compatible with smartphones and pocket tablets and is ideally suited to data gathering from surveys, audits and checklists, eg DROPS surveys. For a free trial members should emailinfo@azimuth-isea.com or, for further details, visit the website www.azimuth-isea.com
Rig-Grip Safety Mats - Tabletop Demonstration - Jim Smith, Safety Grip Solutions:
Jim provided literature, samples and informative commentary on his range of Rig-grip drill floor safety mats, in particular his "Red Zone" specific matting. For more information, visit the website www.safetygripsolutions.com or emailinfo@safetygripsolutions.com
HSE Update - Donald Dobson, HSE:
Presented were the HSE statistics as analysed by Donald. The figure included items up to April. The current trend demonstrates that Quarter 1 for 2014 is on par with 2013. From Jan to date showed that 25 incidents had occurred. Further analysis of these incidents showed that on the rig floor, 9 were due to dropped objects within Derrick and Well Operations. These incidents included a shackle (35 kg) falling 4.5m to the rig floor, a locking pin (3.15k) falling 15m to rig floor and a Latch pin (1kg) dropping 35m to rig floor. The HSE statistics from Crane and Lifting were shown and 5 incidents were recorded to date for 2014. These included: part of a crane wire sheave, and a CCTV camera falling 14m to the walkway after being struck by a crane load. There were 11 other dropped objects incidents in 2014 that did not fall into the previous categories and these included: an inspection hatch (3kg) found fallen 10m from a redundant module, and a door canopy (10.7kg) falling 2.6m to the floor. Click here to download the presentation.
It's Not Rocket Science? - Allen Smith, DROPS:
Allen reiterated the DROPS message that preventing Dropped Objects can be achieved by revisiting the basic principles and by using the basic DROPS guidance: DROPS Calculator, Supply Chain Model, Risk Management Model, and Preventive and Mitigating Controls, including training and awareness. Allen alluded to the Swiss Cheese Barrier model in highlighting the application of controls and stressed the importance of identifying AND understanding risks. Allen's presentation used a number of visual examples and references to highlight hazards and he also demonstrated correct use of the DROPS Calculator as part of a broader Risk Assessment process. Allen discussed risk management, the difference between preventive and mitigating controls, the impact of change management and the requirement for all of this within any business model. He concluded that many challenges lie ahead in dropped object prevention but we will achieve most. Allen's presentation is excellent for generating discussion and focus on the DROPS basics among any group and is available to download here
Back-loading Focus Group will provide an update at next Forum. They will be requested to take on the review role for the "dropped objects" section of the OGUK Cargo Handling Guidelines
Asset Integrity Focus Group will provide an update at the next Forum.
DROPS Competency - Alistair Tong provided an update to the attendees. The group's ambition was to pursue an agreed standard for industry training for DROPS. Alistair had varying degrees of success. He approached OPITO and they tabled the matter at a meeting where it was agreed they should seek further feedback from their members. OPITO subsequently advised that they are not keen to introduce another standard as they believe that all members already have a standard of their own in place. This contradicts the view of our Focus Group and the many members who voted and supported for this Focus Group. Moving ahead, the Competency Focus Group are canvassing your feedback to confirm that there still remains a need, passion and enthusiasm for a Competency Standard among our membership. Please send your responses to the workgroup via atong@adc-engineering.com
Future Focus Topics:
Attending members were invited to spend some time discussing potential future Focus Topics with those seated at their tables and for each table to arrive at 2 or 3 suggested topics that could be considered for our attention. The topics suggested were as follows:
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Asset Integrity
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Pre-lift inspection checklist/prompt card
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Contractor standard for carrying out surveys
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Subsea drops calculator
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Cross industry with construction
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Red zone
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How do we Inform supply chain and manufacturers of best practice (DROPS guidance)
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Maintenance and inspection standards for periodic secondary retention and securing
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Environmental/weather impacts
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Redundant equipment /asset integrity
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Human factors - behavioural safety
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Snagging hazards - ID and awareness
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Reliable securing specifically for derricks
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Routine jobs not always routine - TRA/JSA
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Consequence awareness
These suggestions will be voted upon at the next European Forum in September, with the top 3 or 4 topics being selected as 2015 Focus Groups, subject to support and volunteer participation. If you wish to suggest a topic that is not on the above list, please advise your suggestion to secretary@dropsonline.org.
It was also confirmed that the DORIS Focus Group will reform later this year and that the management team will initially draft updates to the DROPS Best Practice suite for review by the Steering Committee.
Open Floor and Any Other Business:
Greg thanked everyone for their participation and invited the attendees to offer any issues for further discussion in the open floor session.
A query was raised on the imminent impact that changes to the UK offshore sector's Aviation rules may have on the logistics of manning many activities offshore, including DROPS-related programmes, surveys, training etc. Greg noted that this was a subject that would benefit from a broad and varied discussion, noting that it may be well suited as a thread on a new Bulletin Board feature that will be available on the redesigned DROPS website which goes live this summer.
Next meeting
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Date: Thursday 4 September 2014
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Time: 0945-1230
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Venue: Marcliffe Hotel, Aberdeen
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Host: DROPS Global Steering Committee Member