Step-By-Step Safety

?The STEPS meeting alliance signees included, from left to right, Richard Tapio, OSHA Region VI, Lubbock-area director; Andy Cobb, secretary, Permian Basin STEPS; Gene McCann, vice president; Jerry Jacobs, president; and Dean McDaniel, OSHA Region VI, director.

?A safety-networking program, STEPS (service, transmission, and exploration and production safety), was conceived in South Texas by oil and gas operators working in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Region VI OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration). Region VI includes Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Today, STEPS is gaining popularity nationwide, and especially in the Permian Basin, to encourage widespread use of safety scorecards.

Region VI has historically been one of the underperforming safety regions because it holds most of the country’s oil and gas operations. In the past several years, as drilling activity has grown, many new, inexperienced workers have joined rig crews. An inadequate number of experienced supervisors has resulted in a lack of safety training. The purpose of STEPS is to create a regional network of oil and gas operators and contractors to share lessons learned from previous adverse events and to disseminate best safety practices.

Last year, Oxy Permian Ltd., a Houston-based division of Occidental Petroleum Corp. , spearheaded a local chapter to serve the surrounding area’s oil and gas community.

“There was a lot of direction provided from the South Texas STEPS association,” says Eddie Gonzales, senior health, environment and safety specialist for Oxy Permian. “They proposed the idea of opening a chapter in the Permian Basin to OSHA, and here we are.”

?While raising the BOP to move out the slips, the crew uses the AG tool to hold the ring up from a safe distance (3 feet). Then the ring is fished out using the AG tool.

Richard Tapio, the local area director for OSHA’s South Texas association, invited John Kirby, health, environmental and safety manager for Oxy USA Inc. and Occidental Permian Ltd., to participate in starting the new Midland-based chapter.

“Once this gets rolling, the industry embraces it because of the success stories,” says Gonzales. “The biggest difference now between our two chapters is that the South Texas meeting is attended by about 40 representatives, while the Permian Basin meetings include an average of about 140.” In fact, about 500 companies have participated in one or more of the Permian Basin meetings since its inception.

OSHA has been trying for several years to open the lines of communication between all types of industries and itself, says Gonzales. “Our industry is very interested in building a stronger relationship with OSHA as well, and these types of organizations will go a long way in building that trust that both sides are looking for.”

More recently, OSHA seeks to establish partnerships with companies to evaluate their safety systems and give feedback without assessing penalty. OSHA would like to see the industry help itself through programs like STEPS.

“They will still come in as industry experts and give advice, regulatory interpretation and statistics,” says Gonzales. “But they also listen to the sector’s real problems and success stories.”

When Oxy Permian hires contractors and trucking companies, one of the main evaluation metrics is each company’s capability to improve safety.

“For example, one of our top-performing trucking companies, Paul Musslewhite Trucking Co. Ltd., has done an amazing job of engineering out hazards from their equipment. Hauling fluid, tubulars and tanks in the oil fields of West Texas can be pretty hazardous sometimes,” he says. “It’s more complicated than a procedure or policy, but we want them to share those solutions with other companies.”

?The concept of STEPS is to bring operators and contractors together to share lessons learned, effective programs and useful checklists and forms in an open environment, he says.

?“We want to share everything with everyone. It’s a challenge, since many companies use safety as a competitive advantage, but we can start sharing some programs that will better protect every company’s employees. To me, the programs aren’t the competitive advantage, it’s the performance, and STEPS is helping provide the forum for turning a new chapter in West Texas.”

?Some of the recent topics at the STEPS meetings include hydrogen sulfide, fall protection, weather-related issues, violence in the workplace, and handling and disposing of naturally occurring radioactive material. A system to mitigate workplace violence was recently revealed at a meeting.

?“I come from the field, so I am an oil and gas guy,” he says. “Coming into the office was unique because I have never worked in a low-rise building before. At one of the STEPS meetings, we had a presentation about violence in the workplace. I was stunned that there was so much helpful information to be shared about a subject that a lot of people don’t think exists.”

?Gonzales brought the information back and shared it with Oxy’s office managers. “Before, I didn’t realize there was a need for a mechanism to initiate an emergency response quickly in an office,” he says.

?As a result of the information, Oxy is looking into additional systems that might be used in emergency situations. One recent example of a best practice for safety was found on the rigs. Well-servicing rigs conduct some of the most hazardous work in the industry, so rig work has a tendency for causing a high number of hand injuries. Specifically, the procedure for placing a blow-out preventer (BOP) gasket or ring in the rig equipment to control well pressure can be quite dangerous. Historically, an employee would hold the BOP ring in place with his hand while the equipment was positioned. The BOP is seated on the wellhead and the ring must be positioned between two large and heavy flanged connections that are moved together.

?In June 2008, Amalio Garcia, an Oxy Permian workover and completion specialist, developed a BOP ring adjustment tool to position the gasket ring in place as the BOP mechanism is assembled.

This is a little cheap tool that a welder can make in about 15 minutes to minimize finger injury risks,” says Gonzales. “Using the AG tool, named after Garcia, means never having to stick your hand in there again. It’s such a simple tool, but you can see other companies’ rigs with workers still using their hands. This is the kind of effective safety procedure that we need to disseminate throughout the industry. We’ve been putting these rings in BOPs by hand for many years, and this tool can reduce a significant percentage of hand injuries.”

?Safety indicators

?To evaluate safety performance, Oxy Permian uses both lagging and leading indicators. Lagging indicators are a history of injuries, while leading indicators are proactive processes used to avoid injuries. Lagging indicators are not always a good barometer of safety because some companies may fail to properly report all injuries. But using both lagging and leading indicators, encouraged by STEPS and documented on a safety scorecard, gives a good snapshot of past and future safety performance.

?“Here in the Permian Basin, we started the safety scorecard this year. Kirby decided that any companies that attend the STEPS meetings will receive points on their Oxy safety scorecard. His decision has helped to lead the local industry community in a more proactive direction.”

??Kirby and Gonzales are executive committee members for the Permian Basin STEPS chapter. Oxy is the largest producer of oil in Texas and New Mexico, and with that position comes industry responsibility as a safety leader, says Gonzales.

??The committee takes special caution to ensure the meetings do not evolve into a marketing “dog and pony” show for safety manufacturers and service salespeople.?

??“We don’t want to have presentations from providers who want to use the meeting as an opportunity to sell supplies or equipment,” he says. “We recognize that it’s very challenging for a company to talk about an item of equipment that can substantially improve safety, without slipping into a sales pitch. But I am personally trying to keep an eye on that. So far, we’ve had a variety of excellent presentations and speakers.”

?Meanwhile, every six months, Oxy hands out awards to top-performing companies that are evaluated by statistics of lagging and leading safety indicators. Some of these award-winning companies attend the STEPS meetings to share success stories. Gonzales hopes that companies in the audience will approach the award-winner and ask for details on its safety program.

Before each meeting, the STEPS executive committee sends out a monthly agenda so attendees know in advance the topics for discussion. Feedback from attendees is critical for achieving the organization’s long-term goals.

“The STEPS network can help change the mindset of oil and gas operations in West Texas,” Gonzales says.