PIPELINE EHS AWARENESS

So with all the pipelines being laid across the world in response to the new found energy savior, natural gas, what is the do's and don't in safety?

The best approach to this topic is my favorite response to any EHS topic and that is to utilize a risk-based Health and Safety Management approach that is systematic and focuses on the realities of that location's particular situation.

Senior level managers of Oil & Gas companies typically have the mindset that falls into two groups; duplication of past documentation, and generating new documents.  This mindset is based upon whether the company finances or obtains financing for the project, and on the location. 

Here is how it typically works.

Oil & Gas companies that finance their own international projects are not financially bound by external standards and guidelines, and typically feel immune from immune from most of these standards.  The established pipeline operators, with extensive experience, most likely have management staff with many years of on-site construction experience in all aspects of pipeline construction.  These companies will have a Construction EHS Operations Manual (perhaps with dust in the back corner of the project manager’s office), which will be referenced within the contract, and so be contractually binding.  All parties, Contractors included, will be obligated to comply with the established construction practices in this manual. Because they have been doing these sorts of projects for several years they have a corporate way of doing it; we’ve always done it this way syndrome.

The EHS MS documentation for those companies that are successful will have been integrated into the process so that it is streamlined, and the work will be executed quickly and safely.  

In instances where a Company has financed an international project, the lenders will have many expectations outlined in an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that will require the development of numerous, predominantly Environmental and Social documents within the EHS MS.  Oil & Gas Companies with experience managing international pipeline construction projects generally have knowledgeable staff and an established Company Construction EHS MS (the same dusty one). 

Companies lacking an experienced construction team, often start a project with a severe handicap; lack of documentation.  Such companies may utilize an existing (plagiarize) company Operations EHS MS to show the lenders (regulators) that they are complying with the intent to control the risks associated with the construction process, not recognizing that operational risks and construction risks are as different as night and day, and must be managed using different methods.  Additionally, a construction and EHS management team with little or no practical knowledge of pipeline construction may be recruited for the project, drawn from the company & offshore exploration or refinery sectors.  

International Oil &Gas companies, that are accustomed to working under International Financial Institution (IFI) standards, with operations originating in those regions, with well established standards, often have a library of  EHS Management documents.  The problem is that the EHS document library of some of these companies is so extensive that without a systematic EMS management system in place much of the paperwork and processes serve no real purpose in identifying hazards, evaluating risks, or preventing accidents.  

Contracted construction management staff that have worked for these Oil & Gas companies on other projects, often wrongly assume that the way they operated in their last project is the way they proceed on all projects.

An EHS library comprised of many volumes of documents does not deliver a safer project; when was the last time you saw a project manager with a EHS document open?

A real EHS Management Systems has to be tailored to the requirements of the project, the safety culture of the national workforce and other variables, and may be different from project to project.   

A lack of a comprehensive knowledge of pipeline construction hazards and risks during the engineering phase, when documents and contracts are drawn up, is the single most frequent cause of the failure of an EHS management system, that can cause a project to be less profitable.  This is when the EHS program is blamed for the reduced profit, and any related issues that may occur.

A mistaken belief is that the EHS manager must be experienced with pipeline construction and possess a detailed knowledge of pipeline construction methods.  This comes usually from consultants, or people who want to sound like the sky is falling.  The truth is that a truly well rounded EHS manager is trained in how to facilitate the development of the EHS management system.  It is the operations people who are the experienced professionals.

Be wary of construction and QA management who may claim on their CVs to be experts in risk management, especially if they proclaim that they can do it all.  This also is not true.  

What is needed is a good corporate EHS manager that understands the systematic approach.  But in order to be a good corporate EHS Manager requires the backing of the corporate office, and cooperation from the operations team.  Otherwise the EHS management plan becomes a document that is drafted in a vacuum that is not based on reality, and is destined to fail.

A good corporate EHS manager that is integrated into the operation will be able to correlate lessons learned during the construction phase to be collated for future projects. This critical knowledge can then develop a EHS management system that is based on reality, and is supported by operations.

There is a perception that Health and Safety management is more difficult to assess than Environmental management because environmental issues for the most part are quantifiable and HS issues are perceived as not quantifiable.  This perception is incorrect.

A properly completed project risk assessment undertaken by a trained EHS professional will identify Physical, biological, social, and archeological baselines.  By the way these types of risk assessments are also called Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA).

Due to a universal lack of knowledge of historic pipeline specific lessons learned and to a fear of assuming liability, best-practice baselines in EHS are limited to compliance with work place regulations and codes of practice of the location, neither of which are aimed to manage risks specifically during pipeline construction.  Once again a good EHS manager will be able to build a program from the knowledge of the professionals, the people who do the job day in and day out.  This is there EHS management program.

Over the last 40 years two factors have a come into play which impact EHS management:

The workforce has aged and now it is not unusual to see septuagenarians as site supervision, welding pipe or operating side booms. During the 60s and 90’s, Construction Managers worked their way up through the trades during which time they learned the work inside out.

As the population has aged, the younger generation, brought up in the age of digital electronic devices, is not interested in this type of work, which includes arduous conditions, long hours, often poor accommodation, and isolation from family and friends.  This lack of interest, as the older generation has retired, has resulted in a loss of the accumulated knowledge of the previous generation and the widespread entry of management-engineers with little or no practical knowledge of the work process.  It is not uncommon to find workers in their 60’s working on international projects, and in some locations, which they have no business. 

So now it is not unusual to find foreign workers taking the positions, which adds another complication to the mix--Communication

Work Phase Risks are known by Pipeline Industry EHS experts. The Pipeline Construction Industry is more than 60 years old.  The equipment and methodology have not changed a great deal over time.  Many lessons have been learned.  Application of these lessons learned through seamless on site supervision will deliver project target EHS goals. If your project team does not have access to a database of these lessons learned, you would be well advised to bring in an external advisor to establish a usable EHS Management System that is duplicable and to provide mentoring for your EHS staff.

Most all countries have highly developed national EHS legislation, including stringent due diligence legislation, which assigns accountability and culpability following accidents.  As a large company, perceived to have deep pockets the application of those regulations can be more sever for you than a similar in-country company.

On all projects, locking the Contractor into written detailed EHS commitments, identified in a contractually binding commitments register, EHS plans, procedures, and other EHS documents, is one effective method of delivering an accident free project.  

Contractually binding documents which identify specific project EHS standards, objectives, expectations, penalties for non-compliance and rewards for exceptional performance, provide the assurance that all EHS hazards and risks will be identified and controlled and the work performed in a manner that will not pollute the environment, nor expose the workers and general public to risks.  

Without penalties for non-compliance, the Contractor management will not follow the established plan as closely as they will with monetary penalties attached to non-compliance.  These financial incentives ensure that your Contractors allocate sufficient resources to ensure their front line supervision, the right of way foreman, embrace the requirements in your EHS plans and procedures.  The success of your EHS management system hinges almost entirely on these foremen, many of whom will be, if not illiterate, be unable to digest a complicated EHS plan.  If the Contractor foremen do not buy into the EHS MS, accidents and losses will occur.  It is critical that during the planning and preparation of documents, to ensure that the Contract foreman is part of that process, so they are owners of the procedure and process.

Additionally, during the engineering phase of the project, early EHS input into the tender offering,  and contractually binding project documents such as the project execution plan, pipeline specifications and other critical project execution documents is essential to ensure that risks will be managed during execution.

Client project management staff, including EHS management, may have limited knowledge of the actual work methodology and less knowledge of the pipeline construction industry historic and reoccurring accidents and their causes.  If management staff does not have the accrued experience and knowledge of lessons learned, and is not familiar with how the work is executed, they will be a non-factor or worse in your management team, and will require external support.  Often this lack of experience in pipeline construction is a consequence of project HR recruitment policies. Industry specific experience takes second place to academic and engineering credentials on recruiting agency internet sites and job application forms, when sourcing EHS management staff for international projects.

There is a belief among EHS consultants and others that the corporate EHS manager must be trained in specifics of the industry.  This is a false belief, due to the fact that the corporate manager is a facilitator, while the operations’ staff are the experts.  No one knows the job, or should know it better than the operations people.  This is why the utilization of the LEAN process along with a risk assessment is critical in the development of the EHS MS.  The team comprised of operations and EHS devises together the EHS MS protocols, which are then formatted into workable documents that are usable by the operations group.  Otherwise if the EHS MS is authored by the EHS professional it may or may not be based on reality, and thus be one of those crazy EHS documents that are scoffed at by most operations’ staff.

EHS cannot be managed on a computer screen from a distance.  It must be managed primarily onsite, at ground level, through the use of those who are actually doing the work.