2.1 Workforce Conditions and Safety
Progress to date: achievements and difficulties encountered
The relationship with the unions
In the past few years, the industry has developed its relationship with trade unions through a number of actions, including UKOOA's revitalised Memorandum of Understanding with the Trade Unions Congress (TUC) via the Inter-Union Offshore Oil Committee (IUOOC); the Offshore Contractors' Association's partnership agreement with the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) and the General Municipal and Boilermakers Union (GMB); similar arrangements between the UK Drilling Contractors' Association and the AEEU; union participation in the Step Change in Safety initiative launched in 1997 and relaunched in 2000, and in OGITF/PILOT.
Workforce health and safety
Since the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988 and Lord Cullen's report of 1990, the entire safety regime offshore has been restructured with the introduction of Safety Cases for all installations, workforce safety committees and representatives and the total rewriting of necessary regulations. Safety systems and procedures have been upgraded and health checks and training have been augmented. The Step Change in Safety initiative has increasingly focused on the 'hearts and minds' or behavioural aspects of safe working. There are good reasons to target the behavioural aspects of safety as part of an integrated approach to safety management. During the last 10 years, major improvements in safety have been achieved through better hardware and design and improved safety management systems and procedures. Safety performance improvements, however, have been less than hoped for in recent years and it is accepted that a new approach is required to encourage further improvement (see Action Plan points below).
Vantage passport system
Vantage is a safety passport for everyone working offshore. Its recent introduction will provide a readily accessible database, benefiting both employees and employers by improved management of risks. The card will carry each offshore employee's particulars, skills and safety training and it will monitor offshore visits and working hours.
Improvement in workforce conditions
Strikes offshore in the summers of 1989 and 1990 marked a turning point in the industry's relationship with its workforce and set in motion changes which, with the Employment Relations Act 1999, culminated in the agreements and understandings referred to above, improved terms and conditions and better procedures for settling disagreements and disputes.
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Workforce safety: setting new targets
We re-affirm our commitment to placing the highest priority on the safety of our workforce. Step Change in Safety aims to deliver the aspiration of a 50% improvement in safety over the 1996 baseline. UKOOA and the industry's other trade associations have re-affirmed their commitment to Step Change with the support of the TUC.
In addition, Step Change will co-ordinate efforts to achieve new targets being set by the Offshore Safety Division of the HSE, the targets contained in the DETR strategy statement 'Revitalising Health and Safety' and in the long-term occupational health strategy 'Securing Health Together' (produced jointly by the HSC, DETR, DoH, DSS and DfEE). Among these targets are a 10% reduction in the rate of injuries or ill health from manual handling, 15% reduction in reported incidences of slips, trips and falls and a 15% reduction in accidents and dangerous occurrences involving lifting and mechanical handling.
Workforce safety: behavioural change, leadership focus
Personal commitment, leadership and industry-wide behavioural changes are the key drivers to improve safety performance. We re-affirm our determination to achieve the targeted step change in safety. One means is through developing personal safety contracts, a commitment to personal actions to be undertaken by each individual. We are launching 'Changing Minds' - a practical guide for behavioural change in the oil and gas industry, which emphasises the importance of changing behaviour at all levels within an organisation and the need for this to start with leadership.
Workforce safety: developing leading indicators
Monitoring appropriate leading performance indicators can give advance warning of weaknesses in safety management and allow corrective action to be taken before accidents occur. We have initiated a cross-industry task group to develop a guidance document in early 2001 on the effective use of 'leading' performance indicators. Leading indicators measure the 'inputs' (i.e., positive actions) being made to improve the management of safety. They provide a more meaningful basis for developing workforce involvement, motivating change and giving recognition for achievements, than conventional 'lagging' indicators, such as safety statistics, that measure 'outputs', i.e. safety management failures.
Workforce safety: industry engagement and workforce involvement
Achieving the safety improvements to which the industry has committeditself, requires commitment and active participation at all levels and from all sectors within the industry. While cross-industry involvement in safety has increased significantly since the start of Step Change, there are parts of the industry which could take this further. We are, therefore, endeavouring to expand safety networks into these areas, to identify role models and encourage wider workforce participation to achieve true cross-industry involvement.
Workforce conditions: Working Time Directive
New arrangements with the unions provide a more secure framework within which to manage terms and conditions of employment for the offshore workforce who predominantly work a cyclical pattern of two weeks on and two weeks off. Liaison among all participants has improved, allowing informed discussion about main issues and more effective resolution of differences. The European Union Working Time Directive will be implemented offshore by August 2003. We will be preparing for this, working in co-operation with unions, contractors and government.
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Striking a Balance Index
