2012 IADC chairman Rabun challenges industry to raise the level of safety
By Joanne Liou, editorial coordinator
The industry has made strides in safety; nonetheless, there still is work to be done to continue that momentum to improve safety. IADC’s 2012 chairman Dan Rabun, Ensco chairman and CEO, challenged the industry to take a stance to raise its safety standards as he welcomed conference attendees to the IADC Health, Safety, Environment and Training Conference & Exhibition on 7 February in Houston.
Referring to his keynote address from the 2010 IADC HSE&T Conference, themed “Preparing for Tomorrow,” Mr Rabun reflected on key words from that previous speech: collaboration, reputation, process safety and government reaction. Just months after that conference, the Macondo incident occurred, followed by other safety incidents in Australia and Nigeria. “Chief among these lessons is the need to increase the focus on process safety and ensuring collaboration between all parties involved,” Mr Rabun said.
Recruiting, retaining and training a sufficient number of competent crew members remains an industry challenge. “There are more than 129 rigs under construction that will need to be crewed with thousands of new workers as they are delivered over the next few years,” Mr Rabun said. “We need to ensure that we maintain high standards of formal training and competency when we fill these positions.”
Praising the industry’s successes, Mr Rabun addressed the fact that thousands of wells have been successfully drilled around the world utilizing industry best practices. Based on investigative reports, Mr Rabun stated that “if best oilfield practices had been followed and better collaboration had occurred, recent incidents might have never occurred.”
“The key, therefore, is to ensure that we redouble our focus on risk mitigation and carefully following best oilfield practices, without exception. We shouldn’t attribute responsibility for these recent incidents on any one party; this is an industry issue that must be dealt with.”
The 2012 IADC HSE&T Conference & Exhibition in Houston examined the impacts of accident prevention, environmental protection, competency and training in the drilling industry and drew more than 500 participants from around the world.
Read the latest editorial by Mr Rabun here and in the January/February 2012 issue of Drilling Contractor.
Learn more about Mr Rabun, the 2012 IADC chairman, here and in the January/February 2012 issue of Drilling Contractor.
