News Cuttings
North Sea Chapter honors regional best safety performances
The IADC North Sea Chapter (NSC) celebrated the safety successes of its members at the annual Safety Awards dinner held at the Mercure Ardoe House in Aberdeen on 13 May.
NSC chairman Glenn White, Rowan Drilling, welcomed an audience of 400, drawn from member companies and guests. IADC 2011 chairman Matt Ralls, Rowan, gave the keynote address, and James Munro from the UK HSE spoke on key safety issues.
For jackups, best safety performance awards were presented to Transocean in the under 1 million manhours category and Noble Drilling in the over 1 million manhour category. Ensco was the runner-up in the over 1 million manhours category.
For semisubmersibles, Noble collected the award for the under 500,000 manhours category, while Diamond Offshore picked up the honors for over 500,000 manhours.
The platforms award went to KCA DEUTAG.
The Noble George Sauvageau and Noble Lynda Bossler rigs received merit awards for outstanding safety performance without a restricted work transfer case (RWTC) or above for 9 years. KCA DEUTAG’s operations on the Brage Platform were recognized for achieving five years free of RWTC.
Thern Lifting Services picked up the associate members award for a new and improved manriding winch.
Stena Drilling collected the Environ-mental Award for the second year in a row.
The awards concluded with the chairman’s special award, which recognizes individuals working offshore who have made a special contribution to improving safety over the past year. Winner Tony Hinchliffe, Archer, was presented with a crystal award for his enthusiasm and desire to improve the safety of the working environment, including identifying a process improvement for tubular handling.
A total £4,400 was raised during the event for two cancer charities; NSC will match the donation amount.
Paul Breaux joins IADC as assistant director – land
Paul Breaux has joined IADC as assistant director – land operations. He began his career in the oil & gas industry as a site medic and safety coordinator in 1998 after serving in the US Navy as hospital corpsman. He served as HSE director for Dorado Oil Services before moving to a HSE consultant role for oilfield services companies throughout the continental United States.
Mr Breaux is a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers and a past president of its New Orleans Chapter. He’s also a former board member of the New Orleans Chapter of the National Safety Council.
IADC/Oman safety forum workshop highlights competency
On 15 May, IADC regional VP – Middle East & Africa Ken Fischer facilitated a workshop in Muscat, Oman, on “Using the IADC KSA Templates to Implement a Competence Assurance Program.” The event was held in cooperation with the Oman Leaders in Safety Forum, a contractor group of Petroleum Development Oman. Thirty people representing 17 companies attended the meeting.
The workshop agenda included topics on adapting KSA templates to the operations of specific companies, elements of a competence assurance program and utilizing the IADC Competence Assurance Accreditation Program for third-party verification.
Use of HSE cases discussed at Middle East Operations Forum
Nabors Drilling International hosted an IADC Middle East Operations Forum (MEOF) meeting in their new Jebel Ali facility on 9 May. Ken Fischer, IADC regional vice president – Middle East & Africa, conducted the meeting and reported on IADC activities and programs. The keynote discussion was “The Role of an HSE Case in an Effective HSE Management System and the Use of the IADC HSE Case Guidelines.” Wayne Ralph, Noble Drilling, made the presentation. The next MEOF meeting is scheduled for 23 October 2011.
