“Are there any plans for Safer Together to bring Health Safety & Environment Representatives together from across the industry?” was a question posed by the frontline workforce to our industry’s senior leaders in 2020. In response, a year later on 31st August the inaugural Safer Together Health Safety & Environment Representatives (HSER) Forum was held in Perth.
The HSER Forum was co-sponsored by the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) and the Australian Gas Industry Trust (AGIT) and supported by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA). The theme for the Forum was Engaged & Connected and the 51 HSERs, from 17 companies across the Industry, who participated in the event had the opportunity to network with their peers, share their experiences and learn more about the Safer Together HSER Framework and toolkit available to assist them in carrying out their role.
The HSERs present at the event participated in a practical, thought-provoking Helping Hands engagement activity, working as a team and practicing their communication skills for altruistic objectives to assemble 17 prosthetic hands for donation to amputee landmine victims in the developing world.
Photo: Participants at the Forum proudly display the carrying case decorated by their team containing the prosthetic hand they assembled.
The presentation by Derrick O’Keeffe from the Offshore Regulator NOPSEMA, covering the current industry performance and challenges, emphasised the importance of the role of HSERs in preventing accidents and incidents. NOPSEMA took the time to answer open questions from the HSERs and encouraged them to sign up to the NOPSEMA website and utilise the available resources.
HSERs, Bec Thompson from Woodside and Mark McDonough from Monadelphous, presented the Safer Together HSER framework and Toolkit and spoke of their positive experiences in using the tools, encouraging everyone to sign up to the Safer Together website to gain access to the HSER resources. The HSERs present unanimously agreed that they wanted Safer Together to maintain the communications, facilitate networking and promote sharing between HSERs. Details of how to sign up are in this video clip.
In his keynote address, Neville Carrington - Vice President Operations, INPEX and Safer Together WA/NT Safety Leaders Group Operator Co-Chair endorsed the commitment by Industry senior leaders to support the HSERs in their critical role at the front line.
The Forum provided a unique opportunity to get direct feedback from the HSERs, who were asked:
- What is going well?
- What is most challenging?
- What do you need help with?
A summary of the collective feedback was consolidated and then presented to the senior leaders at the Industry Safety Forum in the afternoon session.
The presentation materials from the HSER Forum are available to Safer Together members here.
If you would like your company to receive invitations to future HSER Forums, please contact us at [email protected] to forward the names and contact details of your nominated invitees.
For more information, or support/guidance to access any of the HSER materials please contact [email protected].