Safety champions of the North Sea have been recognised at the 2018 Offshore Safety Awards in Aberdeen today.

The annual awards ceremony, jointly organised by Oil & Gas UK and Step Change in Safety and sponsored by TOTAL, celebrate the individuals and companies going above and beyond to improve safety across offshore operations on the UK Continental Shelf.

Finalists were considered for six awards spanning categories including Safety Leadership, Innovation in Safety and Workforce Engagement.

The event, held at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, heard from Jean-Luc Guiziou, Managing Director of Total E&P UK as well as workforce speaker Tommy Timms, an Offshore Technician with Wood who was recognised as Safety Representative of the Year at the awards in 2017.

The event’s interactive format saw attendees vote for the winner in each category after hearing pitches from each of the finalists.

The winners are:

The Award for Safety Leadership (Sponsored by Chevron North Sea Limited) was won by James Ellerton, Contract Manager, WorleyParsons, earned recognition from his colleagues for the high level of motivation and engagement he brings to the workforce, ensuring that safety is a priority for the whole team. James’ energy and focus for prioritising the importance of safety in the workplace means that safety engagement within each contract is a mainstay of delivery.

Safety Representative of the Year (Sponsored by Draeger Safety UK Ltd) was won by William Davidson, Instrument Technician at Nexen, in recognition of his outstanding commitment to all Nexen’s safety initiatives. His efforts have contributed to Golden Eagle’s excellent safety record of having been in operation since October 2014 without a Lost Time Incident.

RigDeluge won the Award for Innovation in Safety 2018 (Sponsored by Bureau Veritas UK Limited) for its achievements in innovating products which allow for drastically-improved performance of deluge systems, whilst reducing the requirement for hazardous service and maintenance of fire-fighting systems.

The Award Workforce Engagement 2018 (Sponsored by Equinor) recognises the individual or team which has actively embraced engagement with its workforce on safety matters, showing how a commitment to worker involvement in safety has contributed to an improvement in safety performance.

It was awarded to Theddlethorpe Gas Terminal Team, Conoco Phillips (U.K.) Limited, for achieving 10 years of operations without a single recordable injury last September.  This remarkable achievement is testament to the strong safety culture and close community at the site.  The terminal will cease production next month and the team developed a workforce engagement plan, focused on safety, to ensure everyone was kept in the loop on progress towards cessation of production.

The Award for Operational Integrity 2018 (Sponsored by Aker Solutions) awards an individual or team which has delivered increased efficiency or understanding of risk by putting in place sensible and proportionate risk management solutions.

The winner was Marcin Nazaruk, Human Performance Team Lead, BP, for his innovative work to bring psychology and organisational science into practice to help improve the safety and efficiency of BP’s operations. Marcin has personally spearheaded the development of the first comprehensive e-learning module on human performance in BP to help build a common understanding of the topic.

The Award for Sharing and Learning 2018 (sponsored by Spirit Energy Limited) recognises the outstanding steps taken by an individual or team that can demonstrate a learning and sharing culture either within their organisation, or who has made a significant contribution to health and safety through active participation in, or engagement with Oil & Gas UK or Step Change in Safety.

The winners, Alan Dickson and Fiona Fleming, BP North Sea Health Team, were rewarded for their role in developing and implementing a coaching and training programme for building resilience and improving psychological health and wellbeing among BP’s 1,500 employees and contractors across the Region.

Matt Abraham, Health, Safety and Environment and Supply Chain Director with Oil & Gas UK, said: “Every year this event highlights why a relentless focus on safety makes such a crucial difference to our sector. As an industry we have a passion for safety and continually seek to build and expand our safety knowledge and expertise.

“The Offshore Safety Awards provides a key opportunity for motivated people to share their innovative ideas and have positive, constructive conversations, all of which help ensure that the UKCS remains one of the safest provinces to do business in the global oil and gas industry.”

Les Linklater, Executive Director of Step Change in Safety, said: “This event offers a great opportunity to drive forward conversations around safety. Although it’s important to recognise the contribution our winners have made to improving safety in our industry, its equally important we take the ideas generated today and make them part of how we work day to day, ensuring conversations around safety remain an informative and engaging exercise.

“On behalf of Oil & Gas UK and Step Change in Safety I’d like to extend my congratulations to all our winners today and thank them for their remarkable contributions to improving safety in our industry.”