Complacency Has No Place, Warns HSE's New Head Of Offshore, UK

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 10 Sep 2009 - 6:00 PDT

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The new head of the Health and Safety Executive's Offshore Division has put tackling any industry complacency on safety at the top of his priority list.

Steve Walker, who replaces Ian Whewell on his retirement, is keen to see that the good progress being made in improving safety does not lead the industry to take its eye off the ball.

The recent KP3 review indicated that the industry has made significant improvements in asset integrity and the recently released figures for combined fatal and major injury rate and hydrocarbon releases - the lowest since HSE began regulating the industry, suggest good progress on safety.

Nevertheless, Steve is quick to warn that it only takes one inadequate pipe work repair or an unsound permit-to-work, to lead to another Piper Alpha-scale disaster:

"I recognise the challenges in keeping aging installations fit for purpose at a time when industry is looking at the technical and cost demands in developing existing fields, especially in the context of the economic climate and the ongoing energy debate. However, this is no excuse for delaying or putting off essential work. Industry must pay attention to every detail, no matter how small, if it potentially puts safety at risk."

Steve Walker moves up to head of the division from his role as Operations Manager, having joined the offshore sector in 2004.

His experience in the sector has been varied, with him providing guidance and direction to the Indian Government Inquiry into the Mumbai High major offshore disaster and having oversight of the delivery of the KP2 Programme into Deck and Drilling Operations. Steve was also the senior officer responsible for the KP3 review which was published in July.

He added:

"I inherit an excellent legacy. Ian Whewell made great strides in improving leadership within the industry and its commitment to improving health and safety, and he built good relationships within the workforce and the Trades Unions. He did all this whilst ensuring that nobody was in any doubt that companies would be taken to task for safety failures.

"I intend to continue to drive up standards in the industry and ensure that there is no room for complacency. I need to see industry putting its money where its mouth is in terms of improving asset integrity. Though progress is being made, the work is far from complete.

"The Offshore Division is not without its own challenges. Internally we need to ensure we maintain top-level expertise in our team and are ready to match the technical innovations of industry despite the squeeze on public finances. Also, as the focus of the industry changes so must we. The move to decommissioning phases and consideration of carbon capture all present new challenges for us as the regulator.

"In addition to asset integrity, developing leadership, competence and safety culture with the focus on effective workforce involvement will remain key priorities for the Offshore Division.

"Ultimately I want to ensure that HSE remains an effective, efficient and respected regulator."

Having worked in industry and with a degree in Chemical Engineering, Steve joined HSE in 1976 as a factory inspector before working in a number of operational posts.

He carried out inspections, audits, accident investigations and enforcement activity in a wide range of industries including major hazard chemical plants, railways, construction, agriculture and general manufacturing. Steve also spent five years working on international and national policy for the transport of dangerous goods.

Whilst HSE's Assistant Chief Inspector of Railways, a role he took up in 1999, Steve led the HSE investigation into the Ladbroke Grove rail crash, the biggest rail incident in the UK for 10 years.

Steve worked briefly in HSE's Rail Policy Division before joining the Offshore Division in 2004.

Notes

1. The offshore statistics bulletin, published in August, is available at http://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/statistics.htm[1]

2. The Offshore Safety Statistics Bulletin is designed to show provisional headline figures before a more detailed statistical analysis is published in October. It records fatalities, reportable injuries, occurrence of ill health and dangerous occurrences reported to HSE between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009 under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR)

NB: HSE does not hold responsibility for air and marine transport activities and the statistics do not include incidents reported in these industries.

3. The KP3 review into asset integrity was published in July 2009 and can be viewed at http://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/kp3review.pdf[2]

4. HSE's mission is to prevent death, injury and ill health in Britain's workplaces. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement.

Source
HSE

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