Five Reasons We Are Not Getting to Zero

Abstract

The Oil and Gas E&P industry has embarked upon the journey to a zero incident workplace. SPE has taken a leading role by organizing forums such as "Getting to Zero - An Incident-Free Workplace: How Do We Get There?" To date, the industry has not yet reached its desired destination. This paper will describe five common opportunities for improvement in organizations that seek to reach the zero incident goal. A systematic examination of a large number of incident and accident investigation reports from a variety of E&P companies and contractors has been conducted, including both near miss and loss events. The analysis identified consistent areas where responses to an unplanned event are not effective in terms of likely reduction in future probability of the event reoccurring. This was found to be the case in a significant proportion of the event reports examined. The issues are common across all segments of the E&P industry examined. By understanding and addressing the identified barriers to success, the E&P industry will be better able to progress the journey to zero.