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Yuxuan Liu
February 16, 2015
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This article was originally published here
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“Journey to Goal Zero”.
Ben Salutes top performers
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Helping our partner save lives…and winning!
When Shell commits to its “In China, for China” strategy, it means much more than just providing the world’s
most populous country with more and cleaner energy. One of the continuous efforts is “doing the right thing”
for and with its partners to keep everyone safe. And that is exactly why a Shell China team has grabbed the
prestigious CEO’s HSSE & SP Award.
When one of the main partners of Shell decided to make fundamental changes to its HSSE management and improve the site’s safety performance,
they knew where to turn to: Shell. The energy giant mobilized its best safety talents to PCSW, a branch company of Shell’s global strategic partner
CNPC. The three­year project has made a real difference by transforming PCSW’s safety culture and significantly elevating its safety performance on
the journey to “Goal Zero”. See how the award­winning project team has made that possible…
Project Team of HSSE Cooperation between Shell and PCSW Receive Award from CEO Ben
Call of Duty
Zhou Xingchen and Leo Li, two veteran HSSE Advisors of Shell, were chosen to undertake the tremendous task of helping PCSW back in 2011. Despite
substantial experience in safety management in oil and gas industry, Zhou and Li knew from the very beginning their challenges would be daunting in
a company at the magnitude of PCSW ­ a workforce of over 40, 000 and 150 subsidiaries as well as larger number of contractors, scattered in a
territory of 190,000 square kilometers geographically. They took on the challenge, knowing it would be an opportunity to have a real impact in a
major NOC in a country where tragic incidents in oil and gas industry often make newspaper headlines. What they did not know at that time,
however, was how challenging – and rewarding – the marathon journey could be.
The breakthrough
When Zhou Xingchen first came to PCSW, he found the huge differences between the two companies ‘almost overwhelming’.
Despite complexity and high­risk of its operations, the company’s HSSE system and culture proved too weak to prevent incidents from striking. Some
of the most prominent challenges included impractical HSSE management system, inconsistent and ineffective implementations of HSSE measures,
prevailing non­compliance culture, workers’ low awareness and incompetence of HSSE enforcements. What had forged PCSW’s resolve to make
fundamental changes was the saddening number of fatalities every year.
PCSW Vice President Liao Shimeng knew it was time for transformation: “We invited Shell to assess our HSE management and identify our
weaknesses; much like a doctor conducts a thorough check­up. Based on the assessment results, we pinned down the direction and plan for
improvement together.”
Xingchen began to work on the breakthroughs immediately upon his arrival at the company. “80% of their incidents occurred in onsite activities.
Therefore, we all agreed to start with ‘Permit to Work’ for overall HSE improvement.” he said.
Simply duplicating Shell’s HSSE system and pasting it to PCSW would be little use, as the underlying truth is PCSW is a different environment and
culture from Shell. Hence, Zhou, with his 20­year experience in project management and 12­year safety management expertise at Shell, led the PTW
team to a quest of tailoring Shell’s HSSE system to PCSW’s day­to­day operations. Zhou and the team travelled from one site to another, observing
workers’ operational activities, talking to people on the ground and identifying job hazards in great detail. The team’s efforts and profound research
paid off as the tailor­made PTW finally took shape.
The Art of Implementation
Having a great system is one thing, implementing it effectively on the site is quite another. The next massive challenge was to ensure every
operational activity onsite could 100 percent comply with the PTW – the solutions crystallized along with the implementation plan, including PTW
execution integrated with individual performance management, intensive and seamless training and coaching in classroom and onsite, quarterly
quantitative auditing and benchmarking as well as leadership execution caliber at various levels.
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2. Shell HSSE Advisor Zhou Xingchen Coaches Workers at a PCSW Gas Process Plant
Over the past few years, more than 60,000 workers have received the PTW training at different levels. The project team has provided onsite
coaching over 2000 times. Their accumulated miles of travel could have circled the equator three times!
PCSW’s leadership team showed resolves and top­down execution power to make it really work. For example, two site managers were laid off on the
spot by the PCSW president when they were found out to have fabricated a PTW. Underperformers or non­performers of the PTW could lose their
bonuses while top performers were recognized. And intentional violation of the PTW procedure by contractors would result in dismissal from site.
Zhou recalled an episode that always reminds him of the power of recognition, “I presented a small gift to a lady who had done exceptionally well
implementing the PTW at a gas processing plant. It was in front of many of her colleagues. The lady was very excited and proud to receive this
recognition from me, ‘the Shell expert’. Later I got to know that the lady got promoted very soon. “
Compliments at public occasions were motivational and could generate “ripple effect”. For the project team, the art of implementation was about
“incentivizing the mind and touching the heart” for the good of their own safety and lives.
Yang Zhen, a PCSW engineer who had retired from a leadership position, made no hesitation to come back for the duty when the joint project team
was established. Despite his slightly limping legs, Yang has made every possible journey with Zhou to various sites, sometimes located in difficult,
mountainous areas, to coach his colleagues. What has propelled the veteran worker to continue is simple but compelling:” I love my company and
my colleagues. What I’m doing is ultimately for the safety and health of my colleagues.” Thanks to the HSSE cooperation project, people like Yang
have inspired many of the PCSW workers to take care of themselves and each other. This also reflects Zhou’s philosophy of looking after your
colleagues as your own siblings, whether they are staff or Shell or our partners.
Zhou and Project Team Member Yang Zhen (on Zhou’s left side) Audit the PTW at a PCSW Well Site
The Power of Habits
When the new PTW is widely applied, Leo Li’s project team concentrates on correcting small and bad unsafe behavior, as well as “minor” and “near­
miss” incidents pertaining to the Incidents Management system. “PCSW always said incidents occur because workers make mistakes they should
have not committed, or so­called ‘uncharacteristic mistakes’. But what are these uncharacteristic mistakes? Actually, these mistakes are essentially
unsafe acts and behaviors.” Leo said.
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Shell HSSE Advisor Coaches PCSW Workers at a Training Facility
The team believes in the power of good habits, which drives the workers to comply with safety procedures and measures spontaneously. Habits of
safe behaviors are particularly impactful for those who always complain about the extra efforts and time for the sake of HSSE compliance.
Changing a bad habit for good is not easy due to vigorous resistance caused by punishment rules and procedures which made workers frighten to
report, let alone intervention for the sake of each other’s safety. A habit consists of a trigger, routine and always a reward. This becomes even
challenging when “safety” becomes a reward which is invisible and impalpable.
Meeting the challenges, Leo and the team have transformed the company’s reporting system of unsafe behaviors and conditions. Reports of bad
habits will be rewarded instead of being punished like before. These reports of unsafe conditions will be assessed and consequential corrective and
preventative measures will be applied. And a mandatory feedback must be provided to positively enhance reporter’s good behavior. Simulation,
training and onsite coaching/instruction have been carried out for the workers to change their minds and hearts.
Leo and team have not just rested on changing workers’ behaviors. Through managing “minor and near­miss incidents”, the team endeavors to
prevent severe accidents from happening. All the reported incidents will be investigated and defined. Corresponding corrective and preventative
measures must be put in tracking system and periodically reviewed. Lessons from these incidents must be shared among other workers in similar
operation districts to avert any chance of re­occurrence. The innovative approach has not only stimulated workers’ enthusiasm to report incidents,
but also helped establish a healthy incident reporting and intervention culture. The overall management caliber has been greatly enhanced, which
yielded a strengthened system to reduce risks and prevent incidents.
The Achievements that Win Recognition of CEO
Tremendous efforts have accomplished unprecedented outcomes in the PCSW:
There has been zero fatality and no major incidents after implementation of HSSE cooperation project over the past three years. Previously,
fatalities occurred every year in PCSW.
“Permit to Work” compliance rate has increased from 2.5% in 2011 to 90% in 2014, which indicates exponentially improved worksite hazard
management.
There has been a dramatic change of behaviors of the frontline workers. Reports of unsafe acts and minor incidents have reached 18,000 while
the number was merely 100 before the project kicked off.
Along with the behavior change, more acts of intervention have been recorded.
The company’s safety culture has been developed to a whole new level.
Leaders have been demonstrating visible and felt leadership via commitment to personal HSE action plan, attendance and delivery of HSE
training, participation in HSE audits and conducting safety moment.
The HSSE Cooperation Project between Shell and PCSW has been a great success. PCSW has expressed its strong desire to continue the project
beyond original MOU timeline and even requested long term HSE cooperation. Its parent company CNPC has also thumbed up the
cooperation. The best practice is considered valuable to be shared and promoted in more of its subsidiary companies.
When CEO Ben presented Shell’s top award safety to the team in January 2015, he said: “You have undertaken a massive challenge and made a real
impact. I know Petro China South West used to have fatalities every year, but has succeeded in achieving Goal Zero for the past three years. That
means many lives saved ­ thanks to your efforts! This is a fantastic proof point that when backed by aligned leadership, Shell’s HSSE&SP policies,
practices and beliefs do work in China. At the same time, your work has enhanced our reputation in China.”
Martin Stauble, VP of Upstream China and also winner of the CEO Award, expressed his excitement: “This is a HUGE recognition. What this team has
achieved is quite exceptional!”
When Shell is celebrating its 120th
Anniversary in China, what the team has achieved is a best gift and a great demonstration of our commitment to
partnerships. And more importantly, it has kept the 40,000 workers in PCSW and even more contractors safer and showed once again why it pays off
to “do the right thing.”
Thanks to the project’s success, even greater impact can be anticipated if its best practices are introduced and applied to other oil and gas
companies for a safer future of China.
Find out more about this CEO­Award­winning safety enhancement from the film “Journey to Goal Zero”.
To meet meet all winners of the 2014 CEO's HSSE & SP Awards, read: Ben Salutes top performers.
Link to original article published on Shell China My News (includes text in Chinese).
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