Abstract " Working Together for Safety" (SfS) was established in 2000 as a project trying to remedy an unfortunate situation of mistrust and scepticism between employer and employee organisations regarding safety in the industry.
This situation had gradually come about as a result of a perceived questionable commitment to safety in some companies and organisations.
The project was established as a tripartite co-operation between employer and employee organisations and with PSA (Petroleum Safety Authority Norway) as an active observer.
The background for the project was a very tough and difficult situation, characterised by mistrust and scepticism on both sides. Through a careful selection of processes and a common commitment to creating good personal relations and trust we have managed to create a unique climate for co-operation.
The Norwegian Parliament recognised SfS in 2002 to be the Forum for Best Practice in our industry in Norway, thus changing SfS from being a project to a more permanent forum.
Through identification of Best Practices we have managed to harmonize norms and procedures to reduce risk.
As an example we have managed to establish a common Permit to Work system and a common Station Bill, including a common emergency number and emergency signals. These have been made mandatory for petroleum activities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
SfS was in 2005 awarded the Carolita U. Kallaur Award for Outstanding International Safety Leadership.
The paper describes the different processes by which we have achieved the agreement on common systems. Further, the paper contains a description of the process that resulted in the present working climate, which is characterised by very good personal relations and mutual trust.
Background During the last parts of 1990s the focus on safety was gradually weakened in the companies working on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). Rationalisation and cost efficiency were high on the agenda. Gradually priorities changed while many managers involved perceived that they still were on a positive trend regarding safety performance. Most people thought that they could keep up the momentum on safety while at the same time focusing on cost and productivity.
Project work in the Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLF) on safety issues did not result in notable improvements any longer and we did not produce the safety results we expected.
The trend was in fact reversing, and instead of improvements we could see a negative trend in some companies.
The industry was accused of not taking safety seriously any longer. Employees expressed their concern in public, and the public at large was sceptical.
The Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) (NPD at that time) had for some time expressed their concern, not only based on statistics, but also on an objective review of the situation through their supervision of the industry.
A debate took place in the media on the topic of safety, outlining the theme " How safe is safe enough?". While management representatives from the industry claimed that safety standards had never been higher, unions, authorities, politicians and the general public were of the opinion that safety standards had deteriorated and that the safety statistics published did not give a true picture. The differences in opinions on the actual situation indicated clearly that stakeholders were far apart. The situation culminated when the Norwegian parliament requested a White Paper on safety.
This was a very serious situation for the industry's reputation. Something had to be done!
A co-operation between all stakeholders was necessary, but it was not obvious how to initiate this and how to co-operate.