W5: Reducing Human Error Shutdowns
You can reduce human error shutdowns by 50% quite straightforwardly and pretty quickly too.
Safety Improvers undertook behavioural human error reduction workshops on four platforms for an operator in the North Sea. Over a year, human error shutdowns were almost halved!
About 25% of unplanned shutdowns on offshore platforms are caused by “silly mistakes” – people not thinking, not double-checking and not stopping the job when they know there is something not quite right. The resultant financial losses and safety risks in operations, maintenance and production can be substantial.
In the 3-hour Reducing Human Error Shutdown workshops production crews, in groups of 15, explore and discuss the three main causes of “silly” mistakes:
- Fear – about looking stupid, being regarded as a wimp or incompetent and fear of losing one’s job. Unless we get people to admit these fears we can’t make progress.
- Lack of hyperawareness and concentration.
- Ineffective communication – not enough explanation from supervisors and not enough owning-up from the operators.
In just three hours, without lecture and slides, and using about 12 case studies, people can be helped to avoid silly mistakes. It helps to get as many participants through the workshop as possible. Consequently, a Profit Improvers’ facilitator visits each platform or site twice to get the back-to-backs.
A sample timetable
The timetable is flexible and can be split to suit the installation’s operational needs.
RESULT?
Almost immediate and long lasting improvement in safety attitudes and behaviours.
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