The mission of the North American chapter of DROPS (Dropped Objects Prevention Scheme) is to "influence the implementation of sustainable best practices and encourage industry alignment through collaboration in order to protect our workforce and interests from harm through the elimination of dropped objects" -- and with good reason. Data shows dropped objects represent the largest risk to personal safety in oil and gas.
"Something that we love to say is, 'Safety is not proprietary.'"- Tyler Brown, Shell
Tyler Brown, North American DROPS chapter representative and SE systems analyst at Shell, explained the steering committee of the network includes representatives of operation, drilling contractors and service companies to contribute input to the direction of the chapter and global industry.
Additionally, the group seeks to increase industry awareness and proactive management of dropped objects; promote the development and implementation of DROPS best practices; create alignment through the coordinated effort of operators, drilling contractors and service companies; and encourage "fit for purpose" DROPS policies that follow the management system framework held by DROPS Online.
"Something that we love to say is, 'Safety is not proprietary,'" Brown said, addressing delegates at the IADC Health, Safety, Environment and Training Conference and Exhibition held recently in Houston. "When [the steering committee] gets together, it has closed doors and open conversations so that we can learn from our shared experiences, and so that we can proactively improve the areas that are going to sustain people's lives and reduce dropped objects incidence rates or manage their outcomes."
As many as 150 individuals representing 50 different companies are currently participating in the DROPS network. Some of these individuals have joined the network simply to learn from the giveand- take among members.
"We have a range of people who are in completely different headspaces of what they need to do within the maturity of their management system," he said.
"We learn from incidents and we learn from experiences," Brown continued. "We have very mature management systems that we work with on a day-to-day basis. And yet, several times a year, I'll still see an incident come across a computer. Then it's back to the drawing board to implement new engineering controls to try to control the outcomes of those incidents."
Mind the gap
The DROPS committee's underlying theme, Brown said, is to promote its gap analysis.
"If we are ever going to be on the proactive side of this, we have to internally look at the gaps that we have in our businesses," he said, adding that a company's gap assessment need not necessarily be structured. "It could be fluid with a combination of proactive and reactive measures that feed into outcomes. We advocate that the companies that participate in the network do that on an annual basis."
Companies participating in the DROPS steering committee, Brown said, take that process "a little bit further."
"For those companies, there's an expectation that they're going to sit behind closed doors with us and talk about what their gaps are and what their companies are focused on in the coming year," he said. "Then we use that information to kind of tailor our goals."
Brown said the DROPS steering committee is actively seeking "to build diversity of thought, so that's why we're trying to encourage people to participate."
"This is the No. 1 risk to personal safety in the oil and gas industry," he concluded. "So casting a broad net to try to get as many people as possible participating and giving input, fresh ideas and perspective is extremely important."
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