In the course of this year Statoil is to launch a programme for improved safety. It is all about employees taking responsibility for the safety of themselves and their colleagues.
The safe behaviour programme covers 10,000 permanent employees and contractor personnel in the Exploration & Production (UPN) business area. This will represent the group's most extensive safety efforts ever. The programme will run for four years with a budget of about NOK 150 million.
Project manager Bjørn Arve Bentsen says the goal is to encourage safe and reflected behaviour in connection with all types of work operations.
"Safe behaviour, open dialogue and consideration for each other are the main objectives of the programme," says Mr Bentsen. "All UPN personnel must be committed to thinking about the dangers involved in every single job they do."
This commitment applies to everyone, from the chief executive and throughout the entire organisation. Statoil is strongly influenced by DuPont's safety philosophy which was adopted by the group in 1987. DuPont recently performed a new review of safety work in Statoil and this will be followed up in the safe behaviour programme.
The programme will be launched this autumn with large seminars in Stavanger.
About 60 of these meetings will be held before the end of 2004. The programme will also comprise a follow-up scheme over several years, to be held on offshore installations as well as bases and office locations on land.