CLIENT SUCCESS

Mary Lee and Licia Lee are both Administrative Assistants at Devon Energy Gas Services in Bridgeport, Texas. Mary and Licia have both been integral in the development, continued maintenance, and improvement of the organization's Values-Based Safety® process (VBSP) called S.A.F.E. (Safe Actions For Employees). In 2004, with the guidance of Dr. Judy Stowe, Devon Energy first developed and launched S.A.F.E. in the Exploration and Production group in Bridgeport, a sister company to Gas Services. Following the success of the first implementation, Gas Services adapted the S.A.F.E. process in 200.

A core value of S.A.F.E. is to "keep co-workers safe" and the process involves not only Devon employees, but company contractors as well. Scott Cheves, Team Leader of the S.A.F.E. Steering Team at Gas Services, explained that the major goal of S.A.F.E. is to have employees looking out for each other. Mr. Cheves has been in the industry for 25 years and has seen many safety initiatives come and go. "By far, this is the best one," he commented, "It gets everyone talking about safety, and you start practicing what you preach."

Allen White, Safety Director for SMI Steel - South Carolina is the latest QSE Safety Champion. As Director of Safety at the South Carolina plant for nearly 8 years, Allen spearheaded the development and implementation of an employee observation process called “ORO” or “Others Reminding Others”. In 1997, SMI's committed management was concerned about elevated incident rates and solicited ideas from employees on new ways to address safety. Based on a suggestion by the wife of an employee, ORO was created and built on the notion that “silence is consent.” ORO emphasized employees looking out for one another and reminding each other on a daily basis about the importance of safety. Employees wrote ORO cards if they observed notable safe or unsafe work practices or conditions. Management reviewed the cards and planned improvements based on them. In 2000, Allen established an Employee Safety Council to further broaden the role of employees in safety. The Council receives formal training in CPR and First Aid, plus First Responder, AED, and EMT training. The Council is also involved in accident investigations and peer reviews.

Jeff Olsson and Al Wolfram lead the corporate Behavior Based Safety project for Manitoba Hydro. Manitoba Hydro, headquartered in Winnipeg, is one of the largest energy providers in Canada with over 650,000 customers and more than a billion dollars in annual revenue. It had been rated one of the top five safest of Canada's many utilities for twenty years. As a result of a corporate assessment in 1998, Manitoba Hydro committed itself to helping employees improve their own individual safety behaviors through a Behavioral Safety process (one of three initiatives). Jeff took part in an investigation of the behavioral approach that involved visiting and talking to other utilities in North America who were using Behavioral Safety successfully, attending seminars, and interviewing providers of Behavioral Safety services. With this systematic and thorough beginning, their Behavioral Safety project got off to great start.

A Real International Safety Champion!

As an internal safety consultant with Chevron’s Research & Technology, Scott conducted a thorough study of different behavioral safety approaches. During 1996 Scott helped Chevron Canada Resources (CCR) to plan a behavioral safety process, eventually called CARE (Chevron’s Accident Reduction Environment). After developing their initial plan, CCR selected Quality Safety Edge to assist them in finalizing their plan and in implementation. Scott moved to Calgary, Alberta to champion the CARE process. In his role as CARE Coordinator, Scott trained employee to conduct observations and provide feedback (over 40 workshops!), organized Steering Committee meetings, and worked to ensure participation of all levels of management.