BHP Petroleum’s Australian operated assets have recently achieved outstanding safety milestones, across all of their operated sites.

On June 13, the Minerva Gas Plant achieved an incredible 10 years recordable injury free. In addition to normal operations, the 10 year period included three major phases of project activity and major plant shutdowns with significant numbers of extra personnel and complex work on site.

Jo MacDonald, Specialist Warehouse and one of three original employees on site at Minerva over its 14 year life, said the achievement comes down to team-work and a culture of looking out for each other.

“On site, we work very much together as a team. The processes that BHP has in place really do allow us to succeed in safety and be safer on site. The team at Minerva also has a wealth of experience and we have taken best practice from around the world to get where we are today. We work very closely with any extra people who are coming to site to make sure they know how we operate, that they understand the risks associated with the job, and we help them follow our procedures and controls.”

In addition to Minerva’s excellent safety record, there are similar great safety outcomes being delivered across all sites in the Australia Petroleum operations, with the Pyrenees FPSO achieving one year without a recordable injury on 21 May; and on 29 May the Macedon Gas Plant reached two years without a recordable injury.

In 2014 and early 2015 Pyrenees and Macedon were regularly experiencing a number of recordable and first aid injuries and the team recognized a need for change and even stronger focus on safety.

The shift in performance has been delivered through great engagement and ownership of the issues and solutions across site and office teams. Through this engagement and adoption of Leading Step Up principles, teams developed and applied their own corrective action plans and personal commitments, and all showed how powerful a commitment to personal safety leadership can be.

Petroleum Australia Field Manager Darryl Nottingham described the process to achieve a measurable improvement in safety and productivity at Pyrenees and Macedon.

“The tremendous achievements at Pyrenees and Macedon have been a result of hard work and continuous focus by the site teams,” Darryl explained.

“The site teams have been maturing our safety culture through self-developed initiatives. Areas for improvement were identified and charters created which described the behaviours required at all levels of the team to improve and sustain performance. Ongoing reference to those commitments gives each team member clear expectations and the ability to call out where behaviours do not align to that Charter.”

“I am very proud of the achievements at our BHP-operated assets in Australia,” said Operations Manager Clive Jones.

“The incredible 10-year achievement at Minerva is outstanding, particularly with the extra activity at the site during this period. This may be a first in BHP Petroleum and one that we are very proud of.

“It is also fantastic to see the step change in performance on Pyrenees where I regularly receive feedback from visitors and contractors that they can ‘feel’ the ownership of the safety culture by all of the crew.

“We recognize that safety is our priority and one that we never take for granted. The Field Leadership Program will build on the Culture that the teams have developed to sustain this performance into the future. I’d like to personally thank everyone involved in driving these improvements and delivering this terrific safety outcome at Macedon, Minerva and Pyrenees.”