An interview with Mark Bly
Six months since the release of the Bly Report, BP’s internal investigation into the causes of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill, its author,
Mark Bly talks to BP Magazine about the company’s new safety and operational risk division and what lessons the company can learn from other industries
What is the role of the new Safety and Operational Risk (S&OR) organisation?
Our role is to drive safe, compliant and reliable operations across BP. We do this in four ways. First, we set and update the requirements that are used across the business for safety and operational risk management. Second, we provide expert scrutiny of safety and risk, independent of line managers, advising, examining and auditing what our operations do. Third, we provide deep technical expertise to the operations. Fourth, we have the ability to intervene if needed to cause corrective action. We have a central team of specialists, as well as more than 500 people who are deployed in BP’s businesses, providing guidance and scrutiny, and examining how risks are being assessed on rigs, at refineries and across BP’s operations.
What is the difference between the central team and the deployed staff?
The central team is the source of BP’s subject matter expertise. They are the custodians of group requirements, as well as audit and capability programmes. They include many of BP’s top engineers and safety specialists, several of whom have experience of other industries where major hazards have to be managed. Our deployed S&OR teams work with the line businesses – ranging from upstream oil and gas development and production to refineries, petrochemical plants and retail networks. They help the businesses apply BP’s standards in their own situations and they report back to the group on how operational risks are being managed business by business. In other words, they provide an extra set of eyes and ears with respect to safety and operational risk on the frontline. They also provide tailored coaching and support, coordinating expert advice and input from the central teams as appropriate.
Our role is to drive safe, compliant and reliable operations across BP. We do this in four ways. First, we set and update the requirements that are used across the business for safety and operational risk management. Second, we provide expert scrutiny of safety and risk, independent of line managers, advising, examining and auditing what our operations do. Third, we provide deep technical expertise to the operations. Fourth, we have the ability to intervene if needed to cause corrective action. We have a central team of specialists, as well as more than 500 people who are deployed in BP’s businesses, providing guidance and scrutiny, and examining how risks are being assessed on rigs, at refineries and across BP’s operations.
What is the difference between the central team and the deployed staff?
The central team is the source of BP’s subject matter expertise. They are the custodians of group requirements, as well as audit and capability programmes. They include many of BP’s top engineers and safety specialists, several of whom have experience of other industries where major hazards have to be managed. Our deployed S&OR teams work with the line businesses – ranging from upstream oil and gas development and production to refineries, petrochemical plants and retail networks. They help the businesses apply BP’s standards in their own situations and they report back to the group on how operational risks are being managed business by business. In other words, they provide an extra set of eyes and ears with respect to safety and operational risk on the frontline. They also provide tailored coaching and support, coordinating expert advice and input from the central teams as appropriate.
How does S&OR relate to the line management in each operation?
A key part of our role is to provide an expert view on risks and how they are managed that is independent of the line management. But I must emphasise that this does not mean that business leaders hand over safety to us. It is absolutely clear that the people who run operations – the line managers – are accountable for managing safety and compliance in those operations. They have the responsibility to manage risks and bring together people with the right skills and competencies. But they need advice and scrutiny from people who are specialists in safety and risk. Our teams will have the authority we need to intervene if that becomes necessary, but our aim is to have all risks managed in such a way that we don’t have to use that authority.
BP had a safety organisation prior to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, so what is new about this?
Several things. First, we have more authority than before. S&OR has a seat at the top management table, and we have also put in place specific decision rights, veto rights and intervention rights. Second, the 500-plus S&OR specialists who are deployed locally to work alongside our businesses worldwide report to my organisation through the deployed S&OR teams. They are independent of line management and this creates stronger checks and balances. Third, S&OR will be much more active in working with the operations, to understand the risks and how they are being managed.
A key part of our role is to provide an expert view on risks and how they are managed that is independent of the line management. But I must emphasise that this does not mean that business leaders hand over safety to us. It is absolutely clear that the people who run operations – the line managers – are accountable for managing safety and compliance in those operations. They have the responsibility to manage risks and bring together people with the right skills and competencies. But they need advice and scrutiny from people who are specialists in safety and risk. Our teams will have the authority we need to intervene if that becomes necessary, but our aim is to have all risks managed in such a way that we don’t have to use that authority.
BP had a safety organisation prior to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, so what is new about this?
Several things. First, we have more authority than before. S&OR has a seat at the top management table, and we have also put in place specific decision rights, veto rights and intervention rights. Second, the 500-plus S&OR specialists who are deployed locally to work alongside our businesses worldwide report to my organisation through the deployed S&OR teams. They are independent of line management and this creates stronger checks and balances. Third, S&OR will be much more active in working with the operations, to understand the risks and how they are being managed.
Can you give any examples of where S&OR is already in action?
The greatest measure of the S&OR organisation’s success is when we work collaboratively with the line to drive safety and risk reduction. There are several cases of this. For example, shutting down a production platform to repair fire water pumps, instead of continuing to let them run while maintenance work was carried out. It is a costly thing to do, but it is the right thing to do. There are already a number of recent cases where drilling rigs have either been turned away or we are negotiating modifications before we are prepared to use them.
What lessons can BP learn from other industries?
We have to realise that other sectors had other experiences and have developed safety and operational risk management in different ways. Good examples are the civil nuclear industry, the nuclear navy and the aerospace industry. We can learn from these perspectives. Those who have excelled have demonstrated a systematic approach, an ability to learn and that they honour their standards.
The greatest measure of the S&OR organisation’s success is when we work collaboratively with the line to drive safety and risk reduction. There are several cases of this. For example, shutting down a production platform to repair fire water pumps, instead of continuing to let them run while maintenance work was carried out. It is a costly thing to do, but it is the right thing to do. There are already a number of recent cases where drilling rigs have either been turned away or we are negotiating modifications before we are prepared to use them.
What lessons can BP learn from other industries?
We have to realise that other sectors had other experiences and have developed safety and operational risk management in different ways. Good examples are the civil nuclear industry, the nuclear navy and the aerospace industry. We can learn from these perspectives. Those who have excelled have demonstrated a systematic approach, an ability to learn and that they honour their standards.
What sort of experience do members of your leadership team have?
We have some very experienced people in S&OR, with a wide variety of backgrounds, including nuclear, petrochemicals and the military. For example, John Baxter, our group head of engineering and process safety, is a former director of the UK’s Dounreay nuclear power plant and previously served as a naval engineer on a Polaris submarine. John will take on responsibility for BP’s standards being clear, coherent and simple to use. He acts as head of profession for all engineers across the BP Group. John Sieg, BP’s group head of operations and the Operating Management System, has 37 years of operations leadership in DuPont and BP. We also have people, such as Robert Riley and Jeanne Johns, who have been named into senior S&OR positions because of their track records in safety within BP. Under Robert’s leadership, BP Trinidad and Tobago transformed its safety performance from being bottom of the league in the upstream business to top of the league in just four years, a significant part of which was achieved through strong engagement with suppliers and contractors to achieve alignment between operating standards and safety management procedures. As a member of the board of SECCO – our petrochemicals joint venture in China – Jeanne oversaw a focus on safety that led to a remarkable 88.6 million hours worked without a single fatality or major process safety incident.
We have some very experienced people in S&OR, with a wide variety of backgrounds, including nuclear, petrochemicals and the military. For example, John Baxter, our group head of engineering and process safety, is a former director of the UK’s Dounreay nuclear power plant and previously served as a naval engineer on a Polaris submarine. John will take on responsibility for BP’s standards being clear, coherent and simple to use. He acts as head of profession for all engineers across the BP Group. John Sieg, BP’s group head of operations and the Operating Management System, has 37 years of operations leadership in DuPont and BP. We also have people, such as Robert Riley and Jeanne Johns, who have been named into senior S&OR positions because of their track records in safety within BP. Under Robert’s leadership, BP Trinidad and Tobago transformed its safety performance from being bottom of the league in the upstream business to top of the league in just four years, a significant part of which was achieved through strong engagement with suppliers and contractors to achieve alignment between operating standards and safety management procedures. As a member of the board of SECCO – our petrochemicals joint venture in China – Jeanne oversaw a focus on safety that led to a remarkable 88.6 million hours worked without a single fatality or major process safety incident.
It’s been six months since BP’s internal investigation was released – what progress has been made in the upstream specifically to respond to the incident and implement the recommendations?
The first thing that BP did was to accept all 26 recommendations. Implementing them requires detailed work. Members of the investigation team have provided input to the project team that is working on implementation of the recommendations. And I see solid progress in many other ways. For example, a centralised wells organisation has been created to manage drilling activities to consistent standards across the globe. Independent third-party certification of our drilling contractors’ subsea blowout preventers has been completed to check the testing and maintenance of their emergency systems. The auditing of the rigs that drill our wells has moved across into my S&OR audit team. Work is also underway to enhance the standards for cementing and well integrity testing, including a new approvals process and stringent contract laboratory quality audits. In the North Sea, the team is building a next-generation capping stack, based on what we learned from the one used to shut in the Macondo well. We also continue to enhance the ‘ranging’ technology that saved time during the relief well operation by enabling us to use sensors to detect the location of the target well without removing the drill bit being used to drill the relief well.
The first thing that BP did was to accept all 26 recommendations. Implementing them requires detailed work. Members of the investigation team have provided input to the project team that is working on implementation of the recommendations. And I see solid progress in many other ways. For example, a centralised wells organisation has been created to manage drilling activities to consistent standards across the globe. Independent third-party certification of our drilling contractors’ subsea blowout preventers has been completed to check the testing and maintenance of their emergency systems. The auditing of the rigs that drill our wells has moved across into my S&OR audit team. Work is also underway to enhance the standards for cementing and well integrity testing, including a new approvals process and stringent contract laboratory quality audits. In the North Sea, the team is building a next-generation capping stack, based on what we learned from the one used to shut in the Macondo well. We also continue to enhance the ‘ranging’ technology that saved time during the relief well operation by enabling us to use sensors to detect the location of the target well without removing the drill bit being used to drill the relief well.
BP has changed the way it rewards its employees and has asked all staff to include safety-specific priorities when they set their priorities for the year ahead. Why is that important?
We want to reward the right things, and top of the list is safety and risk management. So, in our performance management system for 2011, we’ve asked everyone to say how they will contribute to safety, risk management, compliance, teamwork, capability-building and long-term goals – as well as this year’s goals. We’re also making it a priority for managers to be good listeners – and one reason for this is that you may not realise you have a problem unless you listen to everyone. The other side of that coin is that we are reinforcing the encouragement for everyone to speak up more if they have a concern. Everyone must feel able to raise their hand. We’re asking people to state explicitly how they will demonstrate these qualities in their work, and rewarding them according to how well they do so. This very directly incentivises people to promote safety, to act as one team and to work to build sustainable long-term value.
To read this article in full please download the latest edition of BP Magazine:
We want to reward the right things, and top of the list is safety and risk management. So, in our performance management system for 2011, we’ve asked everyone to say how they will contribute to safety, risk management, compliance, teamwork, capability-building and long-term goals – as well as this year’s goals. We’re also making it a priority for managers to be good listeners – and one reason for this is that you may not realise you have a problem unless you listen to everyone. The other side of that coin is that we are reinforcing the encouragement for everyone to speak up more if they have a concern. Everyone must feel able to raise their hand. We’re asking people to state explicitly how they will demonstrate these qualities in their work, and rewarding them according to how well they do so. This very directly incentivises people to promote safety, to act as one team and to work to build sustainable long-term value.
To read this article in full please download the latest edition of BP Magazine:
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