STEPS Network Meeting July 21, 2004 - Meeting Notes and Presentations

Hosted and facilitated by Smith Production and Professional Safety Associates

Purpose: The South Texas Exploration and Production Safety Network, commonly known as the STEPS Network, promotes safety, health and environmental improvement in the exploration and production of oil and gas in South Texas . The STEPS Network fosters a work environment that relies upon open communication and trust.

Sharing of incidents:

Marianne McGee with OSHA: We had two fatalities this past month out of the Corpus Christi Area Office, both involving the oil and gas industry. The first fatality involved an electrician running power to equipment in a pumping station. The cause of the death is under investigation. The second fatality involved a plug and abandon operation with the release of high pressure and is also under investigation.

Gerard Brumfield, Operations Manager for BP for South Texas : The recent fatality on the P&A (plug and abandon) operation brings to mind the fact that P&A is a job that does not get a lot of glory but involves serious consequences. When we have anything to do with these tasks we all need to manage them more closely to ensure the safety of the employees.

Rick Jarvis, Frank's Casing: His company had gone two years without a lost time incident but recently had a lost time incident involving lifting. With the recordable injury the employee morale has faded slightly, they are now looking for motivation to get employees refocused on the goal of working safely.

David Sibley, Smith Productions - Small Operator Success Story

(Click here for presentation)

• History of Smith Production.
• Mission , Values, Strategy
• Progress made toward creating a Safe work environment.
• Had fatality on one of their sites several years ago that served as a wake-up call for them to accept responsibility for the safety of the employees working on their projects.

Charlie Carr, Petroleum Education Council - Safety Training Accrediation Management Process:

(Click here for presentation)

• The STAMP process is being developed by the contractor led group and involves the auditing a contractor's safety and health program. A contractor will request that their safety and health be reviewed and if the program meets the requirements the contractor's program will get "STAMPED" thereby letting your clients know the quality of your program.
• For more information - www.pecpremier.com or call 800-892-8179

Paul Whitehead, Texas Railroad Commission, Assistant Director:

(Click here for presentation)

Ted Reed, Region Operations Manager, BJ Services - The Five T's of Safety:

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• Teaching, Tools, Tracking, Teamwork, Teeth/Treats
• STOP - Safety Training and Observation Program
• Safety Action Plan - guiding principles, multiple causality, true root cause determination, real corrective action,

Kevin Graham, Veriforce - Operator Qualification Rule:

(Click here for presentation)

• Pipeline Safety Act - Operator Qualification effective 1999 with all elements effective as of October 2002.
• Construction is exempt, but where does construction stop and operations begin? (From the tie-in and that point forward, it is Operations & Maintenance)

Orientation/Organization Committee report:

• (Click here for committee report)
• The STEPS Charter was approved at the June 16 th meeting and is available on the website.
• The STEPS Bylaws were voted on and approved (with a minor amendment) and will be posted on the website soon.
• The Orientation Committee is continuing work on the concept of one orientation for the South Texas Area.
• A committee will be formed to work on the draft alliance with OSHA.