A new window through which to look at safety culture surveys: a case study at Arrow Energy
Michelle Zaunbrecher A B and Lisa Mealiff AA Arrow Energy, Level 39, 111 Eagle Street, Brisbane, 4000, Queensland.
B Corresponding author. Email: Michelle.Zaunbrecher@arrowenergy.com.au
The APPEA Journal 58(1) 32-43 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ17084
Submitted: 1 December 2017 Accepted: 16 January 2018 Published: 28 May 2018
Abstract
This paper provides a case study of applying a different approach to executing a safety culture survey. Arrow Energy (Arrow) completed the Safer Together Safety Culture Survey, with an excellent participation rate of 90% of total employees. There were indications from other Safer Together member companies that the typical response rate when the survey was emailed out was 30%. Arrow took the approach to undertake the survey ‘live’, where each team manager or supervisor facilitated the team session; this approach was fundamental to achieving a high response rate. A total of 33 separate team sessions were undertaken, which enabled team-specific results. The survey technique and application was provided by Safer Together, a not-for-profit industry group representing the Queensland coal seam gas industry. The intent is to have all Safer Together member companies undertake the survey so that industry-wide benchmarking can be carried out. The survey was completed by each team all together in one room, and the consolidated results for the team were available as soon as all participants had completed all survey questions, which took ~30 min. The benefits of the Safer Together tool, and live participation compared with online, included:
▪ Visible safety leadership demonstrated by the team manager/supervisor
▪ Team-specific results generated allowing meaningful immediate discussion and follow-up actions
▪ Three layers of organisation results available including everyone, supervisors and managers
▪ Visibility of ‘Most impactful behaviours’ that need improvement
▪ Generation of comments by the participating teams, visible during session as free text.
Overall it was a very meaningful exercise shining a light on key areas the employees believe need to be addressed including:
▪ Planning
▪ More effective learning from incidents
▪ Making the Arrow HSE Management System more accessible and available in relevant bite-sized pieces.
The consolidated results indicate that Arrow has a maturing safety culture.
Keywords: analysis, behaviour, data, demonstrated, discussion, free text, leadership, learning, methodology, planning, respondent, structure, team, theme.
Michelle Zaunbrecher has a Geology degree and an Honours Degree in Petroleum Geology and Geophysics. She also has a Masters Degree in Environmental Science and Hydrogeology. Michelle has over 25 years of experience in the resource sector, mostly in the oil and gas area. She has previously worked for BHP Billiton and BP and is currently the Vice President HSE for Arrow Energy. |
Lisa Mealiff has a BSc (Honours) in Health & Safety Systems from the National University of Ireland, Galway. Upon graduating in 2010, Lisa joined the Tesco Property UK graduate program, where she remained for two years. In 2012 Lisa moved to Australia to commence working for Arrow Energy, where she has held various different HSE roles; Lisa is currently Senior HSE Advisor Safety Leadership & Programs. |
References
Safer Together (2017) Vision – Mission – Targets. Available at: https://www.safertogether.com.au/about/vision-mission-targets (accessed 2 February 2018).Safer Together (n.d.) Queensland Natural Gas Exploration and Production Industry Safety Forum.
