DuPont Sustainable Solutions enewsletter September - October 2010

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1 In the latest version of the DuPont Sustainable Solutions EMEA enewsletter, we announce the winners of the 2010 DuPont Safety Awards. In addition, we focus on Contractor Safety Management, providing insights into proven methodologies for optimizing the safety performance of contractors. If you would like further information on these topics, you may contact a DuPont representative by simply clicking on "Request a Contact". Table of Contents Special Announcement 2010 DuPont Safety Awards Winners Page 2 Each year, DuPont Sustainable Solutions recognizes five companies for their extraordinary initiatives that enhance workplace safety. The winners of this prestigious award have been announced. Feature article Page 3 The Six Steps for Ensuring Contractor Safety Part 1 of the Contractor Safety Management Series While companies and contractors have the same objective as it pertains to safety to prevent all injuries and accidents it is ultimately the company that determines the level of safety in the workplace. This article expands provides insight into DuPont s Six Steps for Ensuring Contractor Safety. Case Study Page 6 Capable Leadership Ensures Contractor Safety: The Case of Titan Cement After the decision to build a new cement manufacturing line, Titan Cement Ltd. was faced with the challenge of ensuring the safety of 1,300 contractors on site. Seminars and Events Page 8 DuPont at ADIPEC 2010 DuPont will be participating at the 14th Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, presenting two papers on relative culture strength and contractor safety management. 1

2 2010 DuPont Safety Awards Winners DuPont Sustainable Solutions has announced the five winners of the 2010 DuPont Safety Awards. The awards, now in their ninth edition, recognize outstanding initiatives towards workplace safety enhancements and accident prevention in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Each year DuPont presents the awards to five individuals, companies, or organizations selected as the most deserving in one of five award categories. This year s recipients in each category are: Isastur (Spain) for Innovative Approach, PSA Peugeot Citroën (France) for Performance Improvement, Reliance Industries Ltd. (India) for Visible Management Commitment, SC OMV Petrom SA (Romania) for Sustainable Business Impact, and Titan Group (Greece) for Cultural Evolution. information about the DuPont Safety Awards can be found at: www2.dupont.com/dupont_safety_resources/en_za /DuPont_Safety_Awards/DuPont_Safety_Awards.ht ml Since 2001, DuPont has sponsored the Leaders Forum and DuPont Safety Awards to encourage workplace safety initiatives in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and to promote safety in other areas of life as well. Drawing upon 200 years of experience and accumulated knowledge in safety, engineering, environmental stewardship, and operations management, DuPont offers collaborative consulting, training, and solutions-driven technologies that can help organizations transform their workplaces and work cultures to become safer, more efficient, and environmentally sustainable. We are very pleased to recognize these companies for their achievements and commitment to safety excellence and the welfare of their employees, said Koen Van Neyghem, President, DuPont Sustainable Solutions, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Like DuPont, they believe that safety is good business, that employees work better and harder in safe environments, and that all workers deserve to go home safely at the end of the day. The DuPont Safety Awards are led by a panel of recognized experts who evaluate all submitted programs, projects or contributions. Additional 2

3 The Six Steps for Ensuring Contractor Safety Part 1 of the Contractor Safety Management Series Over the next few editions of the DuPont Sustainable Solutions EMEA enewsletter, we will present a series of articles that will provide unique insights into Contractor Safety Management and its importance to your business. Part I of the instalment reviews the Six Steps for Ensuring Contractor Safety. Upcoming articles will review such concepts as Managing Foreign Contractors and The Importance of Safety Culture. In order to deliver improved safety outcomes for contractors, DuPont developed an approach to contractor safety management that has proven efficacious in decreasing the frequency of injuries and accidents among its contractors. The system is composed of six complementary processes: (1) the selection of contractors with satisfactory safety records, (2) the inclusion of safety standards in contractual obligations, (3) clarification of expectations upon award of bid, (4) orientation and training of contractor teams, (5) monitoring of safety activities, and (6) a post-contract evaluation to assess success and lessons learned. The first four steps are considered front-end loading, and should be the focus for owner companies, as it is here that the owner can define the relationship with the contractor, and thus add the most value. (1) Contractor Selection The contractor is ultimately responsible for ensuring the safety of its employees. By selecting a contractor with an exemplary safety record, it is much more likely that the work will be performed safely. An effective contractor selection process involves evaluating the contractors on their past safety performance and the contracting organization must seek data like the LTI rate or Total Recordable Frequency Rate (TRR) and OSHA recordable rates or similar statistics from the regulatory body. However, in order to supplement past performance records, the owner company must also do a safety competency assessment of the contractor. It is also important that the safety department/professional of the owner company is involved in the decision-making process to ensure that safety is given equal weight with other factors, such as cost. Other hurdle criteria could be the level to which operating disciple is enforced, and also whether the company employs a strong audit regime. (2) Contract Preparation The next, and most important, step in the contractor safety management process is to prepare the contract. The contract establishes the rules and conditions in which the contractor will operate. It is at this stage that the owner company is able to create a structure to ensure that safety is fully integrated into operations, thus making it the main point of leverage when interacting with the contracting party during execution. When preparing the contract, all contract terms and conditions must clearly document safety parameters, such as expectation for performance, behaviours, standards and capabilities of key personnel. The parameters must be targeted to the scope of work and be clearly related to a hazard analysis performed by the owner. Furthermore, the contract must specifically place responsibility and accountability for contractor and sub-contractor safety with the main contracted party. On a more practical level, the contract must also define the communication channels through which the contractor will disseminate knowledge pertaining to safety, and also stipulate that sufficient resources be made available for orientation and 3

4 training, including specific regulatory training requirements. The owner company must involve all constituents in the development of contract language, including safety resources and field contract administrators, and must clearly identify roles and responsibilities for developing contract packages. A carefully developed contract not only helps set performance expectations but also serves as a road map to guide the relationship. Finally, it must cover planning and documentation requirements. (3) Contract Award/Establish expectations and standards On awarding the contract, the owner company must communicate and test understanding of safety expectations that are defined in the contract. The owner must not assume that contractors will read and understand all safety requirements and must walk supervisors through the rules. This discussion should include customized commentary on behalf of the owner company that provides detailed information pertaining to the specific scope of on-site hazards and expected hazard controls. At this point roles and responsibilities must be communicated, including responsibility to conduct meetings, responsibility to discuss contract safety requirements, ensuring that the person(s) who has the role of reviewing safety requirements has the right knowledge and training to adequately present and answer any questions. In essence, the contracting party must be fully aware of their role in ensuring safety. (4) Orientation & Training While the contracted party maintains primary responsibility and accountability for contractor safety, the owner company also has a role in ensuring contractor safety. The owner should utilize their own knowledgeable, experience employees to provide effective orientation and safety training. Attributes of an effective orientation include a qualified instructor/presenter, proper explanation of the hazards and specific work environment, as well as a system that measures understanding of safety requirements. (5) Monitoring Safety Activities In order to ensure compliance to safety rules, the owner must develop a robust system for monitoring safety activities, and have already defined this programme within the context of the contract. Again, the main responsibility for monitoring lies with the contracting party, yet a robust enforcement system is necessary to compliment the activities of the contracting party. Effective monitoring calls for a partnership with the contractor rather than an adversarial relationship. Key elements of such a system would be formal safety audits and inspections, incident investigations, continuous updating of job plans and periodic review of safety systems. The owner and contractor must jointly develop periodic safety meeting materials, conduct periodic status review meetings and targeted pre-job safety plan reviews and must investigate any incident or accident for potential learnings. A common pitfall is emphasis and effort focused at this step to achieve results, rather than front-end loading process the first four steps. (6) Evaluate safety performance against contractual expectations In the larger context of contractor safety management, this step serves as a tool for continuously improving the process. In this step, owner must critique contractor performance against contractual expectations, and also provide detailed, constructive feedback to the contractor to facilitate improvement. Where expectations were not met, records must be updated to reflect this. If the contractor has not performed sufficiently as it relates to safety, they should not be selected for further contracts. Some of the review areas are: injuries/incidents, workers compensation and general liability claims, lost workday cases, TRFR, property and vehicle damage. 4

5 While companies and contractors have the same objective as it pertains to safety to prevent all injuries and accidents it is ultimately the company that determines the level of safety in the workplace. Companies that have implemented safety management systems that help create and sustain Safety Culture have seen dramatic reductions in injuries and accidents among contractors, and consequently an increase in productivity and an improvement in employee morale. 5

6 Capable Leadership Ensures Contractor Safety: The Case of Titan Cement In 2007, Titan Cement Company S.A., one of the leading cement producers in the world, decided to build a new cement manufacturing line in Beni Suef, Egypt. The company was investing 150 million, but had no local staff to supervise this project on-site. They therefore had to rely on contractors who subcontracted the work to local Egyptian firms. This was one of Titan s largest construction projects and senior management was adamant that it had to be built without any safety incidents. Panikos Trakkidis, Executive Director of Group Engineering and Technology, made clear that the company wanted to be in the first quartile in the cement industry in terms of safety. Safety is a major part of corporate social responsibility at Titan. We do not see it as separate from the rest of the business. It provides us with the social licence to operate, he says. In addition, this project needed to run smoothly: on time and on budget. with little or no experience of working to high safety standards. As this was such a big project, Titan s management decided to call in a world renowned company to help us, Barboutis explains. Our top management wanted to provide the best resources to make this project a success. Managing Cultural Differences I was informed by management that this project would not be considered a success if there were any incidents or injuries during the project, Titan Project Manager, Michael Barboutis said. Given the location, the size of the project and the fact that construction is considered to be one of the most hazardous industries, Barboutis reaction is understandable. We were working in a hot climate, with a French contractor and local Egyptian sub-contractors who had a completely different mindset. The cultural differences were huge. While Titan itself has an effective safety management system, actualizing safety for contractors and subcontractors is a different story. Barboutis knew that, at the peak of the project, there would be more than 1,300 people working on the site, almost all of whom would be contract workers employed on a daily basis Titan s Corporate Safety Manager, George Argyriou, chose DuPont, a multinational organization with cross-cultural management experience. I came to Titan Cement to improve workplace safety standards. From my experience I knew that DuPont is the guru in safety. From Planning to Execution DuPont appointed Sherief El Kably as Project Manager for the joint work with Titan. He says: From the first visit to the site, seeing the unpaved 6

7 location area with only a couple of caravans on-site, I realized a huge effort would be required to ensure that we keep all parties focused on safety while meeting the project deadlines. DuPont knew that, although Titan had developed an effective safety management system, this focused on the company s operating plants. Titan did not have a lot of experience or systems in place for handling contractor safety. Working in conjunction with Titan, DuPont tackled the project in four stages following a Plan-Do-Check- Act cycle. The first step was for Titan to get all parties aligned to their safety performance expectations. The most effective way to do this was via visible management commitment. DuPont and Titan, therefore, developed and set up a project plan for all three parties involved, clearly setting out rules and establishing standards and minimum expectations. This included, for example, the implementation of a Health and Safety Management system. Titan then developed a safety organization chart which clearly outlined roles and responsibilities, communication channels, as well as health and safety plans. Project objectives in terms of statistical metrics and key performance indicators were also prepared. project. This not only covered training, but also set out specific requirements for common construction high hazard activities and included inspections, the introduction of a new Permit to Work system, reporting and orientations for the sub-contractors. We reviewed our contractors health and safety manuals and plans and often had to go back to request changes, Barboutis admits. We ensured that even such small details as which hospital to use in case of an accident were specified. It was a very difficult process, as the sub-contractors always questioned the standards and regulations, but it was an important alignment building process for all three parties. Titan also worked hard to get the top management of subcontracted companies on board. Once training had been carried out and the Permit to Work system was up and running, it was essential to keep a close eye on the progress of the contractors and sub-contractors towards safety during the lifetime of the construction project. As part of an on-going auditing procedure, DuPont provided regular field support, with a consultant carrying out monthly onsite observation, systematic field audits and support. The DuPont consultant would walk through the entire site, assess how well safety was being implemented by all parties and provide technical advice on hazards as they arose during the different project phases. At the same time, DuPont ran several customized, functional safety training events for Titan and its main and sub-contracted engineers and employees. These training sessions reviewed and tackled deficiencies discovered during field tours, as well as any new systems as they were introduced in the project. In a second step, DuPont and Titan set up a contractor safety management programme specifically for this Finally, after construction of the line had been completed and before it became operational, DuPont conducted a pre-start up review to ensure all necessary safety checks were performed and that the line would start up without any issues. 7

8 Visible and Felt Leadership Dimitris Bazakas, Safety Manager, Group Engineering and Technology says in summary: The project was a success because Titan clearly demonstrated and communicated how this project was to be run. Contractors and sub-contractors followed our lead. We spent a lot of time with them, frequently on-site, so it was clear this was not just a come in, come out situation. As soon as you passed through the gates of the site, you could feel that safety was important. There were barricades, labels and proper scaffolds. The project manager was always present, attended most training sessions, reinforced the safety message, looked at safety personally, and always conducted a safety observation tour at the end of the day. As a result, Titan Cement not only completed the construction of its new line on time, but also managed to run this major construction programme from January 2008 to December 2009 without a single Lost Time Incident in the 6.5 million man hours worked. Titan kept everyone up to date on progress by celebrating every million working hours without a LTI: an outstanding result considering the nature of the project and the location. Although the sub-contractors subsequently left to work on other projects, the rigorous safety regime introduced by DuPont in Beni Suef had a ripple effect. The contractors won other contracts based on the good safety performance achieved in Beni Suef. The site HSE manager for ESACO, the main subcontractor, was promoted and became the company s HSE manager. Titan s safety professionals feel they continue to benefit. Bazakas says, I now feel more able to predict problems and understand the underlying issues concerning contractor safety. I have since implemented the Permit to Work system at a Titan site in Bulgaria. Good results are possible, if you really want them and have the courage to show contractors you are serious about safety. Panikos Trakkidis, Executive Director of Group Engineering and Technology, is happy with the outcome. We have learned that it costs a lot if you operate unsafely. What we did in Egypt has now become a way of operating for Titan. Therefore, although we have experienced a downturn in the economy, we have not cut safety and training. If you start something, you have to stick with it and continue the momentum. In 2010, Titan was awarded the prestigious DuPont Safety Award in recognition of their innovative approach to contractor safety management. 8

9 DuPont at ADIPEC 2010 DuPont, one of the leading market-driven, innovative science companies is participating at the 14th Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) held from November 1st 4th, 2010 in Abu Dhabi. DuPont will present comprehensive, sustainable solutions for a safer, more reliable, environmentally friendly and efficient oil and gas industry. They include clean technologies for water, air and fuel, high-performance materials, engineered technology solutions, environmental and energy management, personal protection technologies, safety management consulting, productivity and pipeline solutions. DuPont, under the auspices of DuPont Sustainable Solutions, will also participate at the ADIPEC Conference presenting two papers on Relative Culture Strength - Key To Sustainable World-Class Safety Performance" and Ensuring Contractor Alignment With Safety Culture to address local oil and gas industry challenges. As a thought leader in safety, DuPont will share its proven methodologies that deliver customized, sustainable solutions to help customers cultivate a safety culture that results in enhancing employee skills, reducing incidents and ultimately improving operational performance. DuPont is a science company with a history of innovation. Sustainable technologies and more environmentally friendly products are challenges of the future. Footprint reduction is expected of all companies. The challenge - and the opportunity - is to develop products and processes that are safer, less toxic, more energy efficient, use less water and produce fewer greenhouse gases. Today, DuPont is focusing on some of the most important global challenges: feeding the world through increased agricultural productivity, safe and sustainable energy management, protecting people and the environment, and responding to growth in emerging regions. The Middle East is an important market for DuPont with a high demand for innovative oil & gas solutions across the region, stated David Clark, Oil & Gas Leader - Europe, Middle East and Africa. To learn more, please visit DuPont in Hall 5, booth # ADIPEC, one of the largest petroleum shows in the world, will be attended by over 1500 companies from 50 countries to showcase latest oil and gas extraction, production and distribution technologies, products and services. The exhibition will be attended by leading Gulf-based investors, producers, distributors, and government representatives to survey products and technologies that can help support the regional growth. 9