ISSUED BY STEP CHANGE IN SAFETY AND OIL & GAS UK

The winners of the 2011 UK Oil and Gas Industry Safety Awards, sponsored by Maersk Oil UK, were announced at a special awards ceremony in Aberdeen today (20 April 2011).

Martin Rune Pedersen, managing director of Maersk Oil UK said: “There can be no compromise when it comes to safety, and even the best processes and procedures will not be effective without a positive safety culture.  The UK Oil and Gas Industry Safety Awards recognise the efforts of individuals who have shown an outstanding commitment to making the workplace safer, and provide a platform to share their achievements and inspire their colleagues.”

The showcase event, held at Mercure Ardoe House, saw around 350 leading industry figures gather to celebrate the outstanding people and companies helping to create safer offshore working environments, whether through innovative new processes or exceptional individual enthusiasm and personal commitment.        
 
The winners are:

• Graham Spencer, occupational health co-ordinator, Marathon Oil U.K., Ltd, won the Award for Safety Leadership, sponsored by Chevron Upstream Europe. The award recognises Graham’s highly creative methods of engaging with his team and his ability to introduce training programmes, including school visits, that inspire people to communicate more effectively about safety both within the oil and gas industry and beyond.
• David Mackenzie, production apprentice, Wood Group, is the winner of the Award for Most Promising Individual, sponsored by Draeger Safety UK Limited. David has impressed both his peers and his managers with his commitment to the CARE (Challenge, Assess, Recognise and Encourage) card system and his exceptional willingness to listen, learn and demonstrate a wholly positive safety culture at all times.
• Mike Ross, hydraulic technician, Aker Solutions, won the Award for Preventative Safety Action, sponsored by Gulf Offshore N.S. Ltd. Through his active participation in the company’s safety culture Mike demonstrates a vigilant approach to ensuring that jobs are carried out safely and regularly makes safety interventions to prevent potential incidents. Mike’s improvement proposals have been added to the company’s 2011 safety plan.
• William Watt, operations technician, Petrofac, scooped the Award for Safety Representative of the Year, sponsored by Nexen Petroleum U.K. Limited. William’s continuous efforts to identify ways to improve safety in his workplace include a safety representative audit programme to enable his colleagues to select hazards from safety cases and audit them to ensure everything meets the highest safety standards.
• NATS (National Air Traffic Services) won the Award for Innovation in Safety (Company Award), sponsored by ABB Engineering Services, for introducing the Wide Area Multilateration flight following system in Aberdeen.  This benefit of this new technology has enabled the location of offshore helicopters to be pinpointed at any given time.
• Jim Trodden, offshore installation manager on Chevron Upstream Europe’s Captain Wellhead Protector Platform, picked up the Award for Services to Safety. The co-chairs of Step Change in Safety, John Forrest and Gordon Ballard, selected Jim in recognition of his outstanding contribution toward the Step Change in Safety vision which is to make the UK the safest place to work in the worldwide oil and gas industry. Jim, who is currently chairman of the Safety Leadership for Supervisors’ workgroup, has demonstrated a passionate long term commitment to safety since joining the industry in 1977.

Malcolm Webb, chief executive of Oil & Gas UK, said: “This year’s UK Oil and Gas Industry Safety Awards have once again attracted a truly exceptional standard of entries across the board proving that offshore workers and their companies are fully committed to safety.

“The winners really stand out as some of this industry’s shining lights and it is fitting that we celebrate their achievements.

“Those who didn’t pick up an award this time should also be justifiably proud. All our finalists demonstrated the ideas, enthusiasm and commitment required in putting safety first and set an example for all of us working in offshore oil and gas to follow.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. For more information and pictures of the award winners, please contact Lucy Gordon on 01224 577331 or email lgordon@oilandgasuk.co.uk
2. Aberdeen-based Maersk Oil North Sea UK Limited is part of Maersk Oil, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Danish A.P. Moller Maersk Group. It currently employs over 750 staff and contractors in the UK sector of the North Sea and operates Gryphon, Janice, Dumbarton, Affleck, Tullich, James, and oversees production on Maclure for operator BP (Maersk 33%).

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.