SADIE promotes sharing of safety lessons in UK oil and gas industry

Citation

(2001), "SADIE promotes sharing of safety lessons in UK oil and gas industry", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 10 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2001.07310eab.010

SADIE promotes sharing of safety lessons in UK oil and gas industry

SADIE promotes sharing of safety lessons in UK oil and gas industry

UK oil and gas companies are to share the lessons learned from incidents and accidents on offshore installations with their peers across the industry via a new online safety database launched by the Step Change in Safety campaign. The Safety Alert Database and Information Exchange (SADIE) is a free Web-based service jointly sponsored by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the UK Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA).

Although conceived primarily as a safety tool for the offshore industry, the database is freely available to anyone who feels they might benefit from access to the information. Its aim is to encourage the sharing of safety information across the industry so that companies may learn from incidents and take appropriate steps to stop them happening again. Contributions to the database are voluntary, with 29 companies and organisations so far providing information on more than 95 different incidents. A powerful search engine allows users to find specific information to help them plan tasks safely. "When accidents happen it is important that lessons are learned and actions taken to prevent them from re-occurring", said Paul Blakeley, managing director of Talisman Energy UK and chairman of the Step Change Cross Industry Leadership Forum.

"Sharing information with others is an important part of improving safety overall; it avoids the distress of others having to go through the same, sometimes painful, experience to learn the same lessons." Fiona Farmer, from the Inter Union Offshore Oil Committee, said: "The database is an example of companies and organisation working in partnership to improve health and safety."

Taf Powell, head of HSE's offshore division, said: "I am gratified to see this important initiative for improving safety in the industry getting underway on the Internet. Sharing information and the lessons learned in order to improve safety standards is clearly the right thing to do. I sincerely hope that the offshore industry will take full advantage of this opportunity in order to improve safety and not only make use of the database information, but also continue in the future to add to the extensive information available. Ultimately we hope that all installation owners and employers will join the scheme."

The SADIE database can be accessed from the home page of the industry's Step Change in Safety Web site at: http://www.stepchanginsafety.net

For further information on Step Change in Safety or the SADIE database, contact: Stephen Williams, Tel: +44 (0) 122 435 2963; E-mail: stephen@stepchangeinsafety.net