Workshop: Oil and Gas Safety Leadership and Safety Culture

How to Motivate and Lead for Operational Excellence

The relationship between effective leadership and the successful outcomes of any business are easy to correlate. Quality work is a byproduct of effective leadership as are all of the various indicators that are used to measure success (cost, productivity, employee morale, profit, etc.). This confirms then that good safety performance is also a byproduct of quality work.  If we can safely execute our work, then we are working with attention to quality.  With the proper strategies and effective leadership, safety can lead the way to operational excellence.  This short presentation will provide some practical considerations and methods for Leading Safety for Operational Excellence.

Eddie Hill, CSP, CHMM started with Equinor in 2018 following 32 years in industry, the majority of which was with Marathon Oil Company as a Health, Environment and Safety Management Leader.  Additionally,  Eddie spent several years in his own consultancy specializing in leadership development and safety culture improvement.  Eddie, a Certified Safety Professional, currently serves as Leader – Safety and Sustainability for Equinor with responsibility for Safety Culture, Performance Management, EHS Training and Contractor Safety Management in the North America businesses.

Shell Trading's Journey to Goal Zero

Michael will share Shell Trading's experience in guiding and influencing third party HSSE programs to drive improvements in operational excellence. He will delve into what it takes to develop a proper safety culture and embed the Goal Zero mind-set within third party organizations. At Shell, this not only provides assurance to the North America Crude Business that contractual requirements for HSSE & Road Safety are met but helps 20+ transportation service providers, operating in every major shale basin in North America, in moving over 23K loads of crude oil per month.

Michael L. Beaton, MBA has worked in the transportation and logistics industry in multiple Operational and Safety related roles. For the past 30+ years, his primary focus has been the safe and compliant transportation of bulk hazardous materials and dangerous goods in North America. In 2015, his team was the recipient of Shell’s EVP HSSE Award and the Downstream Director’s Award for a breakthrough in HSSE and Road Safety performance in crude trucking. He also served as the road transport Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Shell’s global assurance and auditing program for business activities in West Africa and Eastern Europe. Prior to his current role, he was Fleet Manager, Retail Fuels, at Exxon Mobil for fourteen years and a Terminal Manager for two years. Michael studied Business Administration at Colorado Technical University. 

Communicating the Safety Message with Impact at Marathon Oil 

It is critical that field leaders have the ability to communicate a safety message with an impact. Whether it be a one-one-one conversations with a new employee on the jobsite, with a crew during a pre-job meeting, or with a larger audience in a town hall environment – how do you set clear expectations, connect with your audience, and gain commitment moving forward? In 2018, Marathon Oil has facilitated Safety Leadership courses for over 1,200 employee and contract personnel, which culminates with each participant crafting and delivering their own personal “Safety Stump Speech”. Jeff will cover the Safety Leadership course curriculum Marathon Oil is using to maximize discretionary effort of personnel on the jobsite, as well as introducing a practical tool for using personal stories to positively influence your organization’s safety culture.  

Jeffrey Burro, GSP is a Sr. HES Pofessional at Marathon Oil Company, where he currently oversees corporate led HES&S projects and initiatives, including the development and implementation of Marathon’s Safety Leadership Program. Jeffrey graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2008, where he majored in Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology. He has worked at Marathon Oil for 10 years in various Safety and Operational roles including SEMS Coordinator  - Gulf of Mexico, Process Safety Coordinator – Marathon Norway, HES&S Supervisor – Drilling & Completions, and Drilling Superintendent – Oklahoma Resource Basin. Jeffrey is a Graduate Safety Practitioner, holds a certificate from Columbia Business School’s Executive Online Program, and has served as a Steering Member for the SafeLandUSA Advisory Group and OIPA – SAFE Committee.