RBG says that the company’s REACH safety initiative was a major factor in reducing its lost time incident frequency rate* (LTIFR) by 38.5% globally and 51% in the UKCS in 2010.

REACH was launched in December 2009 with the aim of creating a stronger, safer culture throughout RBG by encouraging all employees to ‘reach’ higher safety standards. Activities such as internal campaigns, monthly briefing papers and a safety awards scheme have all contributed to a major behavioural shift across the company’s operations and a marked commitment to proactive safety engagement.

Going forward, RBG’s safety statistics and recording methods will be aligned to the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP), enabling the company to benchmark its performance against industry standards rather than its previous year’s statistics.

RBG’s REACH initiative won the 2010 Subsea UK ‘Safety Leadership’ award and the company will hold its own annual REACH safety awards in April 2011. The awards, a first for RBG, will recognise the company’s employees who demonstrate outstanding safety performance and continual best safety practice.

While the first year of REACH focused on safety, in 2011 the initiative will be expanded to include RBG’s full HSEQ remit. A bespoke framework will be applied to each part of the remit to bring real benefits to the health and wellbeing of RBG’s employees, reduce the company’s impact on the environment and enhance the quality service offering it delivers.

Dave Workman, RBG’s CEO, said: “During its short existence, it’s clear that REACH has been a great success. However, we realise there is still some way to go in delivering world-class safety performance across our all our key regions. The North Sea has been a leader in offshore safety for many years now but I am very pleased with the progress we making to ensure the safety standards of our international locations reach the same exceptional level.

“Extending REACH to encompass all areas of HSEQ activity will bring significant benefits to our employees and customers, and I am confident we can repeat the success achieved from our safety campaign.”

Mike Mann, RBG’s Group HSEQ director, said: “We are pleased with the lost time incident frequency reduction and it could not have been achieved without our employees’ dedication to safety. The REACH ethos has been engrained in our day-to-day working lives and the success achieved so far bodes well for the future. However, we are not complacent and understand that we need to continually improve to achieve our goal of zero injuries.

“We recognise that to continue to be seen as both a leading contractor and employer of choice we need to maintain our focus on enhancing activity across all our HSEQ operations. I am sure that our employees will show the same commitment to making the extended REACH remit a success in 2011 and going forward.”

Tags: RBG Limited