Each year for more than a quarter-century, the federal agency that oversees offshore drilling and production has chosen one company as a beacon of safety among high-activity operators.
For 2009, Devon Energy is that beacon, in part because of what one high-ranking regulator called an “almost unprecedented” period without a lost-time accident.
The Minerals Management Service, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Interior, presented its Safety Award for Excellence to Devon in May 2009, citing the company’s nearly perfect accident record and absence of spills in the Gulf of Mexico. Devon was chosen among 13 high-activity operators, said Bud Danenberger, who heads the MMS Office of Regulatory Programs.
“Devon had the best operator safety index number,” Danenberger said, explaining how the company was chosen for the national award in its first year as a finalist. “You also had very good drilling performance, with zero incidents of non-compliance out of the 13 wells you drilled. And your accident severity number was outstanding.”
The safety index is a formula that measures compliance on numerous aspects of offshore drilling rig and production platform operations. The index weighs accidents and inspection violations by their severity. In 2008, the MMS inspected a total of 1,012 safety components on 98 Devon complexes in the Gulf. For high-activity operators in 2008, the agency averaged one annual inspection per facility.
A minor incident self-reported by a company often isn’t counted in the formula because, Danenberger said, “we don’t want to penalize you for reporting it. We don’t want to knock people out because they’re good reporters.”
An accident can range from four points to several hundred. Any fatality incident automatically disqualifies a company from receiving a SAFE award, Danenberger said.
Devon has gone five years without an accident that caused an employee to lose work time, which Danenberger said is atypical. “In fact, I’d say it’s almost unprecedented.”
Tony Vaughn, senior vice president for Devon’s Offshore Division, said the accident-free accomplishment stems from a companywide commitment not only to safety, but to doing the right thing in every situation.
As for the national award, Vaughn said, “This recognition from the MMS allows the rest of the industry to learn about Devon’s continuing commitment to safety. More important than the recognition itself, however, are the daily actions that led to this recognition. Day in and day out, our employees and our contractors demonstrate their commitment not only to safety, but to regulatory compliance and environmental protection.”
Perhaps this anecdote best demonstrates Vaughn’s point: Devon’s last offshore employee injury resulting in lost work time had nothing to do with a drill pipe, a crane or other heavy machinery normally associated with offshore operations. Instead, it was a back injury suffered in June 2004 while unloading a case of soft drinks.
Devon received two district SAFE awards in 2009 and has received 10 district awards since 2002. However, Danenberger said the national honor wasn’t the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award. Rather, it resulted largely from Devon’s quantifiable compliance during 2008 production operations and the “excellent” performance of its drilling contractors.
The national SAFE recipient is chosen from seven offshore districts – five in the Gulf of Mexico and one each for California and Alaska. The process is a bit like choosing the 65 teams for the annual NCAA basketball tournament, only less subjective, Danenberger said.
“We go strictly by the numbers. … We don’t let politics get into it. I’d say we adhere more closely to a formula than the NCAA (selection) committee,” he said.