Shell: Delivering NEBOSH Training

Shell has been in Trinidad & Tobago for over 100 years. It’s played a major role in the development of the country’s oil and gas industry.

Astutis delivered the NEBOSH HSE Certificate in Process Safety Management to 32 employees in Port of Spain achieving a 100% pass rate.

Goal Zero

Shell considers safety to be a key value, much like honesty and integrity. Goal Zero is their commitment to a workplace free of accidents and significant incidents. It focuses on three areas which have the highest risks for their type of activity: personal, process and transport safety. 

Shell sets a consistent high safety standard. They promise to never compromise on safety, no matter how many business priorities change. And they expect all its people to take the same approach – whether they work in a refinery, on a drilling rig or in an office. Their approach to health and safety encompasses 4 key principles:

1.    Embed safety as a value

2.    Ensure visible HSE leadership at all levels

3.    Have an explicit ‘people focus’ 

4.    Performance and compliance in the following areas:

•    Setting clear expectations

•    Visible recognition for exemplary safety performance and celebration of Zero days

•    Zero tolerance for rule breaking and/or creation of conditions that endanger lives

•    Shift of emphasis away from Total Recordable Case Frequency to incident-free periods

•    Improved learning and sharing after incidents

•    Reduced paperwork and concept of ‘simplify to comply’ 

•    Consequence management for Life-Saving Rules

Training Aims and Objectives

Shell Trinidad and Tobago wanted to bring their site leadership and operations support to one level of understanding, competency and awareness. So, they set out to provide foundation training in Process Safety Management for frontline staff.

The training would be carried out in 2 phases. First, they would train Operations and Maintenance Team Leaders, HSSE Advisors and Operations Engineers across all sites in 2019. Then they’d extend the training to the frontline organization and remining Operations technical support personnel in 2020-2021. That way, everyone supporting the operations will have a common understanding and awareness around process safety. 

“Astutis was chosen to carry out this training because of their very positive engagement in previous training, their ability to provide technically capable trainers in Process Safety Management, and their ability to provide a very competitive and flexible training plan that met the STTL requirements for in-house training and development.”

Delivering the NEBOSH HSE Certificate in Process Safety Management

Shell needed a qualification that would build a strong foundation and address the process safety management knowledge gaps for their frontline staff. As a global company, they also needed something that was internationally recognised. 

The NEBOSH HSE Certificate in Process Safety Management was made in collaboration with the UK’s health and safety regulator, the Health Safety Executive (HSE). It focuses on international best practice to help make sure everyone is working to an approved high standard, no matter where they operate.   

The qualification is designed specifically for people and companies in process industries like oil and gas, chemicals, plastics and pharmaceuticals. It’s aimed at managers, safety representatives and health and safety advisors to help them carry out their health and safety responsibilities. But it’s also a great training course for frontline workers to help them make sure they’re carrying out their role safely. So it was a perfect fit for Shell’s target audience. 

The course was delivered in Port of Spain in 2 groups of employees including Health and Safety Advisors, Operational Team Leaders and Maintenance Team Leaders. 

“NEBOSH is recognised in the industry for excellence in training and certification. So, when we started to explore a possible source of training that had international recognition and could build a strong foundation in the topic, it was a natural fit to go to NEBOSH.”

The NEBOSH HSE Certificate in Process Safety Management draws on the HSE’s advanced technical expertise to teach learners the recognised industrial practices and principles for managing process risk. That way, they’ll be able to recognise and control process safety hazards and keep people safe from injury and loss of life. For Shell, this also means protecting valuable assets and avoiding prosecution, litigation and loss of reputation. 

The course itself is divided into 4 key elements and covers issues that affect process industries:

•    Process safety leadership

•    Management of process risk

•    Process safety hazard control

•    Fire and explosion protection

Alan Springhall was chosen to deliver the training. Alan has considerable experience working in the Oil and Gas industry which he uses to help bring the course content to life. He’s also extremely skilled at delivering training to international audiences and adapting his style to suit all levels of learners. The course included direct tuition, activities and group discussions to stimulate engagement. 

“Alan did a fantastic job presenting the course material and giving examples. He’s very knowledgeable in PSM and is very approachable. I’d recommend him to anyone who requires to learn about Process Safety Management” 

Results

100% of participants passed the course and received their NEBOSH Certificate in Process Safety Management. Since then, Shell has observed a change in how staff are starting to look at risk and process safety during site visits. The training has had a tremendous impact on the motivation of the frontline staff as well as an increase in the confidence of their line managers. 

“Astutis delivered quality training in Process Safety Management beyond our expectation, ensuring that our staff achieved 100% success the first time around. This success was again repeated with our second cohort, demonstrating the high level of commitment that went into delivering this training. We have also had good feedback from the participants on the engagement and delivery by the trainer.”

- Lead HR Advisor, Learning and Development