The best strategy for improved safety performance in the oilfield business is to shift the employees’ way of thinking. Cultural change as a safety strategy may seem obvious when working in the high-risk oilfield business. But as with any strategic initiative, how employees think, feel, and act and how closely and consistently their behaviors reflect the company’s strategy are the clearest indications of a cultural shift.

In the 1980s most safety efforts were targeted at getting employees to wear personal protective equipment (PPE). Reflecting back on that decade, while it may not have been obvious, the energy industry was already starting on the path to developing a safety culture.

Moving into the 1990s, we realized that wearing PPE did not prevent employees from having injuries – it only reduced the severity of injuries sustained and did little to improve overall safety performance. Focusing on employees’ actions and providing direct support by adding safety-specific positions (such as health and safety advisors, supervisors, and managers) initiated a shift in culture and fostered a movement toward behavior-based changes.

The early 2000s launched the decade of documentation, review, and verification contractor registries and a period for all oilfield contractors to create rules related to safety. The registries provided a means for operating companies to compare their contractors’ safety statistics, and as a result, poor performers were pressed to either improve their safety record or lose work. This was a significant period for our business since companies were forced to rethink their strategy and focus on safety as a means to enhance the employee experience, strengthen client relationships, and improve the bottom line.

A culture of safety where employees are encouraged and supported in thinking, feeling, and acting with safety as a priority continues to be a challenge in the oil industry. The creation of more policies, manuals, and rules will not drastically improve or even sustain safe performance. Only permanent change as verified by employee actions and then subsequent outcomes will prove meaningful over the long term.

During the past 30 years we have experienced a culture move from one that blames the injured to more of a team goal. However, we still find resistance within organizations due to a mistaken belief that shortcuts in safety can be justified by other priorities. This simply can’t be true. Until we make that final shift in culture whereby everyone gets it, we will continue to struggle with significant variation in safety performance.

Managers must continue to work at driving culture deeper into their organizations and maintain a positive yet disciplined approach toward working safely. They must spend more time encouraging employees to eliminate and reduce risk. And we all must ensure that safety gets the same respect, review, audit, and acknowledgment as any other business strategy.

We all win when no one gets hurt.