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Human Factors and Verification - Developing a Verification Mindset

Intertek Consulting & Training

www.intertek.com Intertek Consulting & Training

Agenda

• So, how do you know? The big question (s)…

• Post-Macondo behaviours

• Human fallibility

• What should we be thinking about?

• The verification mindset


What would it take to trust that your take-home beef lasagne didn’t contain a friendly horse?


What do you base your confidence on?

Your local store brand


Do we fully understand the risks? What do we base our understanding on?


So, how do you know….? To assure: to convince; to promise or guarantee; to make an event certain; to secure or make sure

Assurance: a statement intended to inspire confidence; freedom from doubt; certainty


What does it take to assure

yourself…?


… about certainty

How confident are you that there won’t be another Macondo-type incident on your watch?

What is this confidence based on?


… about confidence

How do you assure yourself, ie guarantee, that people are working in the way you think they are working (ie training and competence)?

Eg if a team loses control of a well, that the driller will hit the button and close in the well (ie confidence/decision-making/emotional intelligence)?


… about evidence

If you are an OIM, how do you know that you are operating to the platform’s safety case (and that the safety case has covered all bases)?

How do you know you can have a good night’s sleep?

What are we blind to? After all, fish don’t notice the water they swim in…

What levels of blind trust exist – ie unchecked/unevidenced/unquestioned delegation of authority and responsibility or technical expertise?


… about trust

How does a drilling company or other contractor assure their client that they do what it says in the contract?

And what does it take for a contractor to maintain sufficient openness, transparency and trust so that they can expose their vulnerabilities and know that they will be supported to improve?


Are we asking the right questions?


The Post-Macondo World

• Realisation of consequence

• Fear • Of making the wrong decision

• Of something going wrong (chronic unease)

• Of being blamed or publicly humiliated

• Of losing reputation

• Micro-managing & excessive control

• Bureaucracy/evidence collection

• Exporting risk … and blame


HUMAN FALLIBILITY


We see risk differently


We learn by copying one another

Photo: yogabellies.co.uk


We want to be accepted by others

Photo: thejoyfulcatholic.


We don’t like conflict

Clipart by Sweetclipart.com


We are great problem solvers…

“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur” Red Adair


Sometimes we only hear and see what we want. Until reality hits us!


THE VERIFICATION MINDSET


What should we be thinking about?


What does verification mean?

• Comparison of two or more items, or the use of supplementary tests to ensure the accuracy, correctness or truth of the information.

• Additional proof or evidence that something that was believed is correct


Types of verification

• Inspection • Audit • Testing • Sampling • Accreditation • Certification • Fault performance

standards • Production

maintenance systems

Would you allow a BOP to be in service without any of these?


What stops us ‘verifying’?

• Productivity • We can’t stop • It’s only 1 day outside certification • Past experience of getting away with it • I know my equipment • It’s never happened… • We don’t have the money in the budget • Belzona does the job • We can’t see a problem – it looks ok • We do the paperwork


Verification needs to be up close and personal


Setting the scene for verification

• Checking for competence • Roles and responsibilities – are they clear? • What standards are people operating to and who sets them? • What are the special conditions required for particular

tasks? • Who is monitoring what is going on? • Does everyone know what to do if something changes from

the plan? • Do people understand the consequences of ignoring

warning signs or deviating from agreed procedures?


Sweating the small stuff

Clipart: publicdomainpictures.net


Skills of verification

• Check the detail – make no assumptions • Know ‘what good looks like’ • Comparison between ‘good’ and what is presented • Ask questions – checking for understanding – what will

someone do when you aren’t there? • Clarify language • What else is going on –what is the big picture? • Convey all relevant information • Check/verify that special conditions have been addressed • Know what warning signs will tell you that a job is not going

to plan – and can observe them • Capture lessons learned


A verification mindset

… make no assumptions!!!


Who needs verification skills?

• OIMs

• Rig Superintendents

• Supervisors/team leaders

• Permit Controllers

• HSE professionals

We don’t naturally have these skills…. What level of competence do we have?

…What will you do to nurture these skill sets?


Getting verification ‘in the muscle’

• If people expect that verification will take place, they will prepare for it

• Model verification for those around you

• Treat verification as a competence in its own right

• Rely on the mantra ‘So, how do you know…’


For further information

Contact Maxine Fawcett

[email protected]

+44 7771 906963

Contact Mark Reed

[email protected]

+44 7455 167152

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


70,000 Employees 110 Countries 1000 Offices

www.intertek.com

Intertek Consulting & Training (C&T)

http://www.intertek.com/


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