Challenge
With a workforce of more than 7,500 employees spread across seven countries, Monadelphous is a leading Australian engineering group providing construction, maintenance, and industrial services.
As a contractor, Monadelphous provides services to a wide range of customers within the oil and gas sector as well as other industry sectors. Their workforce is required to complete a new round of inductions each time they move from one customer to the next and from one site to the next.
Add to this mix the cyclical nature of the oil and gas industry, where each time there’s a rapid ramp-up of activities there’s a large intake of new people into the industry (New Starts). This is why it is essential that there is clarity, consistency and efficiency in the messaging and structure of the overall safety induction process.
Too often the feedback from recipients of these inductions is that there is duplication of content from one company to the next, or sometimes even contradictory or mixed messages. This can in turn disengage and confuse new entrants to the industry, which hinders rather than helps the ability to achieve good safety outcomes when they turn up at the front gate to commence working on site.
Solution
As part of the commitment made by senior line leaders across the Australian oil and gas industry to develop and adopt common industry solutions, the common Industry Safety Induction (ISI) was introduced in Queensland in 2016 and in Western Australia and the Northern Territory (WA/NT) in 2020. All New Starts are required to satisfactorily complete the Industry Safety Induction prior to working on the development or operation of onshore or offshore facilities. Experienced Workers can complete an Experienced Worker Declaration Form as evidence that they are not required to complete the ISI prior to starting work.
The ISI defines a common agreed standard of core safety competence and a set of common agreed working behaviours for everyone working within the industry. The aim is to provide a ‘ticket to work’ for all workers who satisfy the competence and behavioural requirements that is accepted by all industry operators and contractors.
The introduction of the ISI was the trigger for operators and contractors to begin consolidating and streamlining their company-level and site-level inductions by removing any generic content and focusing only on what was specific to the company and the site, so that they weren’t duplicating the content covered in the ISI.
For companies like Monadelphous, knowing that operators and contractors alike are adopting and embracing the ISI to achieve industry-harmonised standardisation has the significant benefit of providing assurance that “everyone is on the same page” regarding how New Starts are being onboarded into the industry.
Result
In the first eight months of 2022 alone, 329 people from Monadelphous have completed the ISI due to a widespread ramp-up of activities in the oil and gas industry sector.
The switch to online delivery of the ISI by necessity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, \ and the continuation of this delivery option has provided more flexibility, ensuring courses have been available for Monadelphous personnel to attend when the need arises.
From an engagement perspective, the ISI is providing a solid foundation of baseline safety competence and safe working behaviour expectations for anyone new coming into the industry, from which Monadelphous can continue building on within its teams’ strong safety culture. Knowing that other companies across the industry have embraced the ISI and believe in it also gives Monadelphous confidence that each company has the same safety expectations from their employees. This ensures industry-wide alignment and consistency, regardless of which company new people coming into the industry work for.
Although the industry is moving closer towards industry-harmonised standardisation of the safety induction process, there remains a need to embed a consistent approach across all companies in relation to:
- applicability of the ISI for workers involved in shutdowns of major hazard facilities, not just those involved in operations
- applicability of the ISI in the midstream sector of the oil and gas industry, regardless of geographical location
- application of the Experienced Worker Process per the requirements defined in the ISI specification.
“When someone new turns up to commence working on site, knowing that they have had industry-standardised induction gives us a solid foundation to start with, from which we can then continue to embed our strong safety culture.” (Operations Manager)
“The standardised induction ensures there is consistency across the industry, setting a common baseline and expectations in place around safety behaviours, culture and interventions for New Starts.” (Maintenance Services Manager)
Lessons Learnt
Become a member of Safer Together – In addition to all the other benefits of being involved in Safer Together, the ISI costs a lot less per head for member companies.
Use the Information That’s Available – Take the time to find out and understand who does (and does not) need to complete the ISI, and the Experienced Worker process. It’s all on the Safer Together website.
Embrace the Process – At the outset inform and educate your management team and all levels of your supply chain about the purpose of the Experienced Worker Declaration Form and the importance of being disciplined in using it the way it was intended.
Download the Case Study Poster here.
For more information about Monadelphous click here.
For more information about the Industry Safety Induction and Experienced Worker Process click here.