Safety steps recognized

Industry excellence in health and safety was recognized at the UK Oil and Gas Industry Safety Awards in Aberdeen at the end of April. The event recognizes and honors the companies and people who embody the spirit of safety and innovation across the sector.

Step Change in Safety Team Leader Les Linklater presented the Services to Safety Award posthumously to Steve Walton, a safety leader in the industry who under- stood the importance of people in the safety equation. Walton passed away last year and the award was presented to his widow Marie. “Steve played a pivotal role in introducing countless safety measures and as one of the first elected safety representatives to sit on the Step Change in Safety Leadership Team; he played his part at the highest level,” said Linklater. “He is a great loss to the industry and we remember him today because of the difference he made.”

All winners were presented with The UK Oil and Gas Industry Safety Award medal, designed by sculptor Marian Fountain. Nominations for the 2015 awards will open in January 2015.

The category winners were:

•  The UK Oil and Gas Industry Safety Award for Safety Leadership: Paul Craig, safety manager, North Star Shipping (pictured)
•  The UK Oil and Gas Industry Safety Award for Safety Representative of the Year: Bob Egan, trade foreman, Petrofac Limited
•  The UK Oil and Gas Industry Safety Award for Preventative Safety Action: Derek Smith, rigger/deck crew – Clyde, Wood Group PSN, Talisman Sinopec Contract
• The UK Oil and Gas Industry Safety Award for Most Promising Individual: Ruth Pirie, QSHE advisor, Fisher Offshore
• The UK Oil and Gas Industry Safety Award for Innovation in Safety: The North Sea Production Company
• The UK Oil and Gas Industry Safety Award for Workforce Engagement: Andy Nolan and the HSE&A Department, Talisman Sinopec Energy UK
• The UK Oil and Gas Industry Safety Award for Health: Well Track by Sodexo
• The UK Oil and Gas Industry Safety Award Ideas in Safety Prize: Bronson Larkins, intervention engineer, BP Linklater added: “Offshore safety has improved significantly over the last decade and these awards are all about showcasing those steps forward. In addition to celebrating our achievements in the field of health and safety, these awards have also given us the opportunity to pause for reflection and a reminder the sector must continue to be ever vigilant.”