Safety lies in execution

The world's current focus on safety is justifiably intense. A string of terrorist attacks on soft targets across Europe over the past year has created an environment in which two of the United States' busiest airports-JFK in New York City and LAX in Los Angeles-were shut down during normal operating hours by ultimately false reports of active shooters.

Nobody was hurt in either airport incident. Part of the reason lies in the caution which led to evacuations of both premises when it appeared danger to human life was immediate and real. But part of it also lies in the fact that ultimately there was no danger present.

False alarms are part of any active safety culture. Pipeline, refinery, exploration and production, and other energy operators necessarily balance their frequency and associated costs with the potential threat being monitored and its consequences. This is part of integrity management programs across the oil and gas industry and elsewhere.

Opportunities everywhere

Former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb was among those at JFK the night of the non-shooter. He knew better than most how to act in such a situation and got himself and those in his immediate vicinity to safety. He wrote an essay detailing the events that unfolded and explaining to fellow travelers what they could do to prepare themselves for anything similar. Webb pointed out some flaws in the official reaction, but his bottom line was that the incident could be "a valuable learning tool for the Port Authority of New York to improve" its response plan.1

The 2016 "API-AOPL Annual Liquids Pipeline Safety Excellence Performance Report & Strategic Plan" noted that corrosion-caused pipeline incidents potentially affecting people or the environment outside of operator facilities are down 68% since 1999. At the same time, however, such incidents have risen since their low in 2010, and the report lays out four goals liquid pipeline operators will be pursuing to get the trend pointed downward again, breaking each down into concrete actionable segments:

• Improve inspection technology.

• Enhance threat identification and response.

• Expand safety culture and management practices.

• Boost response capabilities.

Then there's Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev who in late August marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of his country's nuclear disarmament by launching an international prize promoting global peace and security at the international "Building a Nuclear Weapons-Free World" conference in Astana. The prize rewards international statesmanship characterized by cooperation, compromise, empathy, and a shared hope in the possibility of harmonious coexistence.

One path forward

Companies, governments, and other entities that truly practice safety do so continuously and across the scope of their enterprises. Effective safety practices are routine but never rote and require continual internal monitoring to maintain this balance. As an employee of Company X or a citizen of Country Y, how do we achieve Outcome Z? By conducting our own activities safely, by requiring those in our presence to do so as well-regardless of whether they are up or down a particular chain of command-and by simultaneously maintaining whatever safety structure might be in place while remaining mindful of events and individuals that might lay outside of it.

It is only to the degree that we personally make these steps part of our everyday lives-at home, at work, while travelling-that we should allow ourselves to rest comfortably at night.