Leadership strategies for HSE

Safety executives described their vision for effective leadership this week at the Egypt Petroleum Show (EGYPS) during a panel on leadership moderated by TOGY.

The panel was part of the HSE in Energy Conference during which panellists discussed what makes a good leader and what it takes to trigger positive health, safety and environmental transformations. During the panel’s opening, Luciano Scataglini, Global Senior Knowledge Owner HSEQ at Eni highlighted the fact that the best leaders act by example and demonstrate commitment in all safety matters.

On the issue of transformation in organisations, Mohamed Kermoud, Global Vice President HSE at Schlumberger, noted that there are different styles of leadership, each with its own manner of influencing HSE behaviour. However, he cautioned that while leadership brings authority, it does not necessarily grant influence and an inspirational and honest approach would be most effective.

Ahmed Soltan, Managing Director at Bilfinger-Tebodin, said, “We need to give the same attention to the environment as we do to safety,” as he talked about the need for change to make industry more environmentally friendly.

Audience member Dougal Ramsay, security advisor at Schlumberger, asked, “Are there tools to objectively measure a leader’s performance?” His question was answered by Chee-Tsong Chok, General Manager Safety and Environment for Conventional O&G at Shell, who said, “There are tools to measure performance, but they are not precise. We can, however, look at leaders’ engagement and get a sense of a trend over time. The trend is more important than the precise results.”

The Oil & Gas Year’s Country Director for Egypt, Martin Rodriguez- Villa Foerster, led the discussion through different types of leadership styles, how to engage staff and the role of Industry 4.0 when pursuing a safer, healthier and more environmentally friendly industry.

Throughout the conversation, the panellists often returned to methods for effecting change. Chok went on to add, “After five or 10 years, HSE behaviour becomes set. If there is a culture that you want to promote to try and change that set behaviour, it is useful to arrange some kind of peer coaching programme.”

TOGY International’s sixth book on Egypt is currently in production and will be called The Energy Year Egypt 2020, a new title which represent a new direction for TOGY.