Speaking at the presentation of the award, then APIA President Mark Harper told delegates that the new award was introduced by the Board at the instigation of the APIA Safety Committee, and in particular former President Mark Twycross.

The new award is designed to recognise one or more of the following achievements, all of which aim to improve the safety of the pipeline industry and its personnel:

* Outstanding safety performance in the workplace, whether in office, industrial, project, or operations and workplaces. * A unique innovation or initiative addressing a safety issue. * A new and well-defined safety system, procedure, or practice.

There were two nominations for the award, with the other nomination being submitted by Alinta Asset Management on behalf of Delco Australia under the outstanding safety performance in the workplace criteria for Delco’s Construction Performance on the South Gippsland Natural Gas Pipeline Project, in particular for the area between the Bass River and the Regulator Station at Korumburra.

The SEA Gas Safety & Environmental Achiever Incentive Scheme was nominated under the ‘unique innovation or initiative addressing a safety issue’ criteria.

The Scheme aims to recognise and reward individuals who contribute towards the reduction of workplace injuries and give rise to environmental improvements by reporting unsafe conditions in the workplace, or by suggesting workplace improvements that will benefit either safety or the environment.

Entry into the Scheme is automatic following the submission of an incident or Hazard Alert to SEA Gas and is open to all SEA Gas employees and contractors, sub-contractors and service providers who are engaged by SEA Gas.

The involvement of contractors, sub-contractors and service providers was one of the major reasons behind the introduction of the scheme as SEA Gas had identified a need to treat these people as employees in the health, safety and environment areas.

The system aims to provide an effective way to report hazards and incidents, so one of the key elements to the success has been an easy to use reporting system. All employees and contractors, sub-contractors and service providers are provided with a carbonless triplicate booklet which can quickly and simply be filled out noting any potential hazards or incidents.

Once the form in the booklet has been filled out, copies go to the person’s direct supervisor and SEA Gas, usually within a 24-hour period.

In order to ensure that the system was meaningful and successful, an incentive scheme was developed under which, each quarter, the SEA Gas Health, Safety and Environment Committee considers the best submission. The person who submitted that Hazard Alert is recognised via a written letter of appreciation from the SEA Gas General Manager as well as a $50 voucher. In addition to this, each year there are two annual prizes comprising of an accommodation and dinner package and a dinner package which are drawn from all submissions from throughout the year.

The scheme has also seen a cultural shift with neighbours of SEA Gas facilities participating in the scheme. TRUEnergy and GasNet (now part of the APA Group) have now adopted similar programs following the success that SEA Gas has seen.

Under the scheme, trends within the industry have also been identified, such as an instance of a fault amongst a common piece of equipment.

Since commencement in January 2006 a number of hazards and solutions have been identified including:

* A lack of RCD (Residual Current Device) protection on older generators in the field which have since been retrofitted with RCD protection; * Suggested improvements in the gas sampling procedure that alleviate the need for a high pressure gas discharge; * Improvements in manual handling; * Improvement to pressure sensing points on the sampling line; * Installation of a locking mechanism to stop closing on oil sampling bins where the current locking arms were not deemed to be effective, especially in high wind environments; * Unauthorised third party activity; * Uneven surfaces; * Identified discrepancies between as-built drawings and actual installation; * Missing caps on vent lines and drain plugs; * General observations of gas leakage by third parties who weren’t employees; and, * A suggestion which resulted in the replacement of bolt-action gates with push-bar gates.

As would be expected, as acceptance and knowledge of the system has grown, so have submissions. The first year of operation in 2006 saw eight submissions, followed by 26 submissions in 2007. Participants have reported to SEA Gas that the scheme has provided a further incentive to report matters they might have otherwise ignored in the past.

Those new to the SEA Gas environment are alerted to the scheme as part of their induction via a DVD presentation, a letter from the General Manager and a booklet outlining the scheme as well as other health, safety and environment issues.