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In a continuous search for excellence in HSE, Petrobras structured the Strategic Project for Excellence in HSE in 2006, continuing the implementation of 15 corporate HSE directives in the company, begun in 2001, and the Petrobras Process Safety Program, finished in 2005. The proposal was to consolidate the achievements already obtained in terms of performance in HSE and to promote improvements in order to prepare the company for the expansion projected in the Strategic Plan to 2020. Presently, with the first phase of the project in operation, structured in two parts and including the business areas of the company, units abroad, and subsidiary companies, results of the actions undertaken are already beginning to appear.

The project is based on six initiatives referring to the integrated management of HSE; operational and product ecoefficiency; the prevention of accidents, incidents, and irregularities; the health of employees; the readiness to act in emergency situations; and the minimization of risks and liabilities. The first phase of implementation of the project, started in 2006, should last until December 31, 2010, after being revised. The second phase will be implemented by 2015.

Patrícia Santos / Petrobras Image Bank
Petrobras has developed projects related to safety in high places

The project is quite wide ranging in scope and foresees action in operational and management areas. “For instance, in the HSE area of Petrobras and only with respect to safety, projects have already been developed referring to work carried out at heights, work in confined spaces, safety in road transportation, and safety in situations involving electricity. With respect to health, actions related to ergonometry and occupational hygiene were strengthened in the workplace, the monitoring of the employees’ health was improved, and actions taken to control obesity, lack of exercise, and smoking were better managed. With regard to the environment, seeking ecoefficiency, criteria and methodologies were developed for the mapping of protected, sensitive, and vulnerable areas surrounding Petrobras’ installations; requirements for the acquisition, filing, and availability of environmental data were standardized, and strategies to evaluate HSE aspects in the event of the acquisition of new enterprises were all approved,” explains Vanderlei Alves da Silva, coordinator of the project.

Bruno Veiga / Petrobras Image Bank
Methodologies have been defined for mapping sensitive areas around Petrobras facilities

In other areas the project is also showing results. In the Supply area, for example, a portfolio of energy efficiency projects is being created; opportunities to adopt alternative energy sources and ecoefficient processes , as well as to receive Clean Development Mechanism credits are being identified; HSE management processes based on risk are in progress; a culture of the registration and treatment of incidents and irregularities is being strengthened; standardized procedures of organizing knowledge management in HSE are being developed; environmental liabilities have been quantified and classified and are being eliminated; and a systematic evaluation of suppliers of goods and services relative to HSE is being designed and implemented.

Bruno Veiga / Petrobras Image Bank
Petrobras has standardized menus on platforms to lower the fat content

In the area of Exploration and Production, the project brought improvements in the investigative procedures of occupational illnesses and in the registering of information on exposure to risk. Also in the health field, it resulted in the implementation of a project of healthy eating with standardization of menus with a lower percentage of fat and calories on the platforms. In terms of work safety, projects for the prevention of accidents are being implemented related to pressurized systems and cargo handling, among others. Also, an important achievement was obtained: “We launched the Exploration and Production Area Safety Manual, which establishes the requirements to be followed in intervention or routine tasks,” explains Virgilio Cavalcanti Rios, project facilitator in the area of Exploration and Production.

In other companies in the Petrobras system, a commitment to HSE excellence is also being pursued. In Petrobras Transportation - Transpetro, for example, the largest logistics company in Brazil, the Traffic Safety Program was implemented, and as a consequence, all light and heavy vehicle drivers had to take a course in defensive driving. In addition, in the Fleet Modernization and Expansion Program (PROMEF) presently being implemented, which will revitalize the Brazilian shipbuilding industry through the substitution of vessels currently in use with more modern and/or new vessels, all the Petrobras System HSE requirements necessary in new undertakings are being considered. “The vessels must respect the defined HSE standards of excellence throughout their life cycle, included therein conception, design, construction, pre-operation, and operation up to the moment of decommissioning. Furthermore, they must optimize the use of supplies such as water, energy, and materials,” says the Transpetro project facilitator, Antonio Fonseca Lobato.

In turn, Petrobras Distribuidora, through its Strategic Project for HSE Excellence, has also brought about improvements. For example, the number of accidents involving absence from work was reduced from 0.51 in 2006 to 0.31 in 2008. In addition, an Environmental Study Quality Control Guarantee System which optimizes resources destined to the solution of environmental problems, directs better processes for environmental licensing, and makes possible the safe assignment of inactive areas was implemented in the subsidiary company.

In the Petrobras units abroad, the effort is the same, even though they were created at different times, have experienced different stages and risk situations, have operated in different cultures, and have acted in conformity with the legislation of each country. “The management of dangerous residues produced has improved so much that, from 2006 to 2008, we have reduced the total volume by about 50%. We have documented and controlled all the sources of greenhouse gas emissions abroad and have improved the management of these atmospheric emissions through the implementation of the Sigea system, already in operation in the Petrobras System in Brazil. We have improved the management of emergency simulations, considering the risks inherent to each unit. Moreover, we have systematized the reports on the management of hydro resources and effluents in Argentina,” reports Luiz Alberto de Melo Igrejas Lopes Filho, HSE manager in the Petrobras International Business Area.

Judging by the results achieved to date, there is no doubt that the company is on the right track to achieve excellence in HSE in different areas, companies, and Petrobras System units in Brazil and abroad. “We are working towards becoming a benchmark in this area, consolidating health, safety, and the environment as values for the holding company, its subsidiaries, and its respective work forces. Only in this way will we really achieve excellence,” concludes the HSE executive manager, Ricardo Azevedo.

Geraldo Falcão / Petrobras Image Bank
Effluent Management and Hydric Resource Reports have been systemized in Petrobras Energía in Argentina